제주평화연구원

  The 7th Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity will be held May 31 through June 2, 2012, in Jeju, designated as “Island of World Peace” by the Korean Government in 2005, where many summit meetings and important international conventions take place.

  The main theme of the 7th Jeju Forum is “New Trends and the Future of Asia” and there will be more than sixty sessions, with more than 2,000 participants, to discuss various issues related to peace and prosperity in Asia and Pacific.

  Based on the key concept of the Jeju Peace Declaration adopted at the First Jeju Forum in 2001, which recognized that “peace is a prerequisite for common prosperity, but also that sustained and stable peace can only be achieved on the basis of common prosperity,” the 7th Jeju Forum will analyze and evaluate the international political, economic, business, social and cultural trends in the region, try to find best practices and materialize international cooperation for the future of Asia.

  The 7th Jeju Forum will include various topics for peace and prosperity: nuclear non-proliferation and the peaceful use of nuclear power, Korean reunification, democracy and human rights in Asia, energy cooperation and peace in East Asia, international aid, transportation cooperation, international cooperation for environment and ecological conservation, fusion of Asian culture and community building, IT and business strategy, tourism, education, gender and disabled problems, etc.

  Five incumbent and former Heads of Governments in Asia and Pacific countries will be present and discuss, in depth, new Asian community building trends, future visions of Asia, and the role of Asian leaders at the World Leaders’ Session of the Jeju Forum.

  To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and China, a special session by the Korean and Chinese diplomats will be held to recollect the negotiation process for the opening of the diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1992 and to find ways to enhance mutual cooperation in Asia and the world.

  As in the previous Jeju Forums, more than 250 renowned international and Korean experts of various fields in peace, security, economy, environment, culture, gender, science and technology will participate in the sessions.

  In addition, to expand the geographical horizon of the Jeju Forum, a session on cooperation between ASEAN and the Northeastern Asian countries is planned for the Asia and Pacific countries’ ambassadors in Korea.

  In sum, the 7th Jeju Forum is a continuation of previous Jeju Forums which have achieved great success thanks to the active participation and contribution from regional and world political, governmental, social and business leaders. It aims to be truly a comprehensive international forum for regional cooperation without any issue limit this is a part of the Jeju Peace Institute’s effort to realize the Jeju Process proclaimed in 2007.

  The Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity, originally started as the Jeju Peace Forum in 2001 as a venue for Asian leaders to jointly promote common peace and prosperity in East Asia, has now established itself as one of the Korea’s most important international conferences.

  In order to develop the Jeju Peace Forum as one of the top comprehensive international forums in Asia, it was renamed as the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity at the 6th Jeju Forum in 2011 and it was decided to be held as an annual event beginning with this year’s 7th Jeju Forum.

  The Jeju Process was initiated at the 4th Jeju Peace Forum in 2007, when the participants approved the Jeju Declaration with an urgent task: “To ensure a lasting, flexible, and evolving process of dialogue and negotiation between the states, peoples, and public and private institutions of the Northeast Asian region, we advocate a new Jeju Process, modeled on and drawing on the valuable lessons of the Helsinki Process.”

  While the Helsinki Process contributed much to the security cooperation in Europe during the Cold War, the Jeju Process is trying to become a model of multilateral security cooperation, enhancing transparency and building trust among countries through continued dialogue.

  Nevertheless, considering the vastly different security and historical international cooperation environment in Asia and the Pacific region, the Jeju Process requires a different path from the Helsinki Process. There is a need to emphasize non-security dialogue for international cooperation in the region until the international political and security environment matures.

  The Jeju Process was a brainchild of the Jeju Forum, but the Jeju Forum provides the main tools for materializing the Jeju Process. The Jeju Forum will continue to be a key dialogue process to strengthen and to consolidate the Jeju Process, and is determined to lay a firm foundation for multilateral cooperation in East Asia.

  The 7th Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity will prove that the Jeju Process is on the right track.

* Dr. BYUN Dae-ho is Director for Planning and Coordination at the Jeju Peace Institute (JPI). Before joining JPI, he served at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade since 1991. He worked at the Korean Embassies in Russia, Sweden, and Romania as foreign service officer. His last position was Ambassador to the Republic of Croatia. He earned Ph.D. in International Studies from the University of Miami in Florida in 1990.