President Park Geun-hye (top, right) talks with her German counterpart Jaochim Gauck on Oct. 12 at Cheong Wa Dae.
President Park Geun-hye held talks with her German counterpart President Jaochim Gauck on Oct. 12 at Cheong Wa Dae. During the talks, the two leaders agreed to enhance cooperation in order to achieve a peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula.
“We both saw eye to eye on the urgency and gravity of non-proliferation in North Korea. We also agreed to join forces to have the North give up its nuclear weapons and become a responsible member of the international community,” said President Park during a joint press conference following the talks. “Korea and Germany will continue to cooperate to help improve the North’s human rights record, too,” she added.
The president continued, saying that, “As South Korea pursues a unified peninsula, the German experience of unification can be a valuable lesson to us.”
“Looking back on the things through which Germany had to go to reach the goal, there was a trust-building process made through continuous exchanges and cooperation. The international community, too, gave the country a great deal of cooperation and support in the process, which is greatly important,” she stated.
In response, the German president said, “I am living proof that we can encounter any unexpected change [unification] at anytime. I am here to tell you that it is possible to make that change.”
As he pointed out that the 25th anniversary of German unification is this year, President Gauck said, “At the time of unification, East and West Germany had pushed forward the so-called ‘tense-easing policies,’ a scheme designed to make a change by coming closer to each other.”
He called the scheme “a new approach for openness and for sustainable dialogue.” “In this sense, our experience has important implications for the way in which the peninsula and Northeast Asia alike will be able to achieve peace,” he stressed.
During the talks, the two leaders shared their opinions on how to enhance bilateral cooperation across many sectors, not only on the unification issue, but on the current state of Northeast Asia, climate change and the creative industries, too.
By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Cheong Wa Dae
jiae5853@korea.kr
President Park Geun-hye (right) and German President Jaochim Gauck hold a joint press conference following their summit on Oct. 12.
President Park Geun-hye and German President Jaochim Gauck inspect an honor guard during his official welcoming ceremony at Cheong Wa Dae on Oct. 12.
