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Germany.

By Seok Jin-hwan, Blue House correspondent

While President Park Geun-hye has engaged in “sales diplomacy” on most of the overseas trips she has made since her inauguration, emphasizing economic cooperation, her visits to the Netherlands and Germany are focused on security and unification.

After discussing how to work together on the North Korean nuclear issue in a trilateral conference with Japan and the US and talking about mutual cooperation during a meeting with China, both of which are likely to occur during the Nuclear Security Summit, Park is expected to move forward with her plans for unification during her visit to Germany from Mar. 25 to 28.

The agenda item during Park’s time in Germany that is attracting the most attention is a speech scheduled for Mar. 28. “Park will be visiting Dresden University of Technology - the best-known university in former East Germany and one of Germany’s top-five universities - to receive an honorary doctorate and to deliver an address,” said Ju Cheol-gi, Blue House secretary for foreign affairs and security, during a Mar. 21 press briefing on Park’s visit to Germany.

In the past, South Korean presidents, including Kim Young-sam in 1995, Kim Dae-jung in 2000, Roh Moo-hyun in 2005 and Lee Myung-bak in 2011, have utilized visits to Germany as opportunities to announce their policies on unification and North Korea. Figures associated with the Blue House believe it is very likely that Park will use this speech as a chance to reveal a new plan about inter-Korean relations, which may come to be known as the Dresden Plan. Some analysts suggest that Park - who has been taking control of movement toward unification by talking about “jackpot unification” at the beginning of the year and subsequently setting up a preparatory committee for unification - may reveal a more specific plan for unification while also sending a special message to North Korea.

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