The Dean of the Institute of Humanities for Unification, Sung-min Kim, was officially invited and participated in the presentation at the 22nd World Korea Forum <Insecurity of the Korean Peninsula and Establishment of a Peace Regime> held in Stockholm, Sweden, from October 25th to 26th.
World Korea Forum, which is a renowned forum participated by global opinion leaders and experts from various fields related to peace on the Korean Peninsula, has been held annually for the past 21 years to hold in-depth discussions to open a new era of peace and cooperation for unification on the Korean Peninsula and the East Asia community.Among 200 experts at home and abroad, the world-famous Professor Charles K. Armstrong (Columbia University), Professor& Chairman Shi Yinhong (Academic Committee of the School of International Studies at Renmin University of China), Lukas Mandi (Member of EU Parliament and Chairman of the Korean Peninsula Committee). Dean Dan Smith (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) who won the Jeju 4.3 Peace Award, Jessica Polfjard (Jindallae Kim, Member of EU Parliament, Member of the National Assembly), Director Alexander Zhebin of Korea Center (Institute of Far Eastern Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences), Director Nicholas Swantrom (Sweden Institute for Security and Development Policy), Rep. Kyung-hyeop Kim (Representative of the National Assembly), Rep. Young Huh (Representative of the National Assembly), Rep. Hong-geol Kim (Representative of the National Assembly) and Chairman Sang-mo Jung (Korea Broadcasting Commission, Broadcasting Content Promotion Foundation) participated in the presentation and discussion.
Dean Kim presented under the theme ‘The emotional community of peace in division’. He analyzed that the ‘antagonism of division’ which is expressed as ‘complex collective emotion’ such as anger, resentment or hatred, is one factor that disrupts communication and cause conflicts between the two Koreas. In particular, he stated that this divisional hostility stimulates people’s fear and anxiety based on the division of the two Koreas, the Cold War ideology and the political logic of division. Lastly, he emphasized that it is significant to convert the emotion of ‘hatred’, which is prevalent in Korean society, in various fields including education and culture to develop the relationship between the North and South from the emotional community in division.