1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will hold a workshop on countering violent extremism, which incites terrorism, at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy on July 2.

o The upcoming workshop aims to share various CVE policies and experiences of the international community and each country and to explore ways for East Asia to cooperate in countering violent extremism.

o The workshop will bring together experts from the ROK government and academia, and the diplomatic corps in the ROK, including Director-General for International Organizations Yoo Dae-jong of the Foreign Ministry, as well as Deputy Executive Director Ivo Veenkamp and other expert from the Hedayah Center, an organization which supports CVE capacity-building efforts.

2. Recognizing the increasing vulnerability to terrorist groups’ incitement to radicalism due to economic and social problems, including poverty, unemployment, marginalization and discrimination, CVE is a comprehensive and long-term effort to prevent people from joining terrorist acts, including by increasing engagement with vulnerable groups in society and creating economic opportunities for them, spreading tolerance and multiculturalism, and developing messages that counter incitement to terrorist acts.

o As terrorist threats, such as an increase in the number of foreign terrorist fighters and homegrown terrorism, continued despite the international community’s counter-terrorism efforts, the UN Security Council strengthened CVE efforts and called for international cooperation on the matter by adopting Resolution 2178 in September 2014. In February this year, the US government held the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism and mustered the international community’s willingness to develop CVE strategies.

o The ROK has also joined the international society’s CVE efforts, including through the President’s participation in adopting Resolution 2178 and Second Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul’s participation in the White House Summit on CVE.

3. By raising awareness of relevant ROK officials and experts on CVE, the forthcoming workshop is expected to serve as an opportunity to examine potential risk factors that can instigate violent extremism in the ROK and to develop better counter-terrorism policies.

o The workshop will also help increase the ROK’s contribution to global CVE cooperation by enhancing its relations with the Hedayah Center, a renowned professional organization in the CVE area.


*unofficial translation