Former Unification Minister Will Receive Chirac Award
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Park Jae-kyu, a former minister of unification and incumbent president of Kyungnam University, will receive an award from a former French President Jacques Chirac-founded organization in Paris this Friday.
For his contribution to the peace of the Korean Peninsula, Park became a laureate of the Special Jury Prize for the first Conflict Prevention Prize, the Chirac Foundation said Tuesday through its Web site.
Park served as the minister between 1999 and 2001 under the administration of the late President Kim Dae-jung and carried out a critical role for the first-ever inter-Korean summit in 2000.
He is now leading the university, focusing on North Korean studies.
Prizes were also awarded to Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye who have been devoted to ending ethnic and religious conflict in Nigeria.
Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former French Minister Simone Veil will give out the two prizes, the organization said.