The Secretary General, Dr. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, accepted the invitation from Korean Cities Federation (KCF), the only member of UCLG ASPAC from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Accompanied by Ambassador Peter Woods, she visited Kaesong City and met with Kaesong’s Vice Mayor, his senior officials as well as KCF’s Secretary General, Mr. Pae Jong Min.
The visit hosted by KCF provided her with the first-hand experience of understanding the local issues and development in DPRK as well as the challenges faced by KCF’s members. She visited a women and children’s hospital, several historical preservation sites, and discussed with local officials areas that they would like to cooperate in with other members of UCLG ASPAC.
Kaesong City has shown interest to work together closely with members, especially in the field of city planning and management, historical preservation, medical facilities, water supply and water resource management as well as water quality.
In her message, the Secretary General highlighted that UCLG and UCLG ASPAC promote City and Local Government’s Diplomacy. Therefore, through the platform that UCLG ASPAC provides, every member can take the opportunity to share knowledge, best practices and innovation for the betterment of the people they serve. UCLG ASPAC will seek to find partners cities and local governments for KCF’s members. Following the visit, the Secretary General has approached several members and potential partners who would be keen to have a mutual cooperation with KCF and Kaesong City, which would help create positive change in the life of their societies.
On her return to Jakarta, she also visited Jeollabuk-do, an active member from South Korea and met with a newly elected Governor, Mr. Song Ha-jin. She expressed her appreciation to Jeollabuk-do and thanked him for his Province’s interest to host the next Congress of UCLG ASPAC in 2016.
During her visit, she had the opportunity to see the revitalization of settlements at Hanok Village, which has attracted millions of tourists. Hanok Village’s revitalization has been initiated by Governor Song when he was the Mayor of Jeonju.
She also visited Saemangeum – a 40,100 ha ongoing “reclamation” project, and learned various programs of Jeollabuk-do for the improvement of the well-being of citizens and foreigners, as well as many other innovations, which can be shared with other members of UCLG ASPAC.
Both visits to North and South Koreas brought precious moments of how wonderful city and local government’s diplomacy is. In the end, what we are concerned about is people’s lives. UCLG ASPAC will continue striving for local diplomacy and good governance to support global peace in the world.
