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7th Korea-Germany Forum Held in Busan

The 7th Korea-Germany Forum was held in Busan, a gateway to Korea and a hub of Northeast Asia, on October 23-25, 2008. Along with the fact that Busan maintains ‘sister city’ relations with Hamburg, where the Korea-Germany Forum was held in 2005, this year also marked the 125th anniversary of Korea-Germany diplomatic relations.



The Korea-Germany Forum, which had been organized by the Korean-German Association until last year, was upgraded its status with the Korea Foundation`s participation as host and organizer for the Korean side. This was well reflected in the forum participants and the focus of the related discussion sessions.
The Korean delegation was led by such prominent
figures Choe Chung-ho, Co-Chairman of the Korea-Germany Forum, Chair Professor of Ulsan University; Yim Sung-joon, President of the Korea Foundation; and Choi Jung-il, Korean Ambassador to Germany. Member of the German Parliament and Co-Chairman of the Korea-Germany Forum Hartmut Koschyk, was not able to attend this year’s forum because of a national convention of his political party, the Christian Social Union. In his place, Dr. Theo Sommer, the previous Chairman of this event, served as acting Co-Chairman for the German side, which included 23 leading representatives from Germany’s political, business, social, cultural, academic, and media sectors.
At last year’s forum, held in Munich, German Federal Minister of the Interior Schäuble gave a presentation on Germany’s experience of unification. In addition, the German side designated two vice ministers of the Federal government for the delivery of keynote speeches. On the other hand, it was unfortunate that senior lawmakers and high-ranking government officials from Korea were unable to participate, because this year’s forum was conflicted with the parliamentary inspection of the administration. However, key representatives of various segments of Korean society, aside from the political and administrative sectors, actively participated in the forum, as a reflection of the friendship and solidarity between Korea and Germany, along with engaging in extensive discussions on matters of mutual interest.



Political & Economic Cooperation
In particular, the forum addressed the political leadership of the Korean and German governments, in regard to their ability to deal with international issues, like the global financial crisis and climate change. In an effort to identify specific areas of cooperation between Korea and Germany, the participants discussed in detail the political and economic challenges that the two countries are currently facing. The forum participants agreed that they should set priority on overcoming the current financial crisis, but at the same time, they should not ignore the importance of global matters, such as environmental protection, climate change, and energy issues, should not be ignored as well.
Based on their experiences of unification, the German participants emphasized the need for continuous inter-Korean dialogue. They hoped for the further economic cooperation with North Korea, despite a stalemate in inter-Korean talks, due to recent uncertainty about the North Korean leadership. In this regard, the Korean participants positively assessed the activities of Germany’s Federal parliamentarians and related organizations, of the cultural, humanitarian, and political sectors, to engage North Korea. All of the participants concurred that the efforts to enhance North Korea’s human rights should be secured as a steadfast and uncompromising goal.
The participants from Germany agreed that Korea, as the nation with the world’s tenth-largest economy, needs to play a more prominent role in the international community and gain a proper representative voice in global matters.
Notable achievements have been realized through the cooperative efforts of Korea and Germany in photovoltaic research and industrial technology. The participants also stressed that the two countries need to strengthen their cooperation in the energy sector, through energy-saving measures and the development of alternative sources of renewable energy. They need to implement an efficient system to mobilize investment funds for such energy projects.
As for economic cooperation, the two sides emphasized that each government needs to regard the conclusion of a Korea-EU FTA as the top policy priority.
Indeed, the two countries cannot miss any opportunity to reinforce their economic cooperation, through their expanded trade and investment.

Academic Exchange
During the discussion of educational policy and the humanities, the participants confirmed that financial issues should be resolved first in order to revitalize the academic sector and the humanities. They called for the planning and implementation of policy measures to promote Korean Studies in Germany and German studies in Korea, which have also been discussed at previous forum sessions. The Korean participants stressed the importance of having basic language courses continued or re-opened for students planning to study in Germany, which should be reflected in Korea’s overall education policy.
The recent agreement between the Korea Foundation and the DAAD for the operation of a student exchange program was regarded as a desirable start. The forum participants also praised the German Foreign Ministry’s ‘Schools: Partners for the Future’ initiative, which strives to bolster international education, and the opening of German university curricula at Korean universities.
Overall, the forum highlighted the fact that cooperation between Korea and Germany, the key member of the EU, is ever-more important at this time, when a multi-polar international order, based on cooperative relations, has emerged, as evidenced by the outcome of the recent U.S. presidential election. As such, it is clear that we should broaden the scope of mutual understanding between the Korean and German peoples, and support efforts and policy on a continuous basis to improve our respective national images abroad. The 7th Korea-Germany Forum served as an occasion to confirm this mission and make efforts toward its fulfillment. With an agreement to hold next year’s Korea-Germany Forum in Dresden, Germany, in the autumn of 2009, this forum came to a conclusion.

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