KoreaToday Germany Shares Unification Experience With Korea
By Kim Se-jeong
Staff Reporter
Thirty years ago, talking about North Korea or unification was taboo in South Korea. The opening of the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation wasn't easily welcomed.
When East and West Germany finally came together on Oct. 3, 1990, the foundation added a new agenda: sharing the German unification experience with Korea.
This past Wednesday, the 43-year-old foundation celebrated its 30th anniversary in Korea. Equipped with direct and hands-on projects, it is now well-established and accepted in the Asian country.
The foundation was founded in 1956 on the values of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a Christian democratic and conservative party.
It is named after the German politician Konrad Adenauer, who served as CDU chairman between 1950 and 1966, and as the first chancellor of West Germany between 1949 and 1963.
The party is currently led by Angela Merkel, who is Germany's first female chancellor.
The foundation is a true political entity under the influence of the political party, Marc Ziemek, a representative of the foundation, told The Korea Times. Yet, it is funded by the German government, which dilutes its political vividness.
The Korean office is one of 70 international branches, which are mainly located in developing countries. In these nations, Germany strives to extend influence of its values, democracy, rule of law and social market economy.
"Unification (in Korea) is very important to us," said Ziemek. "That's why we are still engaged in Korea."
The foundation carries out numerous projects with less than 10 full-time staffers.
Among them, and one of the most successful and fruitful programs, is a mentor program for "saeteomin", or North Korea refugees.
For the past three years, the foundation has matched nearly 200 young North Korean refugees with South Korean volunteers ― mainly college students ― as mentors and mentees.
"They not only teach history, mathematics, or English, but also they help them integrate into society," said Ziemek. "It is very important. The subject is the medium to transport the values."
Through the program, Ziemek is attempting to strengthen social integration efforts as part of the unification process.
Twenty years after the collapse of the Berlin wall, "the biggest challenge (in Germany) is to destroy the wall in the mind," Ziemek said.
Some still hold prejudice and bias against people from East Germany, he said. People move out to the western part of the country for economic opportunities, which create problems.
On the Korean Peninsula, where the two countries have been completely separated for more than half a century, the social gap will be much more pronounced, he added.
"(Even during separation), many people in Germany knew about each other," Ziemek said. "They knew what was happening in East or West Germany. But that doesn't happen with North Korea, which makes it more challenging."
The foundation recruits volunteers and trains them to be able to communicate with northern neighbors. Hope Sharing Association, a civic group, is the main partner for the project.
The group also mentors new North Korean refuges in Hanawon, a resettlement facility.
The most rewarding aspect for Ziemek is witnessing the heartfelt bonds between mentors and mentees build.
"The most impressive sign is the dedication of many mentors, who voluntarily stay with this program for several months or even years," said Ziemek. "This keeps hopes high that integration can be achieved and all obstacles can be overcome.
"The program also shows that people who initially are reluctant to engage with "saeteomin" also change their attitude and soon this initial reluctance turns into curiosity, followed by sincere interest."
The success story of its "saeteomin" project resulted in the publication last April of the "North Korean Refugee Report."
The 360-page report includes accounts from North Korean refugees, talking about their own experiences both in North and South Korea. In the other half, South Korean experts address problems of "saeteomin" policies and give suggestions for fixing them.
One young refugee wrote, "Although the defectors in Korea are recognized as South Korean citizens and given resident registration cards, they are still considered as outsiders. I hope young North Korean defectors will be treated equally as South Korean youths."
This call is not unheard of in the South, where almost 15,000 North Korean refugees now reside. According to the Ministry of Unification, in 2007 alone, a total of 2,544 North Koreans had fled to South Korea. As of last October, the accumulated number of refugees was 14,577.
The foundation not only helps out people in the grass roots, but also strives to make the German voice heard in Korean unification policy making.
To that end, Ziemek busily flies back and forth between Seoul and Berlin, guiding Korean lawmakers to meet with their German counterparts.
Park Geun-hye, former chairwoman of the governing Grand National Party and the eldest daughter of the late President Park Chung-hee, was a recipient of the foundation's organized trip to Germany.
The foundation has held forums and conferences on unification, inviting German scholars as guest speaker.
Due to the numerous projects, the foundation works with many Korean partners including the Peace Foundation and the Yeouido Institute, the think tank of the governing Grand National Party.
Ziemek acknowledged the late former President Kim Dae-jung for his contributions to creating a reconciliatory mood within the South Korean society.
"Peace and reconciliation hadn't been talked about in Korea before Kim Dae-jung," he said, recalling Kim who passed away on Aug. 18. "It was an era when South Korea wasn't democratized yet. He initiated so many opportunities for foundations like us to be engaged in North and South Korean peace process."
The foundation's 30th anniversary in Korea coincides with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany and the 20th anniversary of the fall of Berlin wall.
On a personal level, the representative is finishing up his three-year duty in Korea later this month.
For the future, the outgoing representative projected that the foundation would diversify its focus by promoting corporate social responsibility (CSR) and educating the young generation about politics.
The CSR used to be an option for companies, Ziemick said, however, it's now a necessity to strengthen society.
When asked whether the foundation would close if Korea were to unite, Ziemick argued the opposite.
"I think there will be more work to be done once united," he said, projecting that unification would draw more foundations like the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation to the country.