Respected council members of the National Unification Advisory Council!

A new year, 2017, has come. Happy New Year, and I wish all of you health and well-being.

I send my warm New Year greetings to our dear overseas council members residing in 117 countries around the world, including our fellowmen in the North.

The Korean Peninsula is facing a variety of continuous challenges, including the North Korean nuclear crisis. Although things are difficult, let us discuss about our future and hope.

Korea has always taken a new leap forward by turning crisis into opportunities. If we succeed in overcoming the various challenging tasks in and out of the country with wisdom, we will surely be able to realize national development and unification.

The peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula is a mission of the era given to all Korean people. The 20,000 council members of NUAC are standing at the forefront of this task. The National Unification Advisory Council (NUAC) has strived to accomplish its mission as a national unification initiative institution for the past 35 years, and it will continue to assume leadership in creating a free and happy world of unification with 80 million people. Well aware of this historical mission, I, too, welcomed the New Year with desperate prayer and hope for peaceful unification.

The provocations and threats by North Korea, including its nuclear threat and missile, will continue this year as well. With national security more important than ever, our citizens must combine their power and willingness for this issue. In addition, efforts for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula according to the UN Resolution must continue.

The Korea-USA alliance needs to be strengthened with the new Trump administration in the US, and cooperation with international society ought to be reinforced in order to carry out the sanctions on North Korea fully. As such efforts build up one by one, the clock for unification will begin to run faster.

Your contributions as 17th-term council members in solving the North Korean nuclear issue and expanding the consensus for unification in and out of the country will be a lasting legacy in the history of NUAC. The rally held in and out of the country condemning the two North Korean nuclear experiments last year played a huge role in overcoming the North Korean nuclear crisis.

The time for ensuring a successful end for the 17th NUAC is now coming. In marathon, the point passing 35km is the most tiring both mentally and physically. Let us gird our loins once again and advance diligently toward our goal.

Greeting the first morning of the new year, I was reminded of the idiom “Mei Jing Han Ku (梅經寒苦).” Just like the ume flower that blooms and emits its pure scent after overcoming the harsh cold, I hope that the flower of unification will blossom in the Korean Peninsula. Let us embrace and encourage one another and devote ourselves until that day.

I pray that smiles and happiness will overflow in your home this new year.

New Year morning of 2017, Jeongyu Year (丁酉年)

Executive Vice-chairperson Yoo Ho-yeol National Unification Advisory Council