▲ (from left) Brian Park, Chong Choe, and Dr. Hiroki Takeuchi

Timing couldn’t have been better. Just one day before the United States and the North Korea announced a breakthrough agreement on Wednesday February 29th, the Korean National Unification Advisory Council Dallas Chapter (NUAC Dallas) and the SMU Tower Center co-hosted a seminar on the unification prospects of the Korean peninsular.

Held at the McCord Auditorium on SMU campus, the seminar drew a crowd of about 120 people who were interested in various topics that occupy the Korean peninsular.

SMU’s Political Science professor Dr. Hiroki Takeuchi was the first speaker of the night. He talked about the North Korean issues from an international politics view point. He explained how the South and the North Korea went different paths after the Korean War. According to Dr. Takeuchi, one of the three major issues occupying the Asian international politics is the North Korean nuclear weapons program, which the United States and the South Korean government must work together to resolve.

▲ KAC President Chong Choe talked about life in North Korea

Chong Choe, who is the national president of the Korean American Coalition, talked about what it’s like to live in North Korea. Citing his personal visit to North Korea, Choe said that the North Korean economy has basically collapsed and the freedom of the people is nowhere to be found. He showed some photographs that he took while he was in North Korea, which featured malnourished children and abused workers. Choe blamed total lack of freedom for high suicide rate of the North Korean defectors. According to Choe, the North Korean defectors were so used to being deprived of their freedom that, once they set their foot in the free world, they wouldn’t know how to live without someone telling them what to do.

Brian Park, the final speaker of the night, serves as the secretary of the NUAC Dallas. His presentation focused on the pros and cons of the ‘Sunshine Policy’, late former South Korean President Dae Joong Kim’s signature North Korean policy. Park said that much of the humanitarian aid the South Korean government gave to North Korea came to bite in the form of nuclear weapons. Park also talked about current South Korean President Myung Bak Lee’s new North Korean policy. Park said that, although the tone of the new policy is much different now, it is clear that President Lee’s resolve to unify the Korean peninsular is stronger than any of his predecessors.

After the presentation, the speakers took some questions from the seminar attendees, who showed a great deal of interest in the current North Korean development.

▲ (from left) Chong Choe(national chair of the KAC), Brian Park (secretary of NUAC Dallas), Jimmy Ahn (president of Korean Society of Dallas), Soon Ah Park (former KSD president), and Odes Kim (president of NUAC Dallas)

▲ Members of the NUAC Dallas, along with Dr. Takeuchi

▲ (from left) Odes Kim, Ted Kim, and Chong Choe of NUAC Dallas

▲ NUAC Dallas President Odes Kim and SMU Tower Center officials exchanged ideas on improving US-Korea relations