Professorhyun chul, Yeo of the College of Liberal Arts at kookmin University gave a presentation at the 25th World Korea Forum for the Restoration of Inter-Korean Relations and Peaceful Coexistence on the Korean Peninsula at the 250-year-old Istanbul University in Turku on Wednesday, August 14th.

As an important point of intersection between Catholic Europe and Islamic Asia, Turkie is also an important geopolitical transportation route for global maritime trade connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, connecting Europe and Asia. As the center of great powers, it is a place of great international prestige and influence on the emerging global order, and its geopolitical and geographical significance makes it a place where the history and future of the Korean Peninsula coexist.  

At the opening forum, Dr. Lee Chang-ju, Executive Chairman of the Korea Foundation/World Korea Forum, said, “The 70-year alliance between Korea and the United States is being asked to change its role in the era of US-China strategic competition. The Yoon administration is prioritizing a diplomatic path that is closer to the U.S.-ROK relationship along the ideological line of 'value diplomacy'.”  

Professor hyun chul, Yeo (Vice President, Kookmin University/Korean Peninsula Institute for the Future) said, “In 2024, North Korea has declared that the relationship between the two Koreas is no longer a relationship of kinship or homogeneity, but a relationship of two hostile nations and two belligerents at war.” “North Korea is not pursuing reunification from a national perspective, but has expressed that it will mobilize all means, including nuclear weapons, to subdue the two Koreas and unify its territory,” Yeo said.

“This aggressive policy, coupled with North Korea's military provocations, is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, and it will accelerate the upgrading of its nuclear and missile capabilities, especially based on the friendly relations between China and Russia,” Yeo said.

“As a vision that our government should present to the international community to secure consensus and support for the reunification of the Korean Peninsula, reunification can contribute to the promotion of human freedom and human rights, which are universal values of humanity,” he said. ”Reunification is the starting point for restoring the freedom and rights of North Koreans who suffer human rights abuses under the oppressive dictatorship.”