[MANNAM World News] North youth group given nod to visit for UN event

Seoul has approved a visit from a group of young North Koreans to Gwangju that will participate in a UN-hosted international youth conference as a conciliatory mood settles over the peninsula.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which is in charge of all inter-Korean affairs, announced yesterday its decision to allow three North Koreans to visit the South along with an official from Pyongyang as their guardian. Relations between the two countries have entered a bright patch recently, with the joint Kaesong Industrial Complex reopening and reunions coming up for families split by the 1950-53 Korean War.
The three teenagers, whose identities have not been revealed, will take part in the seventh Youth Leadership Program being held at Honam University in the southwestern city of Gwangju. The event begins Thursday and will run through Sept. 13.
The four will arrive at Incheon International Airport via Beijing on Wednesday and leave on Sept. 4.
Hosted by the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (Unosdp) three or four times a year, the program provides leadership training for young people between the ages of 18 and 25 from developing countries, where they rarely get a chance to experience such education
The conference first convened in Doha in 2012.
During their 13-day stay, a total of 34 adolescents from 19 regions in Asia and Oceania will participate in a variety of programs including sports competitions, leadership lectures and Korean cultural activities.
Participation fees are all covered by the UN, with the accommodation provided by the Gwangju city government. Flights for all participants have been covered by Korean Air.
On Friday, North Korea sent a list of the three youths and the chaperon to the Unosdp headquarters that was handed over to the Gwangju city government. The city then asked the Unification Ministry for approval for the visit.

source: http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2976356


I  can only hope that many group of young people want to be shared equally and discuss world peace through the Youth Leatdership program.
There are few Korean people who do not long for the unification of South and North Korea.
MANNAM Volunteer also wish for world peace, and we are moving to world peace.
I hope that the day of reunification would come as soon as possible.

[MANNAM World News] North Korea offers chance for talks with United States

North Korea has said it wants to have high-level talks with the United States in a bid to ease tension in the region.
The move comes just days after the North called off plans for talks with South Korea, intended to mend ties between the two countries. The meeting would have been the first in more than two years.
North Korea blamed the cancellation on the South for scuttling discussions.
North Korea says Washington can pick the date and place for talks and the two sides can discuss a range of issues. However it added that no preconditions should be attached.
Earlier this year, North Korea threatened nuclear and
 missile strikes against South Korea and the United States after
 it was hit with U.N. sanctions following a nuclear weapons
 test.
Pyongyang says it will be happy to discuss disarmament but the world, including its southern neighbor, should also be denuclearised.
It also wants the US to sign a peace treaty formally ending the 1950-53 Korean War that divided the two Koreas.

Source: http://www.euronews.com/2013/06/16/north-korea-offers-chance-for-talks-with-united-states/

The need for a mutuality of understanding between the nations of the world is of greater importance today than ever before for the world peace.
An opportunity that I hope It will have good new  in Korea, too, further more there will be peace all over the globe.
World peace is the greatest prize of all.
I believe such efforts will eventually lead to a peaceful reunification of the South and the North.
Why don't we work for peace together through MANNAM Volunteer Association and learn about the importance of world peace?

[MANNAM] May 8th. Parents' Day in South Korea (1)

Parents' Day is a holiday similar to a combination of Father's Day and Mother's Day.

In South Korea, May is called "Month for Families" as there are Labor Day(5.1), Children's Day(5.5), Parents' Day(5.8), Adoption Day(5.11, since 2006), Teacher's Day(5.15), Coming of age Day(5.16, since '73), Husband & Wife's Day(5.21, since 2007) and so on.

In 1956, Mother's Day was established, then in 1973, it was changed to Parents' Day. Some said fathers complained about being unappreciated their sacrifices and hard work for their children. To me, it seems more reasonable to celebrate the day for both parents, since the moderns are too busy to hather with their families twice in a month.

The original principle of establishing the day was to honor parents for their devotions to their children, but soon it became commercialized just like Christmas has become. Therefore, it might be a good opportunity to think about the day's true meaning instead of just surfing on the internet for gift sets.

Parents' Day in the United States
The United States celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. In the 1880s and 1890s there were several attempts to establish a Mother's Day, but they didn't succeed beyond the local level. The holiday was created by Anna Jarvis in Grafton, West Virginia, in 1908 as a day to honor one's mother. Jarvis wanted to accomplish her mother's dream of making a celebration for all mothers, although the idea didn't thak off untill she enlishted the services of wealthy Philadelphia merchant John Wanamaker.

she kept promotingthe holiday until President Woodrow Wilson made it an official national holiday in 1914. The holiday eventually became so highly commercialied that many, including its founder, Anna Jarvis, considered it a "Hallmark Holiday", i.e. one with an overwhelming commercial purpose. Jarvis eventually ended up opposing the holiday she had helped to create. She died in 1948, regretting what had become of her holiday. In the United States, Mother's Day remains one of the biggest days for sales of flowers, greeting cards, and the like; it is also the biggest holiday for long-distance telephone calls.

[MIYC] Article on the INDIA newspaper about 10km peace

Article from INDIA

Appeal to ease the tension by Shanti march (Peace March):

Atmosphere of tension is maintained all over the Korean peninsula because of the inflammatory statements and threats by North Korea On Sunday, at South Korea's capital Seoul, thousands of youth walk out for 10 kilometer Peace March and appeal to North Korea to establish the peace by stress reduction. This Peace March was organized by
an international NGO, called “MANNAM”.
As known, deep stress in Korean peninsula rose last month when North Korea threaten its neighbor country South Korea for nuclear attack on and turn the missiles on its side.