Unification Groups Agree on Mission

South Korean advocates of reunification are searching for solutions to the conflicts that emerged from a reunification festival in Pyongyang last week.

Groups such as the National Alliance for Reunification and the Korean Council for Reunification and Cooperation are reportedly evaluating the festival and their positions on a number of contentious issues.

"It is most important for our groups to acknowledge the fact that there exists a wide range of opinions on the reunification issue," said Kim Chang-su, a policy manager with the Korean Council for Reunification and Cooperation.

The groups, however, say that a strict program to prevent individual members from breaking with the stated intentions of the groups, as occurred at the Pyongyang festival, should be established as soon as possible.

"It is important for pro-unification groups to censure themselves based on a clear group mission," said Lee Jong-suk, a researcher at Sejong Research Institute. "Our society is still not free from the past, and a conservative mentality still dominates. Therefore, these groups should try to clearly communicate their views and intentions to the public and help to solve unification issues."

And some of the civic groups saw the possibility of some good coming from the conflicts at the Pyongyang festival, as it brought the disparate views on reunification out into the open.

"The Pyongyang reunification festival was the first joint North-South event attended by both conservative and progressive groups," said Han Choong-mok, a director at the National Alliance for Reunification. "Although some members caused problems because of their run-away actions, most of the members followed the directions of their leaders and contributed to North-South issues."

"Through the event, we were able to see the possibility and the potential of coordination between the conservatives and progressives," Mr. Han added.

by Lee Chul-hee