Post-graduate student aims for peace and reunification in Korea

For Eun-Jeong Soh, the biggest challenge faced by her country, South Korea, is peaceful reunification with North Korea. "I think it's the only way to make the lives of people on both sides of the border better in the long-term," she says, adding that peace in the region is fragile under the current framework.

The 25-year-old, who is just starting preparations for her doctorate in international relations, also sees growing hostility between China and Japan - a recurring threat in Korean history - as a vital issue. "Korea's geopolitical situation is unique because it's surrounded by four great powers: China, Japan, the United States and Russia."

On a global scale, Eun-Jeong says that nationalism, state collapse, global warming and energy uncertainty are some of the more pressing issues today's young people face. Learning about them is vital: "We first have to know the problems we face before we can find solutions."

Finding common ground

Since she was small, Eun-Jeong has been exposed to a variety of cultures. Attending schools in Japan, Hong Kong and the United States, she became interested in international relations at a young age. "My early experiences taught me to accept diversity and to find common ground," she says.

"Images and stories I came across in the media during my teenage years also made an impact, such as refugees during the Kosovo conflict and child victims of brutality during the war in Sierra Leone. But it was thanks to my professors, some of whom became my role models, that I was inspired to pursue international relations at university."

One of her professors, Robin Teske, was an international human rights lawyer who, in the 1980s, supported democracy activists such as former South Korean president (1997-2003) Kim Dae-Jung. Known for his "Sunshine Policy" of promoting reconciliation with North Korea, Kim won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000.

Eun-Jeong completed her undergraduate studies in History and International Affairs at James Madison University in Virginia, United States, before moving back to Korea for post-graduate studies. "I was interested in global responses and mechanisms that deal with gross human rights violations in the post-Cold War era - UN Peacekeeping and the International Criminal Court, for example," she says.

"Going back to Korea, my studies were more focused on East Asian security issues, especially prospects for institutionalized security co-operation in Northeast Asia." She completed her post-graduate degree at the Ewha Womans University in Seoul.

Encountering the OSCE

Through her studies, Eun-Jeong came across the OSCE, of which South Korea is a Partner for Co-operation. "At first, I understood the OSCE to be one part of an extensive network of regional human rights mechanisms in Europe. Later, studying security in Northeast Asia, the Helsinki Process and the CSCE/OSCE process, it seemed too good to be true in contrast to the lack of regional, multilateral security dialogue in East Asia."

For the young scholar, what makes the OSCE important is that its participating States have agreed on principles of conduct and adopted a comprehensive security concept. It has evolved through a changing security environment and continues to provide a forum for dialogue and accountability. Most significantly, however, she says, is the role the CSCE/OSCE had in bringing an end to the Cold War.

Aside from studying and research, Eun-Jeong also believes that it's important to gain practical skills and experience. She volunteered as an English teacher for young resettled North Koreans, and translated reports from emergency relief programmes in Afghanistan and Iraq for World Vision Korea. As an intern at the International Organization for Migration's office in Seoul, she co-authored a report on migration policies and organized an experts meeting on protecting trafficking victims.

After completing a four-month internship with the OSCE's Press and Public Information Section in Vienna this past summer, Eun-Jeong returned to South Korea where she volunteered at the fourth Jeju Peace Forum. The biennial event brings together scholars and policy-makers to discuss issues of peace and prosperity for the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia in general. This year's meeting focused on exploring the European experience, though the North Korean nuclear issue also figured prominently.

"The Forum's participants all agreed that peace is necessary," she says, "but it was striking to see so much frustration and disagreement about their visions of a future security system in East Asia."

When asked if she thinks East Asia needs something like to the OSCE, she says that it's her main research question. "My internship, however, has left me thinking that we do need something similar - a regular forum for dialogue."

Looking to the future

Soon after the Jeju Forum, Eun-Jeong packed her bags once again to return to the United States, where she has just begun her studies towards a doctorate degree at the University of South Carolina.

Aside from the question of what kind of security dialogue framework East Asia needs, Eun-Jeong will also focus on comparative studies in institution- and state-building in transitional countries: What is the role of the UN in post-conflict state-building, for example? What form of federalism would most benefit a particular state?

When asked about her future plans, Eun-Jeong is unwavering. "I want to be a good teacher and expose students to the diversity and challenges of our world. I also hope that through my research, I will be able to contribute to policy-making for peace and security."

Her ultimate goal, however, is even more inspiring: "One day," she says, "I will be able to teach and work in a reunified Korea."