Korea Forest Service Minister Lee Don-koo said he would seek North Korea’s participation in the 10th U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification conference that opens Oct. 10 in Changwon, a southeastern city of South Korea.

Speaking at a news conference in Daejeon on Wednesday, Minister Lee said he will try to persuade North Korea, whose land is in the process of being desolated, to attend the global forum.

The move is in line with the South Korean government’s efforts to raise global awareness of the severity of the desertification problem in Northeast Asia and to draw international attention toward the issue, according to the minister.

The South Korean government may ask for North Korea’s participation in the Changwon forum when forestry officials in the South will be given an opportunity to meet their North Korean counterparts in Indonesia.

North Korean delegates are currently attending an Asian regional group meeting of the UNCCD in Bali.

North Korea is expected to call for international cooperation in its efforts to prevent land desolation and pay much attention to the Changwon conference, observers said.

For the past 10 years, the forest area in North Korea has been sharply cut by 170,000 hectares and the desolated forest area increased by 1.21 million hectares, about 20 times the size of Seoul, according to Korea Forest Service’s 2008 report.

“Korea Forest Service has already mapped out plans to help restore North Korea’s forest. Accordingly, our efforts to lead North Korea into the forum will draw attention from the international community,” said a KFS official.

Along with the conference, Minister Lee plans to do his best in making the coming conference adopt what is called “Changwon Initiative,” which will help pave the way for Korea to lead in solving desertification problems in the international community.

“Changwon Initiative is meaningful in that it provides UNCCD with a practical process to solve desertification problems,” Lee said. 

“KFS will form a partnership with the UNCCD and the U.N. Environment Programme to seek greening the dry zone to promote forestation and to restore ecosystem in developing countries hit by desertification and land desolation,” he said.

The minister also unveiled a proposal to establish a cooperation system with relevant countries in Northeast Asia to combat yellow dust and desertification.

Yellow dust is a huge seasonal problem for South Korea every year and the government has been asking for neighboring countries’ attention and cooperation in dealing with the matter.

“The general assembly to be held in Changwon will not be solely limited to discussing issues. It is the world’s first conference for all three secretaries-general from the U.N. environmental organizations to gather around to discuss global environmental matters,” Lee said.

He also emphasized this event will be a chance for Korea to play a critical role in exploring land desertification and degradation.

The three secretaries-general from the U.N. environmental organizations include Luc Gnacadja from the UNCCD, Ahmed Djoghlaf from the Convention on Biological Diversity, and Christiana Figueres from U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Along with them, the secretary-general of the UNEP and the head of other environment-related organizations plan to visit Changwon as well. Over 90 multinational companies from Korea and abroad, such as Unilever, Nestle, and Cargill, will be joining the forum. They will discuss environmental issues facing the earth.

The minister also said it will be the first time that a business forum will be held on the sidelines of the main conference. Participants will discuss corporate roles in preventing desertification and investment from the private sector.

The minister’s news conference is the latest in his efforts to make the coming Changwon conference successful.

On Sept. 10 at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Beijing, the minister asked for Asian countries’ active participation in the UNCCD conference in October.

In particular, he asked for China and Taiwan’s cooperation by having separate talks with Jia Zhibang, minister of the Department of Forestry in China, and Chen Wu-Hsiung, minister of the Council of Agriculture in Taiwan.

Lee has been monitoring the desertification process over the years. Nominated for the grand prize in the Evergreen Awards in 2006, he is also co-author of Forests in the Global Balance-Changing Paradigms (2005) and Restoration of Boreal and Temperate Forests. Before serving as the KFS minister, he was a professor of agriculture and biotechnology at Seoul National University from 1981 to 2011.

By Monica Suk (monicasuk@heraldcorp.com)