“The woman’s era we dream of is the unification era!”

- Adoption of a resolution against North Korea’s fourth nuclear program -

The National Policy Conference for Chiefs of Women's Standing Committees was held on January 25-26 at the Commodore Hotel Busan, with chief of the Busan Women's Committee, Shin Jeong-ju, as the chairperson, to share directions for the committee in 2016 and discuss action plans for unification activities.

Despite the heavy snowfall, 218 chiefs of the municipal/provincial Women's Committes and city/county/district Women's Standing Committees participated in various programs to enhance the capabilities to prepare for national unification and to carry out the relevant activities under the title of “The woman’s era we are dreaming of is the unification era!”

Vice-chairperson Kim Tae-hyun emphasized, “Faced with the North Korean nuclear issue and the global economic crisis, the only solution for Korea is unification,” adding, “I expect today’s conference to develop detailed and creative activities appropriate to each region.” In addition, she suggested five major projects including △ detailed plans for ‘small unification’, △ activities aimed combining ‘unification’ and ‘women’, △ cooperative programs with civic groups, enterprises and public institutions, △ a female leadership program for unification, and △ programs to support North Korean female refugees and enhance their capabilities.

Lee Young-suk, Vice-chairperson of the Busan Provincial Assembly, welcomed the participants, “I thank you all for working hard without any pay in order to fulfill our purpose of peaceful unification,” adding, “We should be more active and refresh our resolve to achieve happy unification for the 80 million people of our homeland.”

Executive Vice-chairperson Yoo Ho-yeol emphasized, “Firm and united action by the people in the face of national crisis, such as North Korea’s nuclear test, will help us to transform the current crisis into an opportunity for unification.” He also asked the Women's Committee members “to lead the people to unite for unification, to share the vision, and to cooperate with each other.”

The director of Council Member Activities Bureau, Shin Eun-sook, shared the goals and directions of the women’s program for 2016 and reported the detailed action plans.

Meanwhile, some 200 chiefs of the Women's Standing Committees nationwide adopted a resolution against North Korea’s fourth nuclear test on the second day of the conference. Under the resolution, chiefs defined North Korea’s fourth nuclear test as a “serious provocation that threatens the peace in the Korean Peninsula, in Northeast Asia, and in the world,” and called for its “return as a normal member of the international community on the basis of nuclear disarmament.”

The Committee will further develop and implement detailed regional plans for women’s activities.