The Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Kyungnam University’s (Director Kwan-Sei Lee) held its ‘72nd Unification Strategy Forum’ (webinar) on Wednesday, December 13, 2023. Under the title ‘Assessment of the Situation on the Korean Peninsula in 2023, Outlook for 2024’, the forum discussed the past year of developments on the peninsula and prospects for 2024 from different perspectives in three corresponding sessions: 1) Korea, US, Japan perspectives; 2) North Korea, China, and Russia perspectives; and 3) Inter-Korean relations.

In the first session, Jeon Bong-geun, Professor Emeritus at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, gave a presentation under the title 'Action and Reaction of Changes in the Cooperation Structure between Korea, the United States, and Japan'. Discussion from the US, Japan, and Korean perspectives was provided by Professors Sang-Yoon Ma (Catholic University of Korea), Jin-Goo Cho (Director of the Japan Center, IFES), and Ki-Young Seong (Senior Research Fellow, Institute for National Security Strategy), respectively.

In the second session, Kim Heung-Kyu, Director of Ajou University's U.S.-China Policy Research Institute, gave a presentation titled 'Currents, Drivers, and Prospects of North Korea-China-Russia Close Ties'. Professor Sang-Man Lee (Director of the China Center at IFES), former ROK Ambassador to Russia Ro-byug Park, and Dr. Chul Lee (Senior Researcher at the Peace Foundation) provided discussion from the perspectives of China, Russia, and North Korea, respectively.

In the third session, Professor Young-Chul Chung of Sogang University gave a presentation on 'The Korean Peninsula in a Rapidly Changing World Order: Changes in the North Korean Situation and Prospects for Inter-Korean Relations'. Professors Kab-woo Koo (University of North Korean Studies), Yong-Hwan Choi (Institute for National Security Strategy), and Eul-Chul Lim (ICNK Center at IFES) participated as panel discussants.

Director Kwan-Sei Lee, who hosted the Unification Strategy Forum, said the event was an opportunity to comprehensively assess Korea’s situation in 2023 and prospects for 2024, and expressed his belief that the forum would contribute to the ROK government’s unification and North Korea policy going forward.