Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon, Founder & Chairman of the Global Peace Foundation, delivers the keynote address at a banquet commemorating the 80th anniversary of Korean’s Liberation Day.

Watch the keynote address at the 2025 Action for Korea United banquet.

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Honorable guests, ladies and gentlemen:

On this auspicious occasion, it is a great honor to address such a distinguished gathering of Korean patriots and supporters of our efforts for Korea’s peaceful reunification. In particular, I would like to recognize and thank the Hon. Chung Woon Chan, former Prime Minister of Korea and the Convener of Korean Dream Hangang Festa organizing committee, Hon. Chung Woo Taek, Co-Chair of the organizing committee, Hon. Kim Jin Pyo, the former speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Chung Dong Yeong, the Minister of Unification, and Hon. Song Seok Joon, member of the National Assembly.

I would like to also thank our leaders from around the world who have joined us today. H.E. Vinicio Cerezo, Former President of Guatemala, H.E. Jamil Mahuad, Former President of Ecuador, H.E. R. Amarjargal, Former Prime Minister of Mongolia, H.E. Anthony Kenny, Former Prime Minister of St. Lucia, H.E. Luis Castiglioni, Former Vice President of Paraguay. I want to also welcome all the leaders gathered here from around the world representing government, diplomacy, business, media and civil society.

We are gathered here to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Korean people’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule. Over these eight decades we have seen remarkable transformations, especially here in the South. Yet, today, we face a turbulent, divided present, and an uncertain future. Old frameworks are crumbling, and we can no longer rely on past certainties to chart a path to the future.

What is it that we can truly celebrate today? The liberation of Korea at the end of World War II opened a window of historic opportunity. It was a time of hope when the ideals and aspirations of the Sam Il Independence movement rooted in the Korean people’s founding vision of Hong-Ik Ingan- “to broadly live for the benefit humanity”- breathed life into the dream of creating a new western-style constitutional republic that was “united, independent, and free.” Tragically, that was not to be. Instead, we experienced the division of the peninsula and, ultimately, a civil war between the Korean people with contrary visions of a future, unified Korea.

It is time to take stock, to understand from where we came from, where we stand today, and where we can find the clear vision and sense of national purpose that will guide us to a brighter future. The significance of this moment for the current reality of the peninsula and the future of our people cannot be overstated.

 

The Beginning of Korea’s Modern Era

The 20th century was the most consequential century for the Korean people and the peninsula. With its annexation into the Japanese empire in 1910, the Korean nation and civilization was on the brink of extinction as Japan’s policy of forceful integration sought to stamp out its language, culture and, most importantly, its historic identity. The utter brutality of their rule, fueled by their anti-Korean sentiments, triggered widespread condemnation and a growing grassroots movement for independence.

With the end of the First World War, President Wilson’s 14 Points raised the hopes of colonized nations, offering them the prospect of eventually attaining national sovereignty. However, the European powers, their manpower and economic reserves depleted by the war, had no interest of relinquishing their colonial holdings; nor, did Japan, since it sought to be accepted into the elite circle of the Western colonial powers in addition to pursuing its own ambition of expanding Japanese Imperial rule over the rest of Asia. Although the idea of national self-determination for colonized peoples died in the halls of Versailles, President Wilson’s initiative sparked the kindling of nationalist movements with a universal moral tone that harkened to the American Declaration of Independence and would, eventually, lead to collapse of the colonial system.

The first of those movements happened here in Korea. The March 1st (Sam-Il) movement mobilized more than ten percent of the population around the Korean Declaration of Independence in a series of peaceful demonstrations throughout the peninsula and the diaspora. It drew heavily from the American Declaration with ideas of “the equality of all nations,” liberty” and “inalienable” rights. It highlighted the need for enlightened leadership where the Korean people “entertain no spirit of vengeance towards Japan” but “to influence the Japanese Government, which is now dominated by the old idea of brute force, so that it will change and act in accordance with the principles of justice and truth.” It concludes with the implications for Korean independence for the rest of Northeast Asia and the dawning of a new era rooted in “righteousness and truth.”

The high-minded nature of the document was reflective of the spiritual leadership that made up the 33 representatives who signed the Korean Declaration of Independence. Representing the three dominant factions of the Korean religious community- Christianity, Buddhism and Cheondogyo, they sought to appeal to the universal spiritual principles and values reflected in the American Declaration since it appealed to western Judeo-Christian sensibilities on the “inalienable” right of national self-determination and, eventually, the sins of colonialism. In addition, the founders wanted to steer the more radical voices for independence away from violent insurrection to peaceful, non- violent protest since they recognized that global support was necessary for their ultimate success.

Yet, it would not be until the end of the Second World War that Korea would eventually find independence. Nevertheless, the impact of the framework they pioneered of high- minded spiritual principles and values married to non-violent protest became the winning formula for other colonized people in the post-war era, most notably in India. Later, that same model would be adopted by the Civil Rights movement in the United States by the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s to great effect, bringing an end to generational racial discrimination in the South, maintained through the policy of segregation and Jim Crow laws.

 

The Division of Korea

The end of the Second World War in 1945 led to Korean independence from Japanese rule. Unlike many other colonized nations, liberation did not lead to national self-determination; but a division along geographic and ideological lines that had nothing to do with the aspirations of the Korean independence movement. After the Japanese surrender, the United States and the Soviet Union, the occupying powers, agreed upon “zones of control” on the peninsula along the 38th parallel.

During the war, the Allied leadership had determined that post-war Korea would be placed under an “international trusteeship” until they believed that “Koreans would be deemed ready for self-rule.” It was understood that the occupational zones were temporary until the trusteeship could be implemented.

Understandably, the Korean people opposed the idea of a “trusteeship.” Liberation should have led to their own process of self-determination without the interference of outside powers. Yet, that is exactly what transpired. The heightening tension of the Cold War, eventually, led to the breakdown in negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union by 1947 and, thereby, effectively ended the only existing framework for an independent unified Korea by the great powers.

The matter of Korea’s future was then passed over to the nascent United Nations. It sought to oversee national elections that would form a united government for the divided peninsula by 1948. The Soviet Union chose not to comply with UN-supervised elections, so they were held only in the South. This led to the formation of the Republic of Korea on August 15, 1948, staying true to its independence roots, while the North established the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea a few weeks later on September 9 under the dictatorship of Kim Il-Sung.

However, in hindsight, the possibility of a national election for the divided Koreas under UN supervision was naïve wishful thinking in the vortex of Cold War geopolitics. The Soviet Union had no interest in relinquishing control over their zones of influence in Eastern Europe and now in Korea. In addition, the civil war in China was going badly for the Kuomintang-led government against the Chinese communist Party and, by 1949, their defeat on the mainland would lead to the formation of the People’s Republic of China. Korea was swept up into these global currents and its fate as a divided nation sealed to this day.

Thus, the division of the peninsula was a “foreign construct” that had nothing to do with the aspirations of the Korean people and their movement for independence and self- determination. Their dreams and aspirations were brushed aside like a sacrificial pawn on the global chessboard of great powers seeking to shape the future of Northeast Asia.

Yet, their interference on the peninsula and their vision for the region is what shaped the reality that we have today. One must remember that nothing is created in a vacuum, the end effect is the accumulated consequences of past actions.

 

The Current Reality of the Divided Koreas and Northeast Asia

Where do we stand 80 years later? The Korean people are still divided, and the aspirations of the Sam Il movement remain unfulfilled. The two Koreas hold diametrically opposed worldviews and have travelled very different paths: the DPRK has become a repressive, dictatorial, nuclear-armed state, that threatens regional and global security and whose population live in dire poverty; the ROK, on the other hand, has transitioned from a dysfunctional and corrupt republic into a military dictatorship and, now, back to a liberal democracy, in form at least. Despite all the political upheavals, it has become an economic and cultural powerhouse globally due to the industry of its people.

At the end of the Korean War, South Korea was a devastated land with an agricultural economy at the same level as the poorest countries in the Sahel region of Africa. It had no industry and no natural resources to speak of. Its only resource was the spirit of its people. They went to work to create a strong, prosperous nation, capable of standing firm against any future attacks from the North. The result was the Miracle on the Han. It enabled the Republic of Korea to be globally recognized as a prosperous, technologically advanced society.

But it came at a heavy price. Without an animating vision rooted in some deeper national purpose, it was willing to offset its most sacred cultural institution-the traditional Korean extended family model- for the sake of materialism and progressive views on gender roles, marriage and family, falsely thinking that those ideas reflected modernity. The family is the foundational cornerstone of any civilization and reflects the cultural history and identity of a people. Today, the South is paying for that mistake with the breakdown of the traditional Korean family model that is directly attributable to its alarming demographic crisis.

The South has the lowest birthrate in the world of 0.7, well below replacement level of 2.1. Although surveys show that many young people are not getting married because of the high cost of housing and children’s education, economic factors alone cannot explain the dramatic decline in fertility when previous generations had large families despite financial hardships. The real reason for this shift is the changing perceptions on marriage and family, reflective of the symptoms in every other developed nation in the world.

The second biggest problem is the chaebol system that gave rise to “Crony capitalism” and a militant labor movement. It was an anachronistic holdover from the military dictatorship where the national policy of industrialization led to a toxic brew of political, financial and chaebol collusion to kickstart the South’s economy. Yet, today, its legacy leads to legal, financial and regulatory hurdles that stifle competition and economic diversity. The four biggest players have revenues equal to 40 percent of GDP. In 2019, 64 chaebols were worth 84 percent of GDP, yet employed only 10 percent of the workforce.

