Kookmin University (President JEONG, SEUNG RYUL) has established the Graduate School of Global Peace and Unification as of September 1, 2024. According to the Graduate School of Global Peace and Reunification, all of the new students who have been accepted since September are from various professions with a strong sense of patriotism and have passed a high level of competition. 

“Traditionally, the study of reunification issues and reunification education are based on the specificity of the Korean Peninsula, but at the same time, they are areas that cannot but emphasize universal values,” said JEONG, SEUNG RYUL. ”Based on academic universality, we will play a pivotal role in contributing to peace and reunification on the Korean Peninsula and global peace by cooperating with the government and academia on reunification issues, and by fostering human resources with practical competence.” In particular, the center will be the center of an academic community that will study not only the North-South conflict but  ▲also the South-South conflict  ▲including how to reduce the risk of accidental armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula  ▲what are the strategic options for South Korea in the new Cold War order, and what are the solutions to resolve the conflict.”

The event featured congratulatory remarks by Tae Young Ho, Secretary General of the National Advisory Council for Democracy, Peace and Reunification, and a special lecture by Kim Young Ho, Minister of Unification. 

Mr. Tae expressed his expectation that Kookmin University, which has been selected as a leading university for unification education by the Ministry of Unification, will conduct in-depth research and education on the topics of globalization, peace, and unification, and called for the training of the next generation of scholars to lay the foundation for a free, peaceful, and prosperous unified Korea. 

Noting that more than 55 percent of North Koreans have a “negative perception of the succession of power” in North Korean society, the minister noted that North Koreans' admiration for South Korean society is spreading. Based on this situation, he emphasized the need for freedom and human rights for all people on the Korean Peninsula, and called for clarifying the direction of the constitution and addressing the issue of unification. 

 In particular, the three visions, three strategies, and seven initiatives of the “Unification Doctrine,” which were highlighted in the August 15 Liberation Day celebration, are: (1) Revitalizing unification education programs; (2) Developing multi-dimensional efforts to improve human rights in North Korea; (3) Promoting humanitarian assistance to ensure the right to survival of North Koreans, expanding North Koreans' right to access information, reflecting the role of North Korean defectors in the reunification process, proposing the establishment of a dialogue council between the North and South Korean authorities, and creating an international Korean Peninsula Forum to encourage the international community to support free reunification). 

It is expected that Kookmin University's next step, which began with the Institute for the Future of the Korean Peninsula, established in September 2015, and continued with the Seoul Unification Education Center, and now the Leading University for Unification Education, will be the opening of the Graduate School of Global Peace and Unification.