A total of 110 journalists from 74 countries on Monday called for inter-Korean peace and worldwide cooperation at the World Journalist Conference that kicked off earlier the same day.

“There is serious concern over the recent increase in tension on the Korean Peninsula, accompanied by fear of a crisis situation, raising the need for immediate dialogue to seek a viable solution,” they said in the World Journalists’ Declaration for Peace on the Korean Peninsula. 

The conference, hosted by the Journalists Association of Korea, is intended to forge ties among journalists and to discuss the future of journalism in the rapidly changing media environment.

At the event scheduled to be held through Sunday, Prime Minister Chung Hong-won gave a welcome speech while Foreign Minister Yoon Byung-se and Korea Foundation President Kim Woo-sang spoke on the Park Geun-hye government’s diplomatic policy and international exchanges, respectively, on Monday.

The journalists, including International Federation of Journalists head Jim Boumelha, will be visiting various sites, including SK Telecom headquarters, Samsung Digital City, and Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute to get a first-hand look into the Korean IT industry. They will also visit the Suncheon Bay Garden Expo in South Jeolla Province and Changwon Marine Park in South Gyeongsang Province.

About 20 of them will on Wednesday visit Dokdo, which has been the subject of controversy over their ownership between Korea and Japan for decades.

Some will also visit the demilitarized zone.

“This will be an opportunity to highlight the peace and security on the Korean Peninsula amid the recent tensions between the two Koreas,” the organizers said in a press release.

“The visit to Dokdo is also expected to deliver our message that Dokdo is part of Korean territory in the contexts of history, geography and international law,” they added.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)