The third problem is tied to the South’s primarily export driven economy centered on the chaebols. This becomes acutely problematic in the era of American protectionist policies under President Donald Trump since the US is the second largest trading partner after China. The Trump tariffs have reconfigured the global trade of goods and services and will, negatively impact trading partners like the ROK that traditionally enjoyed no tariffs on its products in the US market while maintaining protectionist policies at home.

According to the World Bank, Korea’s exports made up 44 percent of GDP in 2023, compared with just under 22 percent for Japan, and just over 20 percent for China. Korea’s export led economy is uniquely vulnerable to the impact of tariffs. Although the current South Korean regime negotiated a trade deal with the US, the 15% flat tax on Korean goods and its commitment to invest hundreds of billions into American key industries is already having deleterious effects. The long-term solution is an expanding domestic market but with the fertility crisis and the breakdown of the Korean family this seems to be an impossibility.

The Miracle on the Han has hit its peak and will face a sharp decline. There is urgent need for reform and renewal in every sphere of national life – politics, economics, society and culture. Such renewal will only come through a fresh vision and national purpose that all citizens and segments of society can unite around and work towards as our parents worked in the post-war period.

 

Korean Reunification

The challenge for the peninsula, today, is a unifying vision that can bring its many disparate parts together rooted in a renewed Korean identity that speaks to all Koreans, both North and South, and in the diaspora. Being a man of deep faith, I am reminded of Proverbs 29:18, “where there is no vision, the people perish.”

The vision for this new age is the Korean Dream. It will not only engender a rebirth of Korean culture and historical heritage but reconnect all Koreans to the providential calling of our people rooted in our founding ideals of Hong-Ik Ingan, “to live for the benefit of all humanity.” We will then create an ideal nation that marries the best of Korea with the modern world. The reality of South Korea that I outlined earlier makes it clear that this is an inflection point in its history with major cultural, institutional, structural, political and economic challenges going forward. The only comprehensive vision that charts the path forward is the Korean Dream.

It is also a transitional moment for the North, as well, with no apparent successor to the Kim legacy and the slow unraveling of its regime with its unprecedented level of defections among the DPRK’s elite, unlike any other moment in its history. The North’s recent position to abandon its national goal of unification speaks volumes to its unwitting acceptance that they no longer have a compelling vision for unifying the peninsula. This is significant since his grandfather, Kim Il-Sung, started the Korean War in 1950 to forcefully bring about unification. The goal of unification had been the “raison d’etre” for the creation of both Koreas and for the North to voluntarily relinquish that claim speaks volumes about the current reality of that regime.

The world should view the DPRK’s efforts to bypass and ignore the South to once again establish dialogue with the United States as a feeble effort to gain global legitimacy in pursuing a permanent two-state solution on the peninsula. The Trump administration should not entertain their overtures since the North would never give up their nukes through any negotiated settlement with the United States. The only real path to denuclearization is the peaceful unification of the two Koreas. At Camp David in 2023, the United States and Japan already committed to supporting the peaceful reunification of Korea if such an event were to happen. This current administration should stand by that commitment.

I would go as far as to say that Kim Jong-Un abandoned unification because he knew that he could not compete with the Korean Dream in offering a unifying vision for the peninsula. His intelligence services must be aware of its influence in the highest circle of Korean society, let it be in the media, entertainment, academia, politics and business communities. He must also be aware that the largest grassroots movement for unification in South Korean history is an initiative I have founded called the Action for Korea United (AKU). Most importantly, the thirty thousand defectors that reside in Korea as well those in the United States and Japan have rallied around the Korean Dream and the AKU movement as their only real hope to realize unification and be reunited with their relatives in the North.

He must also be aware of my family legacy. The significance of my grand uncle’s, Rev. Moon Yoon-guk, role in the formation of the Korean Declaration of Independence and his leadership in the Sam-il movement for liberation. He knows about the history of my father, the late Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, and his grandfather, Kim Il-Sung. Although my father devoted his entire life to fight the evils of communism, after experiencing its horrors in a North Korean concentration camp in Hungnam, in order to open a path toward unification, he was willing to go, in 1991, to the very regime that had tried to kill him and his family countless times and had perpetrated such great evil on the Korean people and nation. His fearless courage and utter sincerity in his convictions was said to have moved even Kim Il-Sung to the point that he told my father that he was the only one that he could trust outside the North.

So, it is fair to say that the unrivaled vision for a unified Korea is the Korean Dream. It is just a matter of time when it takes hold in the hearts of all Koreans as well as inspire countless others around the world. The Korean Dream was meant to be shared and owned by all who seek to fulfill its goal. I have often quoted Chingis Khan who is reputed to have said: “If one person has a dream, it is just a dream, but if all people have that dream, it becomes reality.” If the dream for a unified Korea I outlined in my book, Korean Dream: A Vision for a Unified Korea, was shared and owned by all Koreans, I know that unification will certainly come. Just as the collapse of the Berlin Wall came without any warning, so too will Korean unification.

 

The Korean Dream

The Korean Dream seeks to create a new nation, aligned with the aspirations of our ancestors throughout our five-thousand-year history, to fulfill the Hong-Ik Ingan mandate of Heaven. It clarifies the “foreign construct” of the Cold War framework that the peninsula has been struggling with for the past eight decades and recognizes the shortcomings of both South and North Korea. The only way to break out of that framework is the formation of a new nation that harkens back to the hopes of the Sam-Il movement that launched the modern era for our people. But, unlike the geo-political circumstances that hindered our forefathers’ dreams, today we carry the moral authority as the only people that has been deprived of the opportunity to shed the colonial legacy and ideological divide of the 20th century.

The creation of the nation of our dreams will be a prerogative that the world would fully embrace and support. It would also address the fundamental political, social and economic issues plaguing the South and free the people in the North from bondage under the Kim regime. Unification will be a marriage made in Heaven since the very thing the ROK needs to maintain the Miracle on the Han is what the North has. It will provide an additional 25 million people who speak the same language and share the same culture while substantially increasing our workforce and our domestic consumer markets with young people that can fuel a second miracle.

This will be necessary to support the transition of our economy from a primarily export- driven to a balanced one. It would also provide tremendous opportunities in infrastructure as well as other developments, stimulating the stagnant construction industries in the South. It will provide a host of strategic rare earth minerals and other natural resources the South doesn’t have. In addition, it will open the peninsula up and connect it to the rest of Asia, sharing borders with China and Russia; thus, further stimulating trade and other opportunities.

Most importantly, it will unite our divided people and families that have suffered far too long. It will finally bring an end to the legacy of colonialism and the Cold War that led to our division and open a new era in the history of our people and civilization. For, the nation that arises out of the ashes of the past will be a model nation that marries the best of Korea with the modern world and be the inspiration for all developing nations in the southern hemisphere that have had a similar history. As the Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore prophesied in poetic prose: “In the Golden Age of Asia, Korea was one of the lamp-bearers, that lamp awaits to be lighted once again for the illumination of the East.”

That light is the Korean Dream, and the light-bearer will be our new nation aligned to our providential calling of “living for the benefit of humankind.”

 

Conclusion

Today, South Korea stands more divided than ever. The political machinations and scandals surrounding the impeachment of the former president are a national disgrace and are exacerbating that divide. The only movement that can unite the disparate factions of the ROK is AKU and the Korean Dream movement for unification.

That is why I propose that the current government: 1) adopt the Korean Dream vision since the former government already adopted its platform, 2) dissolve the Ministry of Unification and install a non-governmental advisory committee in order to take the politics out of the unification agenda, and 3) make the Korean Dream vision a mandatory curriculum in all primary and secondary schools.

The unification agenda can and will be the issue that brings Koreans together. I pray that this current regime will receive Heaven’s wisdom and seek to heal the fissures and wounds of our broken land.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is especially in times of crisis that we can see clearly the path we must take. We live at a historic crossroads in a time when the fate of the peninsula and our people lie in our hands. Today, we are celebrating the 80th anniversary of Korean liberation from Japanese rule. The number eight represents a “new beginning.” As a man of deep faith, I believe that divine providence is guiding us to undo the mistakes of the past and lead our people to the promised land of unification centered upon the Korean Dream.

We represent the Korean people on the peninsula and around the world. Unlike our ancestors who were shuttlecocks in the field of great power politics, we will not be trifled with and succumb to the whims of others. In line with the aspirations of our ancestors, we will spread the Korean Dream vision to every corner of this land as the Sam-Il movement did more than a hundred years ago. We will empower every Korean, in the North, South and Diaspora to be the owner of this dream and join us in realizing it together.

Those of you who pledge to stand with me to realize the Korean Dream rise and shout Aju. Aju. Aju.

May God bless you and your families.

2023 Global Peace Leadership Conference Indo Pacific

Keynote Address

 

Welcome & Greetings

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:

It is my great honor to be with you here in India, the cradle of an ancient spiritual civilization in the heart of Asia.

I want to thank my good friend Dr. Markandey Rai, chairman of GPF India, as well as our convening partners, the Indian Council for International Cooperation, Manav Rachna University, and Yuvsatta Youth for Peace, for organizing this important convening. So, give them all a round of applause.

