President Park Geun-hye met with the heads of various New York-based think tanks after attending the 69th United Nations General Assembly meeting on September 24. They exchanged opinions on pending issues regarding North Korea and Northeast Asia, the Korea-U.S. alliance and climate change.

Among those present at the meeting were: Thomas Hubbard, the chairman of the Korea Society; Mark Minton, the president of the Korea Society; Josette Sheeran, the president of the Asia Society; Tom Nagorski, the executive vice president of the Asia Socieity; Robert Rubin, the co-chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations; Donald Zagoria, senior vice president of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP); and, Noel V. Lateef, the president of the Foreign Policy Association.






President Park said that many international challenges are taking place at the same time these days and that there is growing volatility across Northeast Asia. In dealing with such challenges as North Korea's development of nuclear weapons, all actors need to have a creative approach to find a multifactorial solution, she said.

In response, Korea Society Chairman Hubbard said that in Korea reunification is generally considered to be a burden and he highly appreciated the fact that President Park is more positive about reunification and that she considers it an opportunity. Then, Senior Vice President Zagoria of the NCAFP said that there is indeed a need for a creative approach to North Korea's nuclear weapons policy and that it would be helpful for Korea and the U.S. to cooperate to refine Park's "Dresden Declaration," made earlier this year concerning North Korea, and find creative solutions.

Asia Society President Sheeran said that providing aid to North Korea for maternal and child health care is the right thing to do to ensure healthy child development in the North. Even though there is no response from the North, she said, it is still desirable for South Korea to continue giving such aid.

She added that if South Korea, as a rising industrial power, considers preparation for climate change not as a burden but as an opportunity, and if it takes appropriate action, it would really show the world Korea's position as a global leader.

By Wi Tack-whan, Limb Jae-un
By Korea.net Staff Writers
whan23@korea.kr