Former Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri, who has shown keen interest in inter-Korean relations and 

maintained a special bond of friendship with Jeju, will pay a visit to Jeju to attend the Jeju Forum for Peace and 

Prosperity 2017 (hereafter the Jeju Forum) that will be held on the theme of “Sharing a Common Vision for 

Asia’s Future” at the International Convention Center Jeju from May 31 to June 2, 2017, according to the Jeju 

Forum Secretariat.

She is going to attend the opening ceremony of the Jeju Forum that will take place at 10:20 a.m. on the first day 

of June and is set to take part in the general debate of the World Leaders Session, which will provide her with a 

suitable platform to connect, share her ideas, and reach out to others, particularly with regard to how Asia will 

work together for a cooperative future and realize universal peace and happiness. 

Megawati Sukarnoputri, who ruled the country from July 2001 to October 2004 as the country’s fifth and first 

female president, is the daughter of Indonesia’s first president, Sukarno. She currently serves as a leader of the 

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle which is also the party of the current President of Indonesia, Joko 

Widodo. She has long been widely known and acclaimed for her immense contribution that has been made to 

help him win the presidential election. 

Megawati, who travelled to Seoul and Pyongyang in 2002, have maintained and developed friendly relations with 

Jeju as an island of world peace. During her visit to Jeju in 2013, she said, “what impressed me most is that Jeju 

as an island of peace takes the lead in attempting to thaw the current impasse in the inter-Korean ties,” while at 

the same time rating highly Jeju’s own projects that have been developed to promote future-oriented inter-Korean 

exchanges and cooperation, including sending mandarins to North Korea.

Governor of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Won Heeryong responded warmly by asking her to serve 

as the highest-ranking envoy for improving inter-Korean relations and realizing the vision for the Jeju Island as 

the island of world peace, in a meeting with her during his visit to Indonesia in August 2015.

Megawati was appointed to the honorary title of Jeju Islander in September 2015 especially due to her invaluable 

contributions that have been made to bring the island’s well-preserved natural environment and rich natural 

resources to the attention of the international community and to promote the Jeju Samdasoo’s exports in the 

Indonesian market.

Megawati had been scheduled to visit Jeju to be awarded with a certificate proclaiming her an ‘Honorary 

Islander,’ albeit cancelled due to the country’s domestic problems. She is also widely known to have been deeply 

impressed with Jeju’s efforts to transform itself into an East Asian mecca frequented by medical tourists. The 

‘Megawati Garden’ in the Health Resort THE WE, located in Seogwipo city, has been named after Former 

Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri, thereby contributing to further promoting a constructive and 

harmonious relationship between Jeju and Indonesia.