I am also pleased to acknowledge the many important Indian spiritual teachers as well as key leaders from around the Indo-Pacific region, including Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia and Africa. Please give them all a round of applause.

Your participation is very meaningful as this vast region will play a central role in determining the future direction of humanity and the prospects for peace and prosperity in this region.

State of the World Today

Ladies and gentlemen, the world is in crisis.

The rise of “Woke” politics is challenging the traditional Judeo-Christian values and classic liberal views of the West and its institutions from within. There is an alarming cacophony of conflicting ideas about society and the human condition, from the nature of the state to individual identity and gender relations. The result has been widespread political and social instability, uncertainty, and moral confusion.

The liberal ideals of western democracies rooted in individual freedoms and “inalienable” rights are being undermined for the sake of collective conformity with almost religious fervor. Although the end of the Cold War revealed the evils of socialism and communism, a new secular Marxist worldview is taking hold in the West, uprooting its values, norms, traditions and institutions.

This unfortunate reality is eroding the common ground upon which society can stand as both progressive and traditional sides become more polarized, creating an untenable situation. This “Woke” orthodoxy is not content just to undermine the traditional values upon which Western democracy stands, sowing discord within. It seeks to export its ideas to other cultures such as those of India, East Asia, and traditional African societies and twist their values into its own distorted image.

In the realm of geopolitics, we are witnessing the rise of assertive statist powers that are prepared to impose their will on their neighbors, reminiscent of the actions taken by totalitarian regimes of the last century that led to two World Wars and the Cold War. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia was a shock to most in the West that had become complacent about Putin’s ambition to restore the territorial influence of the former Soviet Union. Heading into the second year of the war, there seems to be no end in sight for the near term as Ukraine seeks to regain its lost territories and Russia fortifies its positions.

Here in Asia, China has made it clear that it is prepared to violate Taiwanese sovereignty, even by force, under its “One China” policy. That is why so many experts are concerned by the war in Ukraine since many believe that Chinese authorities are studying that conflict and its implications for their invasion of Taiwan. The US has preempted that concern by showing its commitment to the island’s defense through the well-publicized visit of the former Speaker Nancy Pelosi last year and the recent meeting with the current Speaker McCarthy and Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen.

The threat to Taiwan and China’s intent on controlling the South China Sea, the world’s most vibrant trade route, through the creation of military island bases has raised alarm among all its neighbors in the Pacific. These provocative moves have led the US and its allies to join in a variety of new organizations. The Quad treaty of the US, Australia, India and Japan, advanced by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, was considered the “Asian NATO” in response to the rising threat of China. The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity of 2022 represented fourteen regional nations with a combined economic output of 40% of the world’s GDP as a counter to China’s efforts to economically influence the region.

These developments and President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Russia and the Middle East are beginning to solidify the emerging lines between the free world and the world under Chinese influence.

The Rise of the Indo-Pacific and the Need for Guiding Spiritual Principles

Ladies and gentlemen, the tides of history are shifting from the Atlantic sphere to the Indo-Pacific. 

In this geopolitical environment, any nation that cherishes the ideals of fundamental freedom and human rights would clearly be wise to align with the US and its democratic allies. For the threat that China poses is the rise of totalitarian statist regimes that challenges the ideal of liberty. It is important to note that, although China has adopted some aspects of a market system, it never relinquished its one-party communist rule or the Maoist revolution; and it never embraced democracy nor the ideals of liberty that form the foundation of the free world.

Given this threat to liberty, the confusion being spread by the “Woke” Left in all western democracies is even more alarming. At no time in human history should the West be clearer about its core values and whence its freedom and rights derive. Many of the activists living in the West, however, take them for granted, failing to recognize the hard-won religious and philosophical milestones, rooted in the Judeo-Christian ethic, that gave birth to them.

The formation of the United States of America in 1776, through its Declaration of Independence from the British empire, planted the seeds of those ideals with its pregnant second sentence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The foundational premise in those immortal words is that human freedom and rights come from the transcendent power of God, our Creator, and not any human authority or institution; and that they are “unalienable.” In our current global circumstances, there is an urgent need to clarify and uplift that time-honored universal spiritual principle. It is important that we understand which ideas will lead to a peaceful, harmonious future and which will dissolve social bonds, leading to chaos and anarchy.

What is important to note is that all democracies are not truly free, as was the case in ancient Greece and even the Roman Empire; nor are they immune from the tyranny of mob-rule. Such spiritual principles provide the much-needed compass to navigate through rapidly changing norms and guide humanity toward God’s original ideal, which I believe, is rooted first and foremost in families centered on the original, creative love of God. We do not have to look far to find evidence of these universal principles. 

We can find them in the great faith traditions that have preserved, taught, and practiced those time-honored traditions that point to the innate value of human life and the proper order in human relationships, especially in the family, as well as to virtues by which to live. Throughout history, God has inspired the founding of various faith and wisdom traditions to elevate human consciousness and cultivate ethical civilizations. 

It should be people of faith who lead the world to peace. I believe the vision that can unite and inspire humanity to transcend all the walls of division is none other than “One Family under God.” All faiths should cooperate and adopt this vision to build a world free of conflict, reflecting the highest spiritual ideals, rooted in universal principles and values that reflect God’s truth, righteousness, goodness and love for all humanity.

Only then will we be able to harness the power of faith to transform the world and build true everlasting peace and harmony for all. We can no longer afford to proclaim that we are all “One Family” while continuing to live in our separate boxes.

The Non-Violence Paradigm and its Korean and Indian Roots 

Ladies and gentlemen, my homeland of Korea and India share a special relationship in history that will have important implications for this century.

There is a historic connection between our two countries that goes back two millennia. In the first century CE an Indian princess, known here I believe as Suriratna, sailed to Korea, married King Suro and became the queen known to us Koreans as Heo Hwang-ok. There are memorials to her in both our countries. That marriage alliance tied our ancient civilizations and made clear that there were significant connections between our two countries at that time and ever since.

In the last century, the Korean Sam Il independence movement, launched in 1919 while the Paris Peace Conference was being held after World War I, influenced Indian independence by introducing the platform of mass non-violent protest rooted in universal spiritual truths. Two million Koreans on the peninsula, ten percent of the population, engaged in peaceful protest over two months, making it the largest demonstration of non-violent resistance up until that time.

It was in 1920 that Ghandhi then formulated satyagraha or “truth force” that became the governing philosophy behind the Indian non-violence movement. In 1929, Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, a leading thought leader of Indian independence, met with Korean students in Japan and was deeply moved by the undying aspirations of the Korean people. He immortalized those aspirations in a famous quatrain called “Lamp in the East” describing Korea as one of the ancient sources of light in Asia, waiting to be relit “for the illumination of the East.”

The main impetus for independence movements in both Korea and India in the early 20th century relied on their own ancient spiritual traditions. In the case of Korea, it was motivated by Hongik Ingan that mandated the Korean people to “live for the benefit of all humanity;” and for India, it was vasudaiva kutumbakam that proclaimed that “The World is One Family.” As a result, both movements were not driven simply by resentment toward the colonial power. Certainly, they wanted to be free of foreign rule, but each had a greater vision of a peaceful and harmonious coexistence with their oppressors as well as their neighbors after independence.

Later, this approach became the inspiration for Martin Luther King Jr and the American Civil Rights movement. Dr. King applied the spiritual principle of non-violence to prick the conscience of a nation. He looked to America’s founding creed of equality to hold the nation to account for its moral failure in its treatment of black Americans. His historic “I Have a Dream” speech did not simply condemn the injustice but called all people to renew their commitment to those founding ideals.

Similarly, in South Africa, Nelson Mandela adopted the principles of non-violence rooted in universal truths while he was in prison for his attempt to violently overthrow the apartheid government. There in prison, he learned to forgive his oppressors and later worked with then President de Klerk, in the early 1990s upon his release, to dismantle the system of segregation. He became the first president of a multi-racial South Africa in 1994 and played a central role in reconciliation between the races, being globally recognized for his work and statesmanship. 

Due to our two countries’ important legacy in shaping the most significant movements for freedom, equality and human rights of the 20^th century, I believe that our destinies, those of Korea and India, are intertwined. We have an even greater role to play in this century, as the world stands on the precipice of war and chaos. Our unique spiritual heritage and history of non-violence place us in a unique position to champion peace in the Indo-Pacific region, here in the southern heart of Asia and the pan-Pacific rim to the east, and eventually the world. 

Let me share something else that our two nations have in common. Korea is a 5,000-year-old civilization. Yet, throughout our entire history, we never invaded any of our neighbors. We were attacked and invaded over 900 times throughout the course of our history, but we never attacked our neighbors. But, because of the spiritual principles of Hongik Ingan, we internalized that suffering to be able to love humanity because of the providential mandate in our founding to live for the benefit of mankind.  That is the power of spiritual principles, our unique spiritual heritage. Let us never forget that.

The Korean Dream and Launching of a New Era

Ladies and gentlemen, before we can open a new chapter in the story of this region, we must bring a close to the last vestige of the 20th century’s tragic legacies of colonialism and Cold War geopolitics that remain on the Korean peninsula.

It is deeply ironic that the nation which initiated the paradigm of non-violent mass protest rooted in universal truths remains divided to this day, unable to realize the aspirations of the Sam-Il movement from more than a century ago, when every other colonized people, as well as nations in the Soviet sphere of influence, were eventually able to achieve national sovereignty and unification. Thus, Korean reunification is of utmost importance in setting a new precedent for peace in Asia and the world.

