Hyun Kyung-dae, Executive Vice-chairperson of the National Unification Advisory Council (NUAC), invited 30 representatives of North Korean refugees on Jan. 22 to collect their opinions on national unification.

"President Park said during her New Year's press conferencethat national unification is the jackpot. Unification is the right way to solve the nuclear issue, human rights, and poverty of North Korea. North Korean refugees living with us indicate that national unification has come. It is very much important for us to help them settledown successfully in a society of free democracy and market economy system, adaptthemselves to new environments, and have proper competitiveness in our society," said Executive Vice-Chairperson Hyun Kyung-dae in his welcome speech.

According to NUAC Secretary General Park Chan-bong,North Korean refugees have experienced national unification ahead of us. We should help them settledown successfully in South Korea, overcoming difficulties they have while staying with us; it is one of the realistic efforts to build the groundsfor achieving national unification, he says.

"Since Jang Sung-taek, the second person in power of North Korea, was executed, the possibility of sudden change in North Korea including chaos inside the power circles of North Korea has become more likely than before. As the pro-South Korea strength inside North Korea has been dispersing, we need to maintain and reinforce networks with those wielding influence in the North to convey the message of unification continuously to the people in the North," said Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the National Assembly, who was invited as lecturer of the meeting in his special lecture titled "Roles of North Korean Refugees to Prepare for the Era of Unification."

Participants in the meeting expressed various opinions on national unification, and NUAC plans to provide opportunities for communication with North Korean refugees continuously.