25th Anniversary of FNF Korea Office

25 years ago, in 1987, the Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation for Freedom opened its office in Seoul. Thereby it laid the basis for its activities at the Korean Peninsula, first in South, later on in North Korea. The office is located at the campus of Hanyang University in Seongdong District, Seoul. As a result of the cooperation between Foundation and University the CLA, the Center for Local Autonomy was established.

On the occasion of the anniversary, a high-ranking delegation from Germany and Bangkok –where the Foundation’s regional office in charge of East and Southeast Asia is located– visited Korea for a couple of days. The delegation consisted of Irmgard Schwaetzer, former Federal Minister of Regional Planning, Building and Urban Development and former Deputy Foreign Minister, Rainer Adam, Regional Director, Bangkok, and Moritz Kleine-Brockhoff, Head of Asia Desk in the Foundation’s headquarters in Potsdam, Germany.

Celebration with 130 guests

Highlight of the visit was the anniversary celebration which took place in the President Hotel in Seoul’s city centre, in Schubert Hall at 31th floor. Round about 130 attended the event. Han Sang Woo, director of the CLA, served as master of ceremonies.

In his congratulatory address Rolf Mafael, German Ambassador in Seoul, put the emphasis on the German-Korean relations: “Germany feels a close affinity with the Republic of Korea due to common values and interests. As a stable and vibrant democracy, Korea, too, has committed itself to freedom, respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law.”

Referring to the German unification in 1990 Ambassador Mafael added: “Both of our countries share many similarities. One of them is the experience of the division of our nations. By bringing in the very unique German experience of national reunification the Naumann Foundation promotes peace and stability on the Korean peninsula through dialogue and international cooperation – in South and North Korea.”

Powerful local politicians: something very crucial for a democratic culture

“Without your support we would have never successed“, said Kim Chong Yang, Chairman of the Boards of Hanyang Foundation, in his address. He recalled that round about 12.000 of the participants of the Naumann Foundation’s educational program became Members of Parliament or hold high positions in local politics. In any case their support of local autonomy in the Republic of Korea has been significant.

In her speech former minister Schwaetzer underlined the relevance of the cooperation with the Hanyang University: “When the Foundation thought about opening an office here in Seoul to support the process of democratization in South Korea we were lucky to find in the Hanyang University a highly competent and reliable partner.”

Regarding the focal issue of the cooperation she stressed: “Powerful and self confident local politicians are something very crucial for a democratic culture; Germany’s experience in this field is extremely good. The reason for that is that German politics traditionally put the emphasis on the principle of subsidiarity, that means on the idea that it’s always the best way to solve problems on that political or administrative level where they can be solved most efficiently. Often this level is not the national or the regional but the local one.”

Organise a birthday party: more complicate than saving the world

Lars-André Richter, who has been serving as the Foundation’s resident representative in Seoul since June recalled the time before he came: “When I was prepared for my job here in Korea, I asked what would be my first task after having assumed the new position. I expected to be asked to solve all basic problems in East Asia. But the answer was: To organise a sort of birthday party, due to today’s anniversary.” Mr. Richter added: “That seemed a little bit more complicate than saving the world.”

Apart from the CLA, the Foundation has been cooperating with Jeju Peace Institute and the Institute for Far Eastern Studies of Kyungnam University. Both advocate peace and stability at the Korean Peninsula and try to make people being prepared for a potential unification.