I have developed a new vision for unification called the Korean Dream. Unlike past efforts, it draws upon the ancient Korean philosophical ideal of Hongik Ingan, which precedes the current ideological division by millennia, to tackle the present challenge. It was the impetus behind the high moral ideals of the independence movement and gave all Koreans a sense of providential purpose to create a model nation that could “benefit all mankind.” It challenges the divided peninsula to discard the foreign construct of division and recognize its common identity and destiny.

In order to do this, I plan on relaunching the paradigm of the Sam-Il movement to bring about unification. To that end, I have created Action for Korea United (AKU), a coalition of civil society activists, organizations, NGOs and associations that represents millions of South Koreans. To date, we have more than a thousand partners united in the largest grassroots movement for unification in the history of the two Koreas.

We plan to hold peace rallies in the South that will climax in 2025 with a massive event for unification that will highlight the 80th anniversary of Korean independence from Japanese rule. Dreamers are the ones who change the world. Imagine if tens of millions of Koreans on the peninsula and the diaspora as well as supporters from around the world gathered their collective voices to demand the peaceful unification of Korea. Surely, the metaphysical and physical wall that divides the peninsula will fall and a new era will dawn for the Korean people, the Indo-Pacific and the world.

I hope and trust that the spiritual and thought leaders here will recognize the moment and give your support for the Korean Dream. The rising prominence of India in this region is evidenced by its role in hosting the upcoming G-20 meeting, drawing upon the rich heritage of Indian spirituality to create the theme of “One Earth, One Family, One Future.”  It is also noteworthy that India is convening the “C-20” of civil society counterparts to G20, giving substance to spiritual principles and values by promoting the essential value of service and the ethos of one family.

This is highly significant because of the clear recognition that politics, economics, and technology alone are inadequate to resolve the many challenges facing the world today. These challenges arise, at root, from a clash of fundamental worldviews that can only be effectively addressed by drawing on deep and ancient spiritual traditions and the universal truths they embody.

What is most important is that we recognize the universal principles that are manifested in these traditions. We are all essentially connected in the one human family, and we are one family because of our shared origin in the Creator God. Our inherent value and fundamental rights are endowed to us by God.  To encapsulate these truths in a way that all can easily grasp, I have long advocated a simple yet profound vision statement – One Family under God.

A Call to Action and New Delhi Declaration

Today, young leaders, spiritual leaders, scholars, and others from civil societies across the Indo-Pacific region have taken ownership over the vision of One Family under God.

You have concluded important discussions on its implementation in areas related to youth, education, values-based peacebuilding, and the environment. I look forward to the New Delhi Declaration you are issuing today that will outline specific initiatives that will give substance to the noble theme of this GPLC Indo-Pacific.

Today, I am announcing that the Global Peace Foundation and its partners will establish the Indo-Pacific Leadership Forum to further implement this movement fostering one global family, guided by traditions and values shared across all the cultures gathered here.  I have asked Dr. Markandey Rai to organize and lead this initiative and invite your contributions from across the nations of the Indo-Pacific.

The Leadership Forum will work in this region in a similar way to the Latin American Presidential Mission that I founded. Through it, public-minded former presidents work for the benefit of Latin America through promoting peace, cooperation among countries and spiritual and material development of the people.

I hope that each one of you will become peacebuilders in your respective spheres of influence and join with us in the great movement for global peace.

Let us all commit to become the moral and innovative leaders who invest our passion, energy and talent to serve the greatest good -for the benefit of all humanity, that together, step by step, we can finally realize the greatest dream of all, the dream of One Family under God!

Thank you, and may God bless you and your families.

At the Action for Korea United Festival on August 15, 2022, twenty thousand Korean citizens pledged to build a grassroots base that would gather 10 million people by 2025 to mark the 80th anniversary of Liberation Day. Throughout the month of February 2023, AKU held four regional rallies in Busan, Honam, Chungcheong and Daegu as part of the build up towards 2025. The final victory celebration for the series of rallies took place in the capital city of Seoul on February 21 with key leaders of the growing grassroots, civil society-led movement to realize the Korean Dream.

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It is a tremendous honor for me to be here, to be able to speak to all of you today. You represent the leadership of this nation. I’m not talking about the leaders in government, but leaders of Korean society. You represent the Korean people.

The reason why I embarked on this tour this year is to build the momentum for not only the gathering later on this year but for this entire 10-million campaign.

Why is this 10-million campaign so significant? I believe I have already told the leaders, especially of some of the associations, how significant that event will be. It will be the most significant event not only of that year but will resonate throughout this entire century.

One of the things that we have to understand is that the Korean people also set a tremendous precedent in the beginning of the 20th century, at a time when we did not have a nation, but only a dream. A dream that one day we will be able to realize the providential mandate rooted in Hongik Ingan, in building an ideal nation.

When the door was opened by the President of the United States at that time, Woodrow Wilson, through the League of Nations and also his proposal that all colonized nations should eventually have a pathway to national sovereignty, Korea was the first nation to rise up to take on that call.

The Samil movement was not a movement just relevant for Korea and for Koreans but became the inspiration for every single nation in the 20th century that sought independence and their own national sovereignty. It was the voices of the Korean people, not any leader, but the Korean people that rose up at a time of hopelessness and gave the world inspiration that eventually set the precedent for the first half of the 20th century. The Samil movement did not just shake this peninsula but the region and the world.

Today we stand in the 21st century. Many thought that the 21st century would be much better than the 20th century, and yet, look at the quagmire that the world is in today, with statist powers on the rise, of China and Russia reminiscent of the ideological divide of the Cold War of the last half century. With the war in Ukraine, we also realize that these nations are no longer working on an ideological level but now are even willing to exercise and utilize their military might. Even in this region in the world, China makes no bones about its threat to even take Taiwan by force.

So, although humanity has made tremendous progress, the world is still a dangerous place, faced with many travails. Yet at the same time, it can be an opportunity for the world to see a glimpse of hope of what this century could usher in and bring for humanity – like our ancestors did a hundred years ago.

A people with no nation, a people with no identity, holding on to our Hongik Ingan ideal and the providential mandate that we believed God had given to us, to create a nation that can benefit all of humanity; holding on to that dream, the Korean dream, that inspired a century. That spirit shall be revisited on this land once again, through this 10-million march. Aju? We shall raise the voices of the Korean people once again – the forgotten people who need hope not only for themselves but through their hope and their courage can bring hope to the rest of humanity.

Let us, as Koreans, show the world, as well as our fellow Koreans in the North and around the world in the diaspora, that we stand together as one, and we go back to our founding visionary mandate to build an ideal nation, the Korean dream, that will bring us out from this morass.

You have to remember that there are larger forces at work. As you know, I’m a man of deep faith. I come from a very, very faithful family. I believe that each and every one of you are gathered here for a reason and a purpose, that you are providential figures that are now at a critical juncture and inflection moment in the history of our people that have received the clarion call to be the owners of this dream and to inspire your Korean neighbors and to give them the hope that they need to empower them, to be the owners of this dream, so that collectively, our voices together can shake this peninsula, this region, and the world. Aju?

That is what this movement is about.

Remember what I always quote from Genghis Khan. That if one person has a dream, it is but a dream. But if everyone shares in that dream it will become a reality. For those who still need convincing, let me just tell you this: in history all the major movements for transformation never happened on the top. It was always a grassroots movement of the people that brought about the fundamental transformations of events that nobody believed could actually happen. In the 1990s, who would have believed that the Soviet Union would collapse? They were at the height of their powers. Who would have believed that the Berlin Wall would come down?

It is dreamers who are willing to put their neck out on the line and recognize that there are moments in history – inflection moments in history, consequential moments in history – that calls upon us to act, that calls upon us to become the owners. And this is that moment for the Korean people.

This time I visited four major cities, but I was telling many of the top leaders that usually in order for me to go and speak I need to have at least a minimum of 10,000 people, and that I want you to bring more young people because if you bring more young people and they take ownership over this Korean dream it will light it on fire. There are those who say the Korean young people are not interested in unification. Just bring them to my rally and let them hear my speech. Then you will see whether or not they will be the owners of the Korean dream.

Before I go, I want to leave every one of you with a challenge.

My challenge is this. This time next year, I will do these regional rallies again, especially in preparation for the million campaign later on that year. My challenge to each and every one of you is that in every single one of those locations, you have to have a minimum of 10,000 people and you have to bring many young people. That means your sons and your daughters! [Korean: Can you do that?]

I gave you that challenge. Those of you who will take ownership and will make an even greater preparation as we roll up this campaign for next year, stand up and say Aju! Aju! Aju! Aju!

At the Action for Korea United Festival on August 15, 2022, twenty thousand Korean citizens pledged to build a grassroots base that would gather 10 million people by 2025 to mark the 80th anniversary of Liberation Day.

Taegu was the fourth in a series of regional events held throughout Korea to start this work. Thousands gathered in on February 18, 2023, to expand the grassroots, citizen-led movement in the region.

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I was told that Taegu is the city and the region where great Korean patriots grow. I guess I came to the right place to give my message today.

We are living in the most consequential moment in modern Korean history. The only nation that has not been able to resolve all of the travails of the last 20th century is this nation of Korea. And yet, still today, as we’re approaching our 8th decade since liberation, still, this peninsula is divided; our people are divided.

