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Germany to Advise Korea on Reunification

Korea and Germany will set up an advisory panel to convey the lessons Germany learned from reunification, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

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Korea's Ambassador to Germany Kim Jae-shin and German Vice Foreign Minister Markus Ederer met in Berlin on Thursday and signed a memorandum of understanding agreeing to create the panel.

It will consist of 12 to 14 senior foreign-ministry officials, academics, and former bureaucrats from both sides. The two governments have begun searching for members and a several German government officials who were directly involved in the unification of East and West Germany will be included.

A Foreign Ministry official here said the panel will study the so-called "2+4 Talks" that took place during German unification, which also involved the Soviet Union, the U.S., U.K. and France and seek the support of Korea's regional neighbors for reunification of the Korean Peninsula.

Although the German people pushed for immediate reunification, other governments expressed fears at the security implications of a strong, unified German republic due to memories of the Nazi era. The "2+4 Talks" addressed these concerns.

The panel will meet every year, alternating between Korea and Germany. The first meeting is expected to take place in October or November in Seoul, Foreign Ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il said, "The two sides will exchange views by shedding light on Germany's unification process and sharing experiences for the reunification of the Korean Peninsula".

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