​The Kyunghyang Forum was established in 2016 as a medium to discuss and highlight solutions to important issues faced by the Republic of Korea. It was also established in celebration of The Kyunghyang Shinmun’s 70th year of publishing news for the masses. This year, we recognized the need for a new international order surrounding the Korean Peninsula as well as debate on what requisites are necessary from the major surrounding powers to achieve this goal, thus appropriately chose the title of this year’s Kyunghyang Forum as Korean Peninsula 2.0 - Working Towards Mutual Prosperity.

This year’s Forum is proud to present Dr. Richard N. Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, as our Keynote Speaker. Dr. Haass is in his sixteenth year as president of the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher of the renowned journal Foreign Affairs. In past, he has served as the senior Middle East advisor to President George H.W. Bush, United States Special Envoy to Northern Ireland, and as the State Department's director of policy planning under Secretary of State Colin Powell. He is also author or editor of thirteen books on U.S. foreign policy, from which his 2017 book entitled A World in Disarray: American Foreign Policy and the Crisis of the Old Order is widely read in Korea. We will hear from Dr. Haass insights into the real challenges for the United States In the coming years, touching upon issues such as the trade conflict with China, the U.S. role in Northeast Asia, and prospects for U.S.-DPRK relations among other issues that would affect the new Korean Peninsula.
 
Following the Keynote Address, the Kyunghyang Forum’s first session will feature presentations by experts from the U.S. and China on possible resolutions as well as realistic forecasts in U.S.-DPRK relations amidst the current setbacks following the recent Hanoi Summit. These presentations will be followed by a one on one dialogue between Dr. Haass and Chung Se-Hyun, the Republic of Korea’s former Minister of Unification, on the prospects for a peace and cooperation regime in Northeast Asia. The second session will, then, feature experts from Russia, Japan, and the Republic of Korea giving their perspectives on the DPRK’s reform and opening, as well as economic cooperation in Northeast Asia. Staying on this topic, Dr. Pham Van Duc, the Vice-President of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, will give an in-depth look into possibilities for the DPRK based upon Vietnam’s experience with its Doi Moi policy. Finally, the Kyunghyang Forum will feature a special address by Kim Yeon Chul, the current Minister of Unification of the Republic of Korea.
 
It is the Kyunghyang Forum’s hope that this conference may serve as a turning point for ending wasteful confrontation between the two Koreas and moving towards a new era of peace and cooperation.