Yet, this is a time in which the Korean people can show the world, just like it did a hundred years ago in the beginning of the 20th century, that we can set a new precedent for this 21st century. I’m sure that many Koreans are not aware that the March 1st Independence Movement of 1919 did not just affect this nation of Korea, but the entire world. We were the first people to rise to the call that all nations should be able to determine their own national sovereignty, challenging the imperialistic order of the early 20th century. That message, that precedent was not lost on this peninsula, it reverberated throughout the course of 20th century history, where all the national movements for national sovereignty were inspired by the March 1st Movement.

In three years’ time, including this year, we’re going to prepare the foundation for tens of millions of Koreans, not only in South Korea, but all around the world, to rise up and to declare to the world our demand for unification based upon the Korean Dream.

The voices of the Korean people that sparked the movement for national restoration in the 20th century shall not be forgotten to the world.  But that voice shall be found again in a new generation of Koreans, in a new century that will bring peace not only to the Korean peninsula, but to the region and to the world. That is the Korean Dream.

Now, I’m going to teach you a new word today. It’s a word that my father used, because more than anything that you should get today is that “I need to become the owner of the Korean Dream.”

Instead of saying “[Korean: I need to become the owner.]” All you have to say is “Aju.” So if I ask you, “Do you want to be an owner? Yes or no?” All you have to say is “Aju.” [Korean: Let’s try once. Aju!] [Aju!] Remember the quote I used to open my book, a quote by another Asian leader that basically transformed the last millennium of human history. It is a quote by Genghis Khan. He said, “If one person has a dream, it is but a dream. But if everyone can share in that dream it becomes a reality.” The Korean Dream is not the dream of just one man, one family, it is the dream of the entire Korean people and all of humanity.

It is rooted in the DNA of the Korean identity that goes back 5,000 years. As a student of history, one should know that the Korean founding is special among all the ancient civilizations in the world. The Hongik Ingan ideal was a providential mandate given to us by God to create a model nation that can be the benefit for all humanity. Among all the ancient civilizations, there has been none which had such lofty ideals such as this.

When I shared the Hongik Ingan ideal to even the top leaders of America, who basically pride themselves as champions of fundamental freedom and human rights, they were blown away that an ancient civilization 5,000 years ago had this founding vision. They were blown away, because they thought that such ideas were the province of the modern era that was led and founded by the United States. No. This root was part and parcel of the identity of the Korean people and the Korean civilization – 5,000 years ago. It had been the founding vision that led the Korean people to seek truth, righteousness and goodness. Although Korea was invaded more than 900 times throughout its history, it never invaded its neighbors. It’s because of the Hongik Ingan ideals. It is part and parcel to our Korean identity.

I have come here to Korea to once again reawaken that DNA that is latent in each and every one of you.  Aju! [Aju] For once that DNA reawakens within each and every one of us, and we become owners of the Korean Dream, then, we shall set the precedent for peace in this 21st century, an era that is beginning to look very dangerous in the world today.

Then, those of you who want to become the owner of the Korean Dream, stand up! Raise your hand and say, “Aju! Aju! Aju!” [Aju! Aju! Aju!] [Korean: Thank you.]

At the Action for Korea United Festival on August 15, 2022, twenty thousand Korean citizens pledged to build a grassroots base that would gather 10 million people by 2025 to mark the 80th anniversary of Liberation Day.

Chungcheon region was the third in a series of regional events held throughout Korea to start this work. Thousands gathered in on February 11, 2023 to expand the grassroots, citizen-led movement in the region.

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[Korean: Hello! Before I begin, I have a request. I will speak in English because it is more comfortable. Is that ok?] I want to thank all of you for coming today. First of all, there are too many VIPs that are gathered here today that I cannot recognize all of you so, I want to give all of you a round of applause.

The most important thing for you to take away from this gathering today is that “I have to become the owner of the Korean Dream.” 

There is a quote that I often use, a quote from Genghis Khan. Throughout history – he is the most consequential figure of the last half millennium. Basically, that quote summarizes a truth that was realized in human history –which is, “If one person has a dream, it is but a dream. But if everyone can share in that dream it can become a reality.”

Are we dreamers that are gathered here today? Yes or no? [Yes!] Then I guess I’ve come to the right place. Because I am the biggest dreamer of all, for I authored the Korean Dream, which is not only for Koreans but for the entire world.

What if I was to tell you that the Korean Dream is a dream not just for the Korean people, but a dream that can inspire all humanity in the most consequential moment of human history?

At a time when humanity faces tremendous dangers, with the rise of statists powers such as China and Russia threatening their neighbors even with war. For a generation that grew up in the Cold War, we thought that with the end of the Cold War, that there would be an era of peace. And yet, today, in the 21st century, we face even greater threats that existed in the 20th century.

In this time, humanity needs hope, a vision that can bring us from this malaise and bring a possibility of peace in the future. Humanity needs a vision. And what is that vision? The Korean Dream. [Applause]

Before I came here to Korea to start this tour, I had a private conversation with one of the most influential academics in Washington, DC. I had a chance to tell him about the AKU movement, which is the most significant grassroots movement for unification in the history of South Korea. 

There is a Ministry of Unification here in South Korea. Many people in South Korea talked about unification, but there was never a grassroots movement that represented all of the free people like we have today with AKU – never in the history of South Korea. So I told him, “What happens if we are able to mobilize, three years from now, tens of millions of not only Koreans in South Korea, but maybe in North Korea, all the Koreans in the diaspora communities of the United States, China and abroad. What will happen if we are able to mobilize tens of millions of Koreans based upon one common singular vision?” He said, “That will be the most significant, consequential event in the 21st century.” [Applause]

And I told him, “That is what I plan to do.” [Applause]

We are living in the most consequential moment of Korean history.

It was Einstein said that if you do the same effort and expect a different result, that it is insanity. And yet, for more than 70 years, now approaching 80 years, the same approach to unification has happened where we expected the two governments of North and South Korea to somehow come to an agreement upon unification without any hopes or idea of what that unification will bring. The Korean Dream changes all of that.

Its thesis is that we need to create a new nation that is rooted in the Hongik Ingan ideal that goes to our 5,00-year history and past, rooted in our providential, heavenly mandate to create an ideal nation that can serve all humanity. That was the inspiration behind our long history, the inspiration of our independence movement, of which Kim Il–Sung was a member.

Remember, both South and North Korea has its roots in the independence movement, laying claim to that entire history as well as the identity of the Korean people. An identity that is special among all the civilizations of the world that aspired for the highest, most lofty ideals that resonates with our modern values of fundamental human rights, and fundamental freedoms, 5,000 years ago. That is the Korean Dream, [Applause] that guides, through the history and the plight of the Korean people that will be liberated and free upon unification. That will be the example and the story that the world is looking for to find its way from this quagmire it is currently in today.

I’m going to teach you a word today. The thing that you have to take away from this gathering today, more than anything, is that you have to become owners. [Korean: You must become owners.] [Applause] So remember what I said, what Genghis Khan said, “If one person has a dream, it is but a dream. But if everyone can share with that dream, that will become reality.” I’m going to teach you a word, “Aju.” Much simpler to say, “Aju” than [Korean: I’m going to become an owner.] 

This is a word that my father created to basically summarize the fact that you are becoming an owner.

So, do you want to become an owner? Yes or no? Aju! [Aju!] Aju! [Aju!] Aju! [Aju!] 

Ooooh! I was told Cheonahn has tremendous patriots. I guess I was told something that’s truthful. [Applause]

To me, this gathering here is a small gathering. There was a time where I would not go and give a public message unless it was a crowd of 10,000 or more, because I was in such high demand. So, if I was to challenge you – I never will leave without a challenge – if I was to challenge you – if you want me to come and speak to you again, one year from now, then you must gather at least a minimum of 10,000 owners of the Korean Dream. Can you do that? Yes or no? [Yes!] [Applause.]
[Korea: In that case,] I heard that President Seo Inteck is famous for giving the Korean Dream lectures. I want to challenge all of you to become better lecturers of the Korean Dream than President Seo Inteck. Can you do that? Yes or no? [Applause] Aju! [Aju!] Aju! [Aju!]

So those of you who want to become that owner and to re-spark that Korean Dream DNA in your Korean neighbors, stand up. Aju! [Aju!] Aju! [Aju!] Aju! [Aju!]

[Korean: Thank you.]

 

At the Action for Korea United Festival on August 15, 2022, twenty thousand Korean citizens pledged to build a grassroots base that would gather 10 million people by 2025 to mark the 80th anniversary of Liberation Day.

Honam was the second in a series of regional events held throughout Korea to start this work. Thousands gathered in on February 4, 2023 to expand the grassroots, citizen-led movement in the region.

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I’d like to give a message that’s challenging, but at the same time that’s inspirational. But I want to first ask for permission that I could use the entire stage. I’d like to engage all of you, if that’s okay?

We live in the most consequential moment within the history of the Korean peninsula. In a world that’s plagued with tremendous crisis, especially with the rise of statist, absolutist powers right on our doorstep. The potential threat of nuclear annihilation. There are many dangers in the world today and yet, because of that contextual environment, there is the opportunity for people to recognize that there must be another way; that the status quo has not achieved to the great aspirations of our forefathers or even the aspirations that we might hold dear.

