Seoul, Korea - "Building a Roadmap for Peace in Northeast Asia" was the focus of one session of the International Leadership Conference in Seoul, Korea, February 9-13, 2014. This session on peacebuilding issues of North and South Korea was the fourth in a series of sessions for the Northeast Asia Peace Initiative, co-sponsored by UPF and The Washington Times Foundation. The featured speaker was Amb. Christopher Hill, former U.S. ambassador to Korea and head of the Six-Party talks under President George W. Bush. He remains popular with Korean political figures, the military and the press since his service here.
He emphasized that North Korea does not need nuclear weapons to defend itself, and that if they would abandon this ambition for good, the U.S. would help them with energy sources, business development and all other things to help that country rejoin the community of nations.
Other speakers were:
Dr. Hyunik Hong – senior research fellow in the Security Strategy Studies Department of the Sejong Institute in Seoul
Dr. Alexander Zhebin – Director of the Center for Korean Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Russia
Mr. Hiroshi Yamada – Lecturer on international relations, and a former professor of management and economics at Kaetsu University in Tokyo
Dr. Charles S. Yang opened the session with welcoming remarks that explained True Parents’ vision for the Northeast Asia Peace Initiative and what they have contributed to the effort to ease tensions between the two nations.
The session was chaired by Dr. Alexandre Mansourov, one of the leading experts on North Korea in the U.S.
Click on the names to read their remarks: Dr. Charles S. Yang, Amb. Christopher Hill, Dr. Hyunik Hong, Mr. Hiroshi Yamada, Dr. Alexander Zhebin.