South Korean Civil Society Leaders Participate in Forum at the US Congress

Leading representatives of South Korea´s civil society organizations participated in the Korea Peninsula Peace Forum at the U.S. Congress on Sept. 14, 2009, along with key U.S. politicians and scholars to share viewpoints on promoting a peaceful settlement in the Korean Peninsula. The Korea delegation was composed of Prof. Nak-chung Paik, "most influential" intellectual in South Korea and Co-Chair of Korea Peace Forum; Mr. Won-soon Park, a pioneer in Korea's civil society movement and Executive Director of the Hope Institute; Rev. Moon-Sook Lee, former General Secretary, Korea Church Women United and Mr. Jae Shik Oh, Executive Director, Asia Institute -- both of whom with extensive experiences with humanitarian aid programs with North Korea.

They were joined by the host Senator John Kerry (in writing), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Congressman Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, Chairman of the House Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment Subcommittee; Frank Jannuzi, Senior East Asia Specialist (Majority), Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Keith Luse, Senior Professional Staff Member (Minority), Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Joel Witt, former Agreed Framework Coordinator at the U.S. State Department; John Feffer, Co-Director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies; Scott Snyder, Director of the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy, the Asia Foundation; Karin Lee, Executive Director of the National Committee on North Korea, in panel discussions on U.S.-North Korea confidence-building prospects and the status of inter-Korea rapproachement.

The Korea delegation also participated in a seminar on North Korea policy at the Brookings Institution and held meetings in New York City and Los Angeles.