I believe it was Einstein who said that, “The definition of insanity is to do the same thing and hope for a different outcome.“ And yet, look at the efforts for unification. We are close approaching 80 years after the liberation of the Korean people from the Japanese Empire in 1945.

The dream that had inspired the liberation movement was rooted in the Hongik Ingan ideal of creating a modern, ideal nation, not just for the Korean people, but to inspire the rest of the world as to what human potential could be; what a true nation could resemble. This defined the uniqueness and the greatness of the Korean people.

As a student of history, one knows that all great civilizations have their beginning story. Yet there is only one nation amongst all the vast nations that existed in the world that had such a lofty aspiration as the Korean founding. So if you look at the entirety of human history, Korean founding ideals stand unique and special amongst all the ancient civilizations of the world.  And what was that founding ideal? Hongik Ingan: to build a nation not just for the Korean people, but for the inspiration of all of humanity.

That is why the history of the Korean people has never been a history of oppression but seeking peace, seeking truth, seeking righteousness, and seeking goodness. Our people have been invaded more than 900 times and yet we never invaded or oppressed our neighbors.

Why was that? Because of the Hongik Ingan ideal that is etched in the DNA of our very Korean identity. In this world today, that’s plagued with such tragedy, such potential violence, as well as such travesty, it is a vision, it is an idea rooted in the highest and the great expression of our human experience that will uplift humanity from this quagmire and uplift them, to once again dream, to once again hope. And what is that vision? The Korean Dream.

Now I’m going to teach you a new word today, because even if you might not get everything that I say today, there’s one thing you absolutely need to take away, because we are making history.

Like I said, this is the most consequential moment in the history of the Korean people, especially this generation. We are making history.  Nobody believed that there could be a grassroots movement, citizen-led movement for unification . And yet, here we are. I look at each and every one of you as the seed of this historic movement that will move this nation of Korea and the rest of the world. The true test of ownership is for you to be the owner of this word, and I’m going to teach it to you today. It’s called, “Aju.” Now what does Aju mean? My father coined this term as a very quick way of saying, ”I will be the owner.” Aju.

Because the Korean Dream has to be your dream. It can’t be Dr. Moon’s dream. It can’t be my neighbor’s dream. It has to be your dream. It has to be the dream of your family.  It has to be the dream of your children, your grandchildren. Because that is what makes us Korean, that is tied to our 5,000-year-old legacy, with the most lofty, inspirational founding ideal of Hongik Ingan. [Korean: Can you all become the owners? [Yes!] Can you become the owner? [Yes!] Can you become the owner?] [Yes!] Ooooh.

This Korean Dream vision is not only a vision that I’m sharing with Korea today, especially for the AKU movement, but is actually being shared around the world. As many of you know, the Korean Dream book is a bestseller in the United States. Actually, in most of the Asian Studies schools, they study this book.  This book was actually required reading for every new officer suggested by the Defense Department. So it’s very important worldwide. But who do you think it has to move the most? [Korean: The Korean people. Us. We must become the owners.]

So we have a huge goal – an outrageous goal – that in three years time, in celebrating the 80 year anniversary of liberation, that it won’t pass by as a forgotten moment in history, but will be a defining moment not only for the Korean people and the Korean peninsula, but the entire world. We’ll be making a bold-faced statement to the world, that we have not forgotten unification. But most of all, we have not lost our Korean identity rooted in the Hongik Ingan ideal. That although our leaders might have failed us, we as the Korean people, we have solidarity behind the singular vision that will ultimately unify our homeland. [Korean: Do you want to become the owner?] [Yes!] [Korean: Do you want to become the owner?] [Yes!]

That is what this movement is about. I especially want to challenge all of you, as owners, to be able to move ten people that you know. I want you to study the Korean Dream book so that you can give the type of lectures that Seo Inteck, the President of GPF Korea, can give. [Korean: Can you do this?] [Yes!] If you can do it, by being an owner and if you can do that, you will be a leader that makes history in the most consequential moment in the history of humanity and especially this nation. Aju? [Aju!]

You know, people might say that this Dr. Moon, he comes to speak to the Korean people in English. He’s like a banana. Yet, if you hear the content of my speech, there is no one who is more Korean than I am. At this time, Korea needed an outsider, so-called outsider, to come in with the vision that will reawaken their true Koreanness. Someone who, at a young age, at four years old, left his homeland of Korea, went to a completely foreign nation, received tremendous persecution and prejudice on every single level, and yet held on to his Korean identity and his roots in this nation so preciously that he had not forgotten how precious and how great God has blessed our people. That seed, the Korean Dream seed, that was within me that allowed me to overcome all the trials and tribulations is the same seed that exists in every single one of you. And it is my God-given mandate to awaken that seed in every single one of you and to rise at this moment and realize a long list of aspirations of our people to create a model, ideal nation as a unified nation, North and South. [Korean: Can we do this? Aju.] [Aju!]

So, I cannot leave without a challenge. So I have to make a challenge for you today. Can you become the owner of the Korean Dream and move this nation as part of the most historic and consequential movement in the history of our people, to bring about unification and create a new nation that can be the inspiration for all humanity, leading the world out of this quagmire of destruction and hopelessness and getting hope, once again, rooted in the Korean Dream? If you want to become an owner – stand up! Stand up! Raise your hands and say, “Aju! Aju! Aju!” [Korean: Thank you!]

At the Action for Korea United Festival on August 15, 2022, twenty thousand Korean citizens pledged to build a grassroots base that would gather 10 million people by 2025 which would mark the 80th anniversary of Liberation Day.

Busan was the first in a series of regional events held throughout Korea to start this work. Thousands gathered in on February 2, 2023 to expand the grassroots, citizen-led movement in the Busan region.

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[Korean: Good afternoon! Good afternoon! One more time. The reason I came to Busan is to start a typhoon. Do you want to start a typhoon? [Yes!] I can’t hear you. [Yes!]

I want to thank all of you. I was told that there were patriots that were gathered here. [Korean: Am I right?] If I’m in a room of patriots, then I have to give a message for that audience, do I not?

Would you go on this journey with me, listening carefully to what I speak about, and allow me to use all of the assets in this room, to share with you the content of my message. [Korean: Can you do this?] If you can, the most important thing is ownership. When we talk about a dream, as many of the former speakers mentioned, especially the quote that I often like to use is the quote by Genghis Khan where he said, “If one person has a dream, it is about a dream. But if everyone shares in that dream, it becomes a reality.” That is why this gathering today and this opportunity for me to speak to all of you is about ownership. Because we are going to start a revolution in terms of spirit and heart that can start from this region of Korea and then spread across the peninsula and into rest of Asia and the world. Do you want to be the owner of such a dream?

Before I authored my book, the Korean Dream, there was no such term. There was the American Dream, but there was no Korean Dream. But after I authored that book that touches upon the history of the Korean people and the providential aspiration of our people rooted in Hongik Ingan, that book has influenced not just Korea, but the rest of the world.

If you go to America today and you talk about the Korean Dream, even they will agree with you that is something that “I want to aspire to achieve.” Not just because “I’m not a Korean,” but because “I believe in that dream.” Was there ever a time that a vision that is uniquely Korean has spread and inspired the world, especially in this time of tremendous crisis? [Korean: There wasn’t] – until now. Aju.

[Korean: Now, If you all want to hear from me, you need to learn the word “Aju.”] What does Aju mean?

This is a word that my father coined. Remember what I said, “If you want to hear my speech, it’s about ownership.” Aju, basically means, “I will take ownership.” [Korean: I will become an owner.] Meaning it’s not just somebody else’s dream – this is my dream. This is how we are going to bring about a transformation in this nation – that everyone here becomes the owner of this Korean Dream. If that can happen, then like Genghis Khan predicted a millennium ago, “If one person has a dream it is a dream, but if everyone shares in that dream, it becomes a reality,” – that will become a reality.

So what is the Korean Dream? The Korean Dream starts with the Hongik Ingan ideal, which is a universal aspiration; it’s something that everyone in the world aspires to. Yet, it was never coined as beautifully as by the Korean people. That 5,000 years ago, when most nation-states that were forming only focused on their own self-interest, the Korean people, inspired by a providential mandate, wanted to create a nation not just for itself, but that can be a model to the rest of the world. There is no founding vision of any other civilization in the world that has such lofty goals as the Hongik Ingan ideal of the Korean people.

Throughout the entirety of our history, it was this ideal that inspired the Korean people to overcome all of the trials and tribulations that our history ushered us. It was what helped maintain our integrity even though we were conquered and even though we were subjugated. It was a spark that kept the ideal of the independence movement alive, starting with the March 1st 1919 movement and then later on into the movement for independence. 1945 gave us the opportunity to realize that dream.

Yet, instead of realizing that ideal of creating a model, ideal nation that can be the model for all other nations in the world, our nation was divided, swept up in the Cold War era. That will be more than 70-plus years ago today, and we’re still suffering from that division. How many decades have passed, where the dream of unification has slowly withered and died, even in the aspirations of the current Korean people?

When I started the unification movement more than a decade ago, I had the opportunity to speak to all the top-level academics in Washington as well as here in Korea. They all advised me, “Do not start a unification movement.” They told me, “The Korean people don’t want unification.” They told me, “Look at the young people today – all of the demographics suggest and show that they’re not interested in unification. As the aging population ages and the two cultures of North and South becomes more and more distinct, they don’t want unification.” They told me, “Especially young people, because the cost of unification will be their burden, they don’t want unification.”

