A teenage Korean-American environmentalist will visit North Korea soon to convey his proposal for a peace zone in the inter-Korean border to Kim Jong-il.
Thirteen-year-old Jonathan Lee left Seoul on Tuesday to deliver to Chinese President Hu Jintao his suggested “children’s peace forest” in the truce village of Panmunjeom.
He will then make a trip to North Korea.
Though the North Korean regime may not acknowledge his suggestion right away, he finds it meaningful to visit the communist state and make the issue official, Lee said before his departure from Seoul.
The teenager earlier sent similar letters to President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President Barack Obama, requesting that all countries cooperate on the peace zone.
The “children’s peace forest” is, he explained, a theme park where the long-separated Korean children may meet and communicate freely.
It is also to act as a symbol of peace in the Korean Peninsula, he said.
The young environmentalist was recognized publicly when the media shined a light on his cartoon “Go GreenMan,” an online series which has been published since 2007.
He was also known for his green campaign for children, suggesting that every child plant one tree per year.
Lee is presently leading an environmental group for youth around the world, called the International Cooperation of Environmental Youth.
Lee took an interest in inter-Korean issues in 2007 upon hearing the speech by former President Kim Dae-jung at the annual celebration of the June 15 Joint Declaration, which was adopted in 2000.
Kim, who had initiated an engagement policy toward North Korea inspired the young activist to graft the idea of inter-Korean peace onto his passion for the environment, he said.
Last Aug. 15 last year, when Korea marked its 64th Liberation Day, he was also invited by the current president to participate in the opening of the Green Growth Museum for Korea.
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