The NUAC Unification Education Publicity Standing Committee (Chief: Choi Maeng-ho) held its 3rd Standing Committee meeting on Feb. 24 at 4:00 pm with the agenda of “Legal Grounds for the Nuclear Disarmament of the North and Methods to Promote it Publicly.”

“The security risk in the Korean peninsula is escalating as North Korea conducts the 4th nuclear experiment and launches a long-range missile. Although the UN Security Council is coming up with specific sanctions, is it possible to achieve free, democratic, peaceful unification? The main interest lies in finding a path to achieve it through cooperation and gathering of public opinion and wisdom,” said Chief Choi Maeng-ho in his opening speech. He also asked Central Committee members who are experts in unification issues to come up with effective opinions on the legal grounds for the Nuclear Disarmament of the North and promotion methods.

Executive Vice-chairperson Yoo Ho-yeol views the situation as unprecedentedly serious. “The chairperson has closed the Gaeseong Industrial Complex even if it means making a sacrifice. NUAC has held a one-man protest and issued a statement. There are many existing agendas to fulfill our original mission of advising on unification and policies against the North. Nonetheless, the Central Committee members have to consider the fact that we need a solution to make the North Korean government inevitably change its policies for survival,” he explained.

Presenter Kim Chang-nam (Kyung Hee University Graduate School of Journalism and Communication) argued that the government should establish practical solutions to combat North Korea’s nuclear threats while leading the public to a better understanding of North Korea’s nuclear threats to build proper public opinion. “Moreover, the people should be aware of the reality of North Korea’s nuclear threats and face threats with a resolute attitude. Thus, there should be public promotion at home, school, and society to enhance awareness of North Korea’s nuclear threats and national security,” he said.

Professor Kim suggested several specific options for promotion: including contents about North Korean technology and adjusting the inclination of contents in elementary, middle, and high school textbooks; shifting the agenda to North Korea’s nuclear issue through mass media agency; holding seminars, lectures, street campaigns, petitions, and debate tournaments; creating and distributing promotion materials like slogans, empirical data, and promotional materials; setting up a PR hall; carrying out public relations through cyber communication; and setting diverse exam questions.

In the debate that followed, diverse ideas about the presentation were introduced. Members discussed the legal grounds of nuclear disarmament of the North and the methods to promote it, including the reliability of the nuclear umbrella, nuclear shadow effect, consequences of distorting and downsizing the nuclear technology of the North, and inevitability of closing the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.