When I came to Korea and I spoke to all the so-called experts on the unification issue in South Korea, they told me the exact same thing. [Korean: Did I listen to them?] Because I knew something that they and all the statistics did not show. I knew that the destiny of the Korean people is a providential one. What I need to do is re-spark in them the seed of Hongik Ingan that lies within each and every one of our identities. [Korean: If we awaken it, we can. That’s why] I started it anyway, but against the advice of all of the so-called experts.

Two weeks later, Kim Jong-il dies, passes away. And then Kim Jong-un comes into power. Then everybody is interested once again in the possibility of unification. [Korean: You all need to know this well.] We are living in the most consequential moment in the history of the Korean people. This is the moment when that dream of Hongik Ingan can be realized – if and only if –the Korean people can become the owner of that dream. Aju! [Aju!] [Korean: I can’t hear you! Aju!] [Aju!] If you can become an owner, then tremendous things will happen, because history, providential history, is a wind that is pushing our sails. [Korean: You have to become an owner.] You have to re-spark that seed that is within you in terms of your Korean identity.

So basically, I completely re-wrote the book in terms of the unification issue here in Korea, based upon the Korean Dream. First and foremost, when people talked about unification, they looked at it as a dialogue or negotiation between North and South, without any consideration of what the potential outcome might be. I observed this firsthand when my father opened up the door to North Korea in 1991. As my father opened that door, all of South Korea rushed in with all of their own self-centered interests, and whatever collective position South Korea could have in terms of the North, everything was lost.

Learning from this history, I realized that when we talk about unification, you have to have the end in mind. It is not about a dialogue between two parties and then whatever outcome that they negotiate becomes our future reality. No. We have to have the final goal in mind, and those negotiations should be moving unification towards that final goal. So the uniqueness about the Korean Dream is that it focuses on Korean history and Korean identity as the basis of our unification. Is not about one side winning over another side, but it’s about both sides starting all over again to create a new nation that lives according to the ideals of the Hongik Ingan ideal. Aju!

It is about all of the Korean people. Not just here in South Korea, not just in North Korea. All the Korean people, even in the diaspora around the world, that they take ownership over this dream, utilize their foundation, so – collectively – we can build a new nation that lives up to the Hongik Ingan ideal. Aju! [Applause]

[Korean: North and South Unification] is not just going to be something that is great for the Korean people. It’s going to be something that will be great for the world. It will be a unification that will bring peace to the most consequential region in the world. It would be the bastion of freedom and fundamental human rights. Where statist autocratic rule is in the rise, it will be a nation that celebrates and champions the idea of God’s sovereignty, the the core of those fundamental freedoms and rights. [Korean: Do you want to make such a nation?] [Korean: Do you want to make such a nation?] [Yes!] [Korean: Do you want to make such a nation?] [Yes!] Oooh.

Maybe I came to the right auditorium today. I don’t want to be speaking to followers, I want to be speaking to leaders. My understanding is each and every one of you is going to be an owner that can be a leader in your community, to spark the Korean Dream, the Hongik Ingan ideal in your neighbors so they can be an owner. So that when we gather once again, this auditorium is several thousand I was told. That it can be increased ten times, 100 times. Can you do that? Yes or no? [Korean: Can you do that?] [Applause.] [Korean: Can you do that?] [Yes!]

That’s why this is so amazing. Can you believe the atmosphere today? When we talk about unification, everybody realizes it’s a foregone conclusion. But a decade ago, nobody believed it was possible. What’s going to happen in the next ten years? If you, you, you, you become an owner of the Korean Dream? [Korean: What will happen? Will unification come? It will come soon.] We have the opportunity, that’s why I’m saying, this is the most consequential moment in the history of our people. That if you can become the owner of the Korean Dream, work together to realize the unification I outlined in my book, then you will have participated in the most consequential moment of the Korean people. That the 5,000 year-old history that was the aspiration of our ancestors and of our forefathers can be realized through us. Aju! [Applause.]

That is why I want you to become an owner. [Korean: Next time we meet, make sure you remember “Aju.”] Because I’m going to say Aju. I want you to say, “Aju!” [Aju!] Aju [Aju!]Aju [Aju!]

”I will become the owner.” Not “He will become an owner,” “She will become an owner.” ”I will become an owner.” Historically, Busan is very significant in the history of our people. This is the gateway to the world. The fact that I came here to speak to all of you in preparation for the [Korean: Ten million person] rally celebrating the 80th year of independence is tremendously significant.

During the Korean War, when the Communist forces came down and pushed this fledgling republic almost off the peninsula, this was the only last foothold. For the first time in the history of humanity, there was an international UN Force that was newly created under the United Nations banner that came here to Korea to fight for the first war of independence. That spirit eventually pushed the North Korean forces all the way to the Yalu River. But of course, it was stopped at the Chinese border.

But there’s a saying, “That ideas are even stronger than armies.” [Korean: Vision is scarier than an army]. So if there’s a vision that can change the geopolitical landscape of this region, which is the most consequential region, what is that vision? Korean Dream. You will hear not only Koreans talking about the Korean Dream, you will hear people around the world talking about the Korean Dream.

[Korean: So if that future comes, is that good?] Do you want that future to come about? [Yes!] [Korean: Do you want it?] [Yes!] [You must become owners. Aju.] [Aju!]

So, before I go, I was told that I should speak maybe 20 minutes. I think I already went beyond on 20 minutes. The message that I’m giving is the message the Korean people were waiting for. This is the message that can awaken the latent Hongik Ingan seed that lies in every single one of us –North and South and in the entire diaspora – to realize the Korean Dream of building a model nation.

So, I will never leave without giving a challenge. Those of you who want to become the owner of the Korean Dream and basically be a leader in your communities, to spark that seed in your neighbors, stand up. [Korean: Everyone stand up, stand up, and let’s say Aju with both hands raised.]   I’m going to ask you a question: Can you become the owner of the Korean Dream? Aju! [Aju!] Aju! [Aju!] Aju! [Aju!]

[Korean: Thank you. Sorry. I’m not finished. Please sit down.] I’m going to leave by singing you a song. I’m not just a stuffy academic. I want to sing a song about dreaming that happened in the most consequential moment in American history.

[Korean: Those among you that know Elvis please raise your hand.] Elvis. Then you will know this song. It’s called, “If I Can Dream.” So I’m going to go into the audience and ask you to sing parts of verses. It goes something like this:

“There must be light burning brighter, somewhere.

Got to be birds flying higher in the sky more blue.

If I can dream of a better land, where all my brothers

[Audience member in Korean: Our Chairman Moon Hyun Jin! Victory! Victory!]

[Korean: I picked you because I thought you knew this Elvis song but you don’t know it?]

Go hand in hand.

Tell me, why, oh why, oh why can’t my dream come true? Oh why?

Got to be peace and understanding sometime.

Strong winds of promise that will blow away your doubts and fears,

if I can dream of a warmer sun

[Korean: Sing “warmer sun”]

Warmer sun. [Audience member: Warmer sun]

Warmer sun [Audience member: Warmer sun].

Where hope keeps shining on everyone tell me why can’t my dream come true?

Oh, I got to be peace and understanding sometime.

Strong winds of promise that will blow away your doubts and fears,

If I can dream of a brighter sun where hope keeps shining on everyone.

Tell me why. Oh why?

[Audience member: Oh why?]

Oh why?

[Audience member: Oh why?]

Oh why?

[Audience member: Oh why?]

[Korean: please clap for her.] Dream come true? Oh why?

We’re lost in a cloud with too much rain,

We’re trapped in a world that’s troubled with pain.

and as long as a man has a strength to dream

He can redeem his soul and fly.

Deep in my heart there’s a trembling question,

Still I am sure that the answer is going to come somehow.

Out there in the dark, there’s a beckoning candle,

Yeah and while I can think, while I can talk, while I can walk, while I can walk

Me and my dream, me and my dream come true.

Right now!! [Audience member: Aju!!] [Korean: Even better! Thank you!]

August 15, 2022

Kintex, Seoul | South Korea

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Anyonghaseyo! Anyonghaseyo! Anyonghaseyo!

I was told that this was where all the greatest patriots of this nation of South Korea have gathered. Am I correct in that assumption?

Today we are celebrating the 77th Anniversary of Korean liberation, the day that encapsulates the hopes and dreams of our ancestors all the way back to the founding vision of the Korean people in the Dangun mythology. There, based upon the Hongik Ingan ideal, we were mandated by Heaven to build a model nation that could be an inspiration for all humanity. Our people have a 5,000-year history. And throughout the entirety of that history, we have tried to uphold the Hongik Ingan ideal.

In the tumultuous 20th century when tremendous changes were happening around the world, especially imposed by Western powers, Korea was swept up into that storm. When Korea was annexed by the Japanese empire and we lost our identity and our future, the one philosophy, the one ideal that held the Korean people together, whether they were on the peninsula or abroad, was the Hongik Ingan ideal and the promise of building a model nation that could be an inspiration for all humanity.

I’m proud to say that my father and my father’s family were intimately tied to that legacy, for my great-grand uncle was one of the key inspirations behind the creation of the Korean Declaration of Independence that marked the Samil Independence Movement.

