 The speakers panel at the “Youth Companionship on the Road to Unification” forum. Image: Daily NK |
A growing voice is calling for university students both from
the South and North must play a greater role in order to achieve a successful
unification for the two Koreas, people have suggested.
“The students in the South and North, who will have to lead
society in the era of unification, need to work together starting now in order
to gear up for Korea’s unification,” Moon Dong Hui, President of Young NK
said, in a forum titled, “Youth Companionship on the Road to Unification.” The
event was hosted at Hongik University on Wednesday by the college student civic
group campaigning for human rights in North Korea and Daily NK.
“College students on both sides need to be proactive about
creating their own roles for when unification comes and not simply depend on
the older generation,” Moon asserted. “It is best that the younger generation
proposes ways of cooperation between the two Koreas in order to achieve true
unification.”
“In the case of South Korean college students, they
acknowledge the need for unification but don’t seem to think about what needs
to be done now in order to achieve that,” the president said, adding, “We also
need to create dialogue on how unification can be realized and invite North
Korean defector students into this ring of discourse.”
Moon proposed, “Defector students should not limit
themselves into thinking they are from North Korea. Instead they should show
interest in the future of unification as a member of South Korean society and
build up roles of their own.”
Another student at the forum, Kim Ka Yeong [Seoul Women’s
University, Communications major], said more education is imperative in order to
give people a better understanding about the North.
“When I was in high school, we never received any education
about North Korea. It was only after I came to college that it was possible,” she said. “In order to lay the foundation for the era of
unification, we need to start teaching teenagers about the North.”
Another forum participant, President Han Nam Su from the Union
for North Korea Freedom, introduced a play he is working on. “Seeing young
people from the South and North practice and getting to understand and accept
each other seems to be a snapshot of what unification would look like,”
emphasizing the need for the two groups to work together and interact.
A student participant, Lee Chun Beom [Hankuk University of
Foreign Studies, Chinese major], who escaped North Korea and now studies in the
South said, “I took part in a bicycle trek with other students from the South
this summer, traveling from Seoul to Imjingak [a park located on the banks of the Imjin River, close to the border of North Korea]. I thought it would be a very unique experience, and while spending time
together I realized they’re just like my peers and we got to be good friends,”
he shared. “In preparing for unification, I think it’s important to hold a lot
of events like this.”
