The National Unification Advisory Council (Executive Vice-chairperson Yoo Ho-yeol, Secretary General Kwon Tae-oh) hosted the 2016 4th Policy Conference by Area of Profession for 2 days from Wednesday, October 5, to Thursday, October 6, at Daejeon Yousung Hotel. Around 140 council members representing the areas of economic affairs and science, health and welfare, and environment and labor participated in this conference.

The conference kicked off with a welcome speech by Daejeon Provincial Assembly Vice-chairperson Kang Young-ja, followed by keynote presentation and unification talk concert (Panel: Yoon Deok-ryong, researcher for the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy; Choi Byeong-ho, visiting professor, University of Seoul; and Hyun In-ae, visiting scholar, Korea Institute for National Unification) by Executive Vice-chairperson Yoo Ho-yeol and discussions on each area.

In the welcome speech, Daejeon Provincial Assembly Vice-chairperson Kang Young-ja thanked the council members who traveled to Daejeon to participate in the 4th Policy Conference by Area of Profession. "I hope we can overcome the issue of North Korean nuclear arms and bring together the public opinion on unification through this policy conference," he added.

In his keynote presentation titled “The role of NUAC in bringing together public opinion on unification,” Executive Vice-chairperson Yoo Ho-yeol emphasized the will to bring together public opinion and form public consensus toward unification via various means as a council member of NUAC.

"Now is the time to consolidate public opinion to make North Korea give up its nuclear program and achieve peaceful unification. Preparing for unification through strong will is crucial even in dangerous times like this with North Korea’s constant provocations. The fortune of unification will come to us if we prepare for it with tenacity, so we ask the council members to be at the forefront of unifying our 80 million people," he explained.

Next was the unification talk concert hosted by Kim Jeom-jun, Chief of the Unification Policy Advisory Bureau, with the following participating as panel: Yoon Deok-ryong, researcher for the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy; Choi Byeong-ho, visiting professor, University of Seoul; and Hyun In-ae, visiting scholar, Korea Institute for National Unification.

"The international community shares the consensus that sanctions against North Korea must be carried out strictly and effectively in order to prevent further provocations by North Korea and to achieve denuclearization, and the participation of China in the sanctions is of utmost importance,” researcher Yoon Deok-ryong stressed.

According to visiting professor Choi Byeong-ho, phased preparation for unification (emergency relief-temporary policy operation reflecting the reality of North Korea -institutional integration of South and North Korea) is needed in the areas of health and welfare, having the health and stability of a future unified Korea in mind.

"Although North Korean overseas laborers must be eliminated if only to cut the financial source of regime expenses for the North Korean government, because of the positive aspect that laborers sent abroad are encountering a lot of information that they cannot access in North Korea, and they are freed from brainwashing, focus must be placed on guaranteeing the human rights of local laborers through international cooperation,” scholar Hyun In-ae said.

Furthermore, various questions and answers were fervently exchanged on the topics of economic sanctions against North Korea, health and welfare in North Korea, and reality of overseas North Korean laborers.

Discussions by profession were also held in 6 sections separated by topic, with all of the council members setting forth their opinions with the topical experts at the center.

In-depth discussions were held regarding “Ways of strengthening economic sanctions against North Korea and sustainability” in the areas of economic affairs and science, “Reality of health, medical care, and welfare in North Korea and ways for humanitarian aid” in the areas of health and welfare, and “Status of North Korean overseas workers and ways of providing them with support” in the areas of environment and labor.

The second day of the conference, Thursday, October 6, started with a story on unification on the topic “Unification, from the perspective of the youth” by researcher Ahn Ze-no of the Institute for National Security Strategy and singer Chae Ga-hye, followed by presentations about the discussions held the previous day.

The 4th Policy Conference by Area of Profession will be followed by the 5th and 6th conferences from October 25 to October 27.