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Korean Studies Scholar at Freie Universität Advises German Federal Government

Professor Eun-Jeong Lee Appointed Member of German-Korean Advisory Committee on Foreign Policy Issues regarding Reunification

№ 055/2015 from Mar 05, 2015

The German Federal Government has appointed the professor of Korean studies, Eun-Jeong Lee from Freie Universität, as a consultant on foreign policy issues related to reunification. As one of seven experts each from South Korea and Germany, Professor Lee will contribute to building trust between South and North Korea. The advisory body will analyze and discuss experiences from the period previous to, during, and following German reunification. Furthermore, the members will work out proposals for a diplomatic policy whose long-term goal would be the end of the division of Korea.

The advisory board will focus in particular on the Two Plus Four negotiations that led to the so-called final settlement between the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, France, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and the USA. The trust-building process among the treaty partners during the Two Plus Four treaty negotiations is also intended to be a model for offers of discussion between South Korea and North Korea.

The decision to form an advisory board was made in March 2014 during a visit to Berlin by the South Korean President Park Geun-Hye. In September 2014 such a board was formally established through a "Memorandum of Understanding" between the governments of Germany and South Korea. The German members include Professor Lee, the professor of political science Michael Staack of Hamburg Helmut Schmidt University, and Markus Meckel, Secretary of State of the GDR after the first free elections in March 1990. The advisory board is led by two co-chairs, one a member of the Bundestag and expert on Korea, Hartmut Koschyk, and the other, a former Foreign Minister of South Korea, Han Sung-joo.

Further Information

Prof. Dr. Eun-Jeung Lee, Director, Institute of Korean Studies, Freie Universität Berlin,
Tel.: +49 30 838-56896, Email: eun-jeung.lee@fu-berlin.de

Link to the Homepage

Institute of Korean Studies, Freie Universität Berlin: www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/en/e/oas/korea-studien/institut