Despite the heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula that persist in the course of an expanding nuclear and missile development program of North Korea, the window for a peaceful solution through multi-level dialogue has not been closed entirely.

Against this backdrop, a delegation from the South Korean Ministry of Unification got together with experts for foreign and security policy at the Berlin headquarters of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) for the. Guest speakers of the "Korea Global Forum 2017" were among others MP Philipp Lengsfeld, Dr. Joachim Bertele, group leader for foreign policy, security policy, and global questions in the German Federal Chancellery, the former Swiss Army Major General Urs Gerber, and Mr. Moon Chung-in, special advisor for unification, diplomacy and national security affairs for South Korean President Moon Jae-in. This workshop, a joint program of the KAS Korea Office, the Ministry of Unification and the ASAN Institute for Policy Studies, provided an opportunity for an exchange of views in which the initiatives were intensively discussed that South Korean President Moon Jae-in had sketched in his Berlin speech in early July this year.

It became apparent that in addition to the efforts of the international community, a move towards more communication at the official level between South Korea and North Korea must also be attempted in order to contribute to a political solution of the current conflict. In this context, the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang can play an important part: great hope is given to the fact that this sport mass gathering event can come in useful for further diplomatic attempts.