On September 20, 2019, the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) together with the Sejong Institute for the first time in Russia held Korea Global Forum for Peace “Denuclearization and Peace Settlement on the Korean Peninsula and the Russia-ROK Cooperation”. Alexander Kramarenko, RIAC Director of Development, Paik Haksoon, President of the Sejong Institute, and Lee Seok-bae, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Korea to the Russian Federation, opened the meeting.
On September 20, 2019, the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) together with the Sejong Institute for the first time in Russia held Korea Global Forum for Peace “Denuclearization and Peace Settlement on the Korean Peninsula and the Russia-ROK Cooperation”. Alexander Kramarenko, RIAC Director of Development, Paik Haksoon, President of the Sejong Institute, and Lee Seok-bae, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Korea to the Russian Federation, opened the meeting.
The event was attended by a wide range of experts from different institutions including IFES RAS, RAS Institute of Oriental Studies, RISS, MGIMO University, HSE, St. Petersburg State University and Tomsk State University. The Korean delegation included representatives of the Sejong Institute, Seoul National University, Korea Transport Institute, Institute for Unification Education, Ministry of Unification of the Republic of Korea and diplomats of the Embassy.
The Forum involved representatives of many academic institutions and included a broad scope of opinions. Experts presented different points of view on the prospects for unification and described various scenarios for resolving the nuclear issue in the context of regional security. Nevertheless, participants mostly agreed that all interested parties should participate in the discussion on the Korean problem and that negotiations should not be used as a platform for confrontation of other powers. They also noted the importance of multilateral economic projects and the need for partial lifting of sanctions in order to demarginalize the DPRK and start integration of Pyongyang into the world community.