GPPAC Northeast Asia Regional Steering Group (RSG) Meeting Minutes

25 May 2007
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Facilitator: Mr. Szu-chien Hsu (Taipei)
Note taker: Mr. Stacy Hughes (Secretariat)

 

Issue 1

Report: Online Peace Forum (Mr. Akira Kawasaki – Secretariat)

Although the Online Peace Forum is not yet running, launch of the project online can be expected by early June under the umbrella of the Global Collaborative of the Nautilus Institute. Still some issues to deal with, such as potential man-power shortage in managing the site if there is a great amount of participation. There are two staff working on the Global Collaborative, within the Nautilus Institute in Melbourne, Australia. It is a blog-style website, so people will easily access, comment and upload to the site. Mr. Yi Kiho serves as the director of Nautilus@Seoul, which makes for a strong GPPAC-NEA – Nautilus connection. (Nautilus Institute: http://gc.nautilus.org)

Conclusion:
Progress on the Online Peace Forum project will be updated to all GPPAC-NEA members.

 

Issue 2

Proposal: Support for Jeju Peace Island Concept (Ms. Jungeun Park – Seoul)

Proposal to support / start a campaign to make Jeju (Korea) a “Peace Island,” and potentially expand this project to include Okinawa as well. The ROK military is planning to build a base on Jeju. At this point, GPPAC-NEA supports the concept of Jeju as a peace island, and will wait for more background information from Ms. Park. Also, Mr. Yoshioka suggests that the possibility of connecting this project with the global anti-US military base movement, which organized a major international gathering in Ecuador in March 2007, be investigated.

Conclusion: Request for further background information to be organized by Seoul Focal Point, and possible statement of support by GPPAC-NEA, to be decided based on further discussion.

 

Issue 3

Proposal: Establish a Peace Indicator (Mr. Vadim Gaponenko –Vladivostok)

Proposal to begin a project of regional security monitoring from Vladivostok, which by better understanding the situation and using various mathematical approaches, polling and other methods, will increase the capacity of GPPAC-NEA to more quickly and effectively respond to situations which arise. This can become a regional “Peace Index.”

There is various discussion about other examples in Europe and Japan, request for more background information, and suggestion to create working group that will weigh various examples and approaches, and feedback to all GPPAC-NEA members.

Conclusion: Mr. Gaponenko will coordinate organization of a working group including one member from Seoul and Taipei focal points and one member from secretariat to build a proposal that will include background information and clarify three points: purpose (conflict assessment, NGO evaluation, info sharing, etc), approach, and method.

 

Issue 4

Proposal: Global Article 9 Conference and GPPAC-NEA Meeting to be Held Together (Mr. Akira Kawasaki – Secretariat)

The “Global Article 9 Conference to Abolish War” will be held May 4-6, 2008, near Tokyo, of which Peace Boat is a major organizer (www.article-9.org). Proposal is to hold the 2008 GPPAC-NEA meeting around the same time (preferably just after). GPPAC members can attend and contribute to the conference. Need to decide by end of September 2007, in order to report to ISG meeting in mid-October. Discussion also about broadening participation in GPPAC meeting to include parliamentarians, DPRK and US delegates, etc. Opinion raised that if goal is to invite DPRK representative, then Japan may not be best choice as location to hold meeting.

Conclusion: The secretariat will continue to investigate and promote this proposal. While there is a positive response from focal points, the issue will be decided at a later date and definitely before the end of September 2007.
Issue 5

Report: Next ISG Meeting (Mr. Tatsuya Yoshioka – Regional Initiator)

Next ISG meeting is October 8-12, 2007. On agenda for ISG meeting is a proposal to hold a comprehensive GPPAC evaluation meeting in 2010.

Conclusion: If there are any points GPPAC-NEA should share at the ISG meeting, please communicate with Mr. Yoshioka.
Issue 6

Report: Asia-Pacific GPPAC Meeting onboard Peace Boat (Mr. Tatsuya Yoshioka –Regional Initiator)

A multi-regional Asia-Pacific GPPAC meeting will be held June 16-19, 2007, onboard the Peace Boat and in / between the ports of Da Nang, Viet Nam and Singapore. Participating regions are NEA, SEA, South Asia and Pacific, and each region will have four participants. Both regional and cross-cutting issues which apply to all regions will be addressed. Also, the 40th anniversary of ASEAN, and Aung-San Suu Kyi’s birthday will be the focus of activities in Singapore. The goals of this meeting are promoting inter-regional cooperation and communication, and creating a politically meaningful outcome.

Conclusion: If you would like to participate in this meeting, please contact Mr. Yoshioka.

 

Issue 7

Report / Proposal: International Peace Day (Mr. Tatsuya Yoshioka – Regional Initiator)

At the previous ISG meeting, participants were impressed by the work of NEA to promote September 21 as an international day of peace. We should work hard to continue with this project, and it will reflect well in the ISG. Discussion arises that this will not be a very effective project in Korea, as there are many such days in June, July and August which focus on peace, independence, and similar themes.

Conclusion: It will be up to the secretariat to facilitate more communication on what GPPAC-NEA can do, and organize a detailed proposal on this issue.

 

Issue 8

Report: Work and Financial Report of the Secretariat (Mr. Tatsuya Yoshioka –Regional Initiator)

This conference was a great challenge to organize, and much thanks to Amb. Enhsaikhan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia for their great contribution to the conference. Financial situation is very tight, as the International Secretariat (ECCP) was only able to contribute half of the anticipated amount. Substantial financial support was made by Yuhan-Kimberly, as well as financial support and effort by Peace Boat and all focal points.

Conclusion: Peace Boat is approved to continue its role serving as secretariat. Let’s continue our strong efforts in building a financially sustainable system for GPPAC-NEA to continue working.


Issue 9

Proposal: GPPAC-NEA Delegation to DPRK (Mr. Tatsuya Yoshioka – Regional Initiator)

The proposal is to send a GPPAC-NEA delegation to DPRK as a way to encourage DPRK cooperation in the GPPAC-NEA process. The current situation is that DPRK was invited to the Civil Society Six-Party Talks. Although they could not attend for unspecified reasons, they expressed support for the talks and desire to participate in the future. DPRK is always invited to participate, and the invitation is always sent to the Korean Anti-Nuke Peace Committee.

Conclusion: Mr. Yoshioka will go ahead with planning, while awaiting further input from regional focal points, who need to study the proposal more. Also, Amb. Enkhsaikhan can visit the DPRK embassy in Ulaanbaatar and present the statements and greeting on behalf of GPPAC-NEA.