Gwangju peace summit brings former presidents, Nobel laureates

Poets and former heads of state in attendance, will discuss peace on Peninsula

The 2006 Gwangju Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates will be held at the Kim Dae Jung Convention Center there June 15-17, with former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, former Korean president Kim Dae-jung, and other Nobel peace laureates in attendance.

City officials say that in addition to the two former presidents, eight other Nobel winners will participate, including Wangari Maathai of Kenya, Shirin Ebadi of Iran, Jose Ramos Horta of East Timor, Rigoberta Menchu Tum of Guatemala, and Mairead Corrigan-Maguire of the United Kingdom. Seven Nobel Peace Prize-winning organizations will also be represented, namely the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Amnesty International, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the American Friends Service Committee, the International Red Cross, and the International Peace Bureau. The Dalai Lama accepted an invitation to the event, but will be unable to come because the South Korean government is reluctant to grant him a visa, most likely due to concerns about relations with China.

Former speaker of the lower house of the Japanese Diet Takako Doi, former Norwegian prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, and former Rice University (USA) president Malcolm Gillis will also attend the event.

On June 16, participants will begin by visiting the national cemetery for victims of the 1980 Gwangju massacre. They will then participate in an international academic seminar titled "The Gwangju Democracy Campaign and Peace on the Korean Peninsula." On the final day of the summit, participants will issue a joint statement to be called the "Gwangju Peace Declaration."