1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the Korean National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (KNCU), hosted the Korea-UNESCO Forum For Peace at the Korea Press Center on December 3, 2019. At the forum, the participants discussed the challenges faced by UNESCO in peacebuilding and exchanged opinions on the state of the strategic partnership between the ROK and UNESCO.

○ The main speakers of the forum included Mr. Ahn Ho-young, President of the University of North Korean Studies; Mr. Noboru Noguchi, Advisor to the National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan; Mr. Alexandre Navarro, Secretary-General of the French National Commission for UNESCO; Mr. James Bridge, Secretary-General and Chief Executive of the United Kingdom National Commission for UNESCO; Mr. Dov Lynch, Chief of Unit of National Commissions and Section for Relations with Member States of UNESCO and Mr. Irakli Khodeli, Head of Social and Human Sciences Unit of Jakarta Regional Science Bureau for Asia and the Pacific. The event was furthermore attended by approximately 100 participants including Korean experts in relevant fields and government officials.

2. In his opening remarks, Deputy Director-General of Public Diplomacy and Cultural Affairs Mr. Kyun Jong-ho noted UNESCO’s important role in the resolution of international conflicts and disputes by means of establishing a culture of peace. Recalling the three principles of addressing issues related to the Korean Peninsula issues proposed by President Moon Jae-in at the UN General Assembly in September this year, Mr. Kyun asked for UNESCO’s support and cooperation on President Moon’s proposal for the inter-Korean joint inscription of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

○ In his keynote speech, Mr. Ahn Ho-young, recently appointed as a member of UNESCO’s High-Level Reflection Group for Strategic Transformation, suggested the strengthening of partnerships with the civil society/private sector and the reinforcement of communication strategies as priority fields of UNESCO reform.

○ Mr. Dov Lynch of the UNESCO Secretariat reviewed the recent achievements and remaining tasks of the UNESCO’s Strategic Transformation and conveyed appreciation to the ROK Government for having actively contributed to major working areas of UNESCO such as Global Citizenship Education (GCED), girls’ and women’s education, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for transforming education in Africa.

3. The ROK Government is a major contributor and key donor to UNESCO. As a recently reelected member of the UNESCO Executive Board*, the ROK will continue its efforts to intensify cooperation with UNESCO.

* On the occasion of the 40^th session of the UNESCO General Conference held in November 2019, the ROK was elected as a member of the 2019-23 UNESCO Executive Board. This is the ROK’s fourth consecutive term on the Executive Board since 2007.

4. With the 70^th anniversary of the ROK’s accession to UNESCO (date of accession: June 14, 1950) in 2020 drawing closer, the Korea-UNESCO Forum for peace provided an opportunity to review the accomplishments of the ROK-UNESCO cooperative relations to date and to exchange ideas on how to deepen cooperation between the ROK and UNESCO with a view to settling peace on the Korean Peninsula in the future.