On October 4, Minister Kwon Youngse visited President Steinmeier, exchanged his views on the Korean Peninsula issue, and shared lessons from German reunification.

 

Minister Kwon explained to President Steinmeier the ROK Government's "Audacious Initiative,” and asked for Germany's active support to elicit a response from North Korea.

 

President Steinmeier paid great interest in the current situation on the Korean Peninsula by asking many questions, and he expressed his full support for the Korean Government's sincere efforts to denuclearize North Korea and reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

 

Minister Kwon conducted an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung(FAZ), a representative German media outlet, on the recent inter-Korean relations, German reunification, the situation on the Korean Peninsula, the ROK Government's unification and the North Korea policy, including the "Audacious Initiative.”

 

In addition, the Minister had a meeting with Horst Teltschik, foreign and security policy advisor to former Chancellor Helmut Kohl and the elder of German unification, and listened to insights and experiences that occurred during the process of German unification and social integration.

 

Minister Kwon also met with 50 students from the Free University of Berlin and compared the past unification environments between North and South Korea and East and West Germany. He further shared with the students the bipartisan unification policy of the Yoon administration.

 

In the evening, he met with former member of the Bundestag, Hartmut Koschyk to discuss various ways of cooperation between Korea and Germany to improve inter-Korean relations.

 

Finally yet importantly, Minister Kwon attended a concert on peace on the Korean Peninsula, a cultural event for overseas Koreans, and emphasized the importance of cultural exchange between the two Koreas to restore the homogeneity of our people.