Asia Pacific—The sixth session of the International Leadership Conference 2021 (ILC2021) was held on August 20 and addressed the topic “Toward Peaceful Reunification of the Korean Peninsula: Revisiting Political Economy for a Post Covid-19 World.”
A total of 265 people watched the event live on Zoom while thousands did so on YouTube and Facebook Live.
Prof. Mahendra P. Lama, founding vice-chancellor of Sikkim Central University and a senior professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, India, compared hard power to soft power and endorsed the soft power approach to peace and security. Music, culture, food and sports can contribute as soft power approaches to peace, he said.
Mr. Mohammad Tauqir Khan QSM JP, executive director of TravelPOINTS, New Zealand, spoke about his experience visiting Pyongyang, North Korea and Seoul, South Korea. A desire among the public to see the Koreas unite is growing, he remarked, and added that “the international community must keep the pressure and support [efforts] to make it happen.”
Mr. Navruz Odinaev, founder and CEO of Himoya Legal Co., Tajikistan, compared the tragedy of Koreans to that of the Tajiks, as both peoples seem very similar and close to one another. Full of hope, he expressed: “We are confident the day will come when all the walls will fall and the peoples [of North and South Korea] will live and prosper again as one whole nation.”
Dr. Pirom Chantaworn Ph.D., an associate professor at Thammasat University and a faculty member of the College of Social Innovation at Rangsit University, Thailand, gave his point of view as an economist. “If we consider natural and human resources, they are limited for both North Korea and South Korea. The utilization of resources will be better when combined than separated,” Dr. Chantaworn suggested.
Rev. Gregory Stone, deputy secretary general of UPF- Asia Pacific, moderated the session.