Many pundits believe that finding peace on the Korean Peninsula could affect global peace as well.... and a special global forum was held in Pyeongyang over the past three days... to call upon all related governments and civil actors to take steps to keep the peace process going... even beyond the peninsula.
Won Jung-hwan reports.
A sustainable future and the end of the Korean War are two of the key actions the Pyeongchang Declaration for Peace 2019 is pushing for.
The declaration calls for number of action plans including for all governments to increase their commitment to support and enforce international disarmament laws,… the two Koreas to bring the Korean War to an end and to craft peace and cooperation in the region,… and the UN to fully implement resolutions concerning preventing violations of women's rights.
The forum was held to mark the anniversary of the Winter Olympics by building on its legacy. PyeongChang 2018 was praised for its role in the process towards peace on the divided Korean Peninsula thanks to North Korea's participation in the global sporting event.
The momentum started by PyeongChang 2018 led to talks at all levels with North Korea, including the Inter-Korean summits and the North Korea-U.S. summit,... thawing their strained relationships through the power of sports.
To build on that legacy, participants from around the world have spent the last three days engaging in in-depth discussions in their related fields with the goal of helping build peace.
The 2019 Pyeongchang Global Peace Forum, was composed of six sessions, including disarmament, poverty, gender and human rights. Global participants actively shared their experiences and discussed common issues and challenges which will become part of the framework of the Pyeongchang Agenda for Peace 20-30.
The forum ended on Monday but the platform will serve as an invitation to a larger audience of peacemakers from around the world to engage with it over the coming year, with the aim of coming up with an official agenda when they meet again next year.
Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News Pyeongchang.