Establishment of the Organization of Peace and Cooperation in Northeast Asia
The fourth Jeju Peace Forum was hosted by the Jeju Peace Institute from June 21-23, 2007, under the theme of “Peace and Prosperity in Northeast Asia: Exploring the European Experience.” With the goal of establishing an organization of peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia, the fourth forum adopted the Jeju Declaration to call for the Jeju Process, modeled after the Helsinki Process, which led to the creation of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The declaration manifested, “Jeju - designated by the Government of the Republic of Korea as an ‘Island of World Peace’ in January 2005 - is ideally suited to serve as the center for such a process and immediate steps should be taken to promote such a role.”
Former President Roh Moo-hyun said in his keynote speech to the fourth forum, “The Six-Party Talks, even after the North Korean nuclear issue is settled, should be developed into a multilateral consultative body devoted to peace and security cooperation in Northeast Asia.” He also emphasized that the OSCE established through the Helsinki Process after the World Wars “should serve as a good model for Northeast Asia.”
To implement the Jeju Process suggested at the forum, an international workshop on the Jeju Process was held on October 16, 2007. The workshop was attended by Chun Yung-woo (chief negotiator for South Korea at the Six-Party Talks), Brian McDonald (EU ambassador to Korea) and other experts from home and abroad. They held discussions on the action plans to push for the Jeju Process as well as on the roles of European countries in initiating the OSCE lessons from the creation of the OSCE and planning for the organization of the multilateral consultative body in Northeast Asia and the regional community. On the heels of the workshop, professors, Jeju province officials, and researchers of the Jeju Peace Institute held a workshop to discuss concrete measures to initiate the Jeju Process.
The endeavors of the Jeju Peace Institute to materialize the Jeju Process in a long-term view were later realized in the form of the Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative (NAPCI), an integral part of the government’s national unification and diplomacy policies.
However, under the NAPCI to establish the organization of peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia, the Jeju Process is called the “Seoul Process.” Nevertheless, it is still called the Jeju Process by the press and at the Conference on Disarmament and Non-proliferation, which was co-hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UN Regional Center for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific annually since 2002 on Jeju Island. This conference, in particular, would have to use the NAPCI to implement the Jeju Process. The conference is a track 1.5 meeting that convenes disarmament experts and international organization members from 10 countries to discuss key issues and perspectives of disarmament.
To establish an organization of peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia, it is necessary to set up a roadmap and a strategy to systematically implement the Jeju Process. For international cooperation, it is necessary to continue discussions about the Jeju Process at the Jeju Forum, seek measures to encourage Northeast Asian countries to join the process and enhance its status as an inter-governmental consultative body.
To realize this vision, the Jeju Peace Institute will set up a long-term strategy to establish and host the security consultative organization on Jeju Island with the collaboration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It will also conduct mid- and long-term examinations of the strategies to achieve lasting peace in Asia.
홈