For what was the aspiration of the Samil Independence Movement? It was to create a Western-style nation that also had the Hongik Ingan ideal so that it could be a nation that inspired not only Asia but the rest of the world.

Have you read the Declaration of Independence of the Samil Movement?
Have the young people in this area read it?

I recommend you read it. It captures the jungsung of the Hongik Ingan ideal.

The founders of that declaration had a vision that a united and independent Korea, that uplifted the ideals of Hongik Ingan, would even work with the very nation that oppressed their people – Japan. The Hongik Ingan jungsung and spirit allowed the founders of that declaration to dream a greater dream than just their national identity but a dream for the entire human race, that would set an example for what a world of peace could look like.

We are celebrating that vision and that ideal on this day, because that vision and that hope marked the aspiration of the Korean people upon liberation in 1945. But what happened to that dream? Instead of holding onto that uniquely Korean dream, we adopted the very frameworks of division that had basically encapsulated the Western world. It was imposed upon the Korean people. 1945, which should have been a tremendous year of hope for the Korean people, became the moment of our devastation as the Korean peninsula was swept up in the global ideological conflict between the free world and Communism.

From 1945 to 1948, the Korean people still held onto that dream, especially here in the South. Efforts were made by the Korean people to engage the North and Kim Il Sung to open up the country for free elections across the entire Korean peninsula as mandated by the United Nations. However, that did not happen. Yet, that dream never died. That dream exists in the DNA of every Korean, here and abroad.

As long as we hold on to that dream, regardless of what nation, what government, whatever institution divides the Korean family, as long as we hold on to that dream, that dream shall never die.

Something is stirring here in this nation of Korea. It is the beginning of a tremendous storm that will sweep across this land, bringing a transformation never imagined by those with no imagination. Today, I was told that I was going to speak in front of the patriots of Korea that never allowed the dream of the Hongik Ingan ideal to create a model nation, that you never allowed that dream to die. Am I right?

This day has that significance for the Korean people because of our national aspiration to be a model nation that can be an inspiration. What is happening in the world today? Many told me when I started the unification movement, more than 10 years back, that the Korean people are not interested in unification. That they are interested in many other issues before unification; that unification will not happen in my lifetime.

Yet, two weeks after I started this movement for reunification, Kim Jong-il died. Shortly thereafter, the geopolitical circumstances in the world were such that unification constantly came up on the national agenda of South Korea and North Korea. So, there were larger forces at play that were pushing the unification agenda.

Just as I challenged of all you, the dream of unification never died in me, or never died in my family, for our DNA and our bone marrow is tied to this vision and this ideal. So, even though I was told that no one else was interested in Korean reunification, I knew, based upon my identity as a Korean, and that aspiration of the Korean people that had inspired generations of my family, I knew that same DNA existed within every Korean, not only here in Korea but North Korea and around the world.

All that was needed was a vision or a catalyst that drives that momentum forward and reawakens the already existent seed of Hongik Ingan in every Korean around the world.

You all have that DNA. The aspiration to create the greatest nation that can be an inspiration for all.

Look at what is happening in the world today to drive this vision forward and make this a greater possibility than ever before. One of the things I want you to understand is that unification will not happen from inter-governmental negotiations between the South and the North; nor any negotiation among any of the superpowers around us. That paradigm has been tried for eight decades and it has completely failed over and over and over again.

I believe it was Einstein who said, “The sign of insanity is to do the same thing and hope for a different outcome.” That is why we need to understand clearly that unification is going to be realized through something different than inter-governmental negotiations for reunification. But, like I said, there is something stirring on this land that is turning into something bigger and bigger and sweeping across the peninsula and the rest of the world.

The geopolitical circumstances today marked by the rise of statist powers that violate fundamental human rights and freedoms and do not even recognize the rights of their neighbors, remind us that there are larger, greater threats on the horizon. The world once again is being divided between Western democracies that advocate fundamental freedoms and human rights and these statist powers that still hold on to the idea that the almighty state determines what human rights are. That is why it is more important than ever that every Western democratic nation recognizes where true freedom and where true human rights come from.

As a student of history, one should realize that the idea of fundamental human rights and freedoms is a modern phenomenon. It did not exist throughout the entire human history. The nation that fathered those ideas is the United States of America. And as a student of American history, more than the Constitution, the most important document in America’s founding is the Declaration of Independence because it states the principles upon which the new republic would be built. The most pregnant phrase, that has been quoted throughout the world, is the second paragraph of that declaration. What does it say? This is the basis upon which all Western democracies were formed. It said: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” In other words, our rights do not come from government, or a nation, they come from God.

The second aspect of the Declaration is this: that the purpose of government is to ensure that those rights given to us by our Creator, are maintained by any government formed on this land. Many people who do not live in America always wonder why there is a Second Amendment to the Constitution. That is directly tied to the third component of the Declaration which tells the American people that if a government is formed that abridges those rights and freedoms, it is your duty to get rid of that government and build a new one that makes sure that those rights and freedoms are maintained.

That is why, although America had these high ideals, America was made to maintain those freedoms and rights for their citizens. This understanding of this truth is all the more important in the environment in which we live today, with the rise of statist regimes.

The Korean Dream envisioned a nation rooted in the Hongik Ingan ideal that will uphold fundamental freedoms and human rights. Therefore, it has to be a nation that is built upon God’s sovereignty.

We have to build a new nation based upon God’s sovereignty.

It has to be a nation that upholds the highest virtues and ideals of the Western democracies that can inspire the world. It has to be a nation that absolutely guarantees fundamental freedoms and human rights and therefore has to be a nation that is built upon the ideal of God’s sovereignty.

That is why this day is so important for us as a Korean people. It reminds us of what still needs to be fulfilled.

That is why, on this very day, three years from now, we plan to shake this peninsula, shake this region, and shake the world with the voices of tens of millions of Koreans that have re-ignited the Korean Dream that laid dormant within them.

I never end without a challenge, for this is a sacred moment in our history where we are bringing alive the dormant vision and destiny of the Korean people, embodied in Hongik Ingan, to create an ideal nation.

This is just the beginning. You should all become the seeds that can spread this vision and spark a reawakening in the DNA of your Korean neighbors who might not yet have had that spark ignited within them.

So, those of you who are committed to that task over the next three years, let us stand. Let us stand. Just like a seed coming up from the ground. Stand up! Stand proud!

Will you become the owner of the Korean Dream and bring a transformation to this land where the long-lost hope and dream of building a model nation can be realized? Yes or no? Can you become owners? Can you?

May God bless you and your families. Thank you very much.

International Forum on One Korea
August 13, 2022 – Fairmont Ambassador Hotel
Plenary Keynote Speech

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:

It is my distinct pleasure and honor to welcome all of you to the newly built Parc 1 facility located here in Yeouido, the political and financial center of Seoul, for this very significant forum examining the vision for a free and unified Korea. Special thanks to the distinguished leaders and policy experts who are contributing to these important deliberations, in person and through the virtual forum.

In a few days, we will commemorate once more the end of World War II in the Pacific and, with it, Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule. It was a moment of great hope for the Korean people, who believed they would finally be able to realize their historic aspiration of creating a model nation rooted in the founding providential mandate of hongik ingan – to “live for the greater benefit of all mankind.” Tragically, however, that did not happen. Instead, Korea became artificially divided along the ideological lines of the Cold War and has remained in that unnatural state for more than 77 years.

As a result, that unfulfilled dream of our ancestors to create a new, western-style model nation that was independent and free, casts a shadow over our celebrations. Our collective destiny as Koreans, still remains to be achieved. It is even more urgent today, given the current volatile and threatening geopolitical circumstances in Europe and, especially, in this region. Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, and China’s assertion of its right to take control of Taiwan, by force, if necessary, remind us that the Cold War is not completely behind us.

Democracy and the Sovereignty of God

These confrontations stem, at root, from conflicting worldviews. It is important to note that, although Russia and China have adopted elements of the free market economy, both nations uplift the power of the state above all else with little regard for the rights of their own citizens or even of their neighbors. The western democracies were shaped by, or had adopted, the Judeo-Christian ethos that emphasized the sanctity of human life, “created in the image of God.” Unlike them, however, Russia still maintains the political philosophy and aspirations of the Soviet past, couched in a new Russian nationalism, while China has never abandoned the Maoist revolution or changed its one-party Communist rule.

They disregard the universally accepted truth of all western democracies, immortalized in the United States Declaration of Independence, that all human beings are “endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights” among which are “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Most importantly, they fail to recognize that the main purpose of government or the state is to ensure that those rights and freedoms are protected and maintained for their citizens. In doing so, they reject a core principle expressed in the Declaration that our essential rights and freedoms come from a transcendent Creator or God, and that no human institution or government can deny or abrogate them.

With the current geopolitical threat of statist regimes, as well as the rise of secular Marxist ideals in “woke” popular culture, democratic nations are struggling to secure the fundamental rights and freedoms of their citizens in addition to maintaining their fragile institutions. The sanctity of human life that comes from the Creator, which had once been the bedrock of most western democracies, is now being challenged at home and abroad. These disturbing trends make it even more important than ever for democracies to identify and acknowledge where true freedoms and rights arise from.

It should be self-evident that without recognizing a transcendent source for these ideals, imperfect human beings and the institutions they create would inevitably abridge them for the sake of a greater collective purpose rooted in the almighty state. The founders of the United States and the authors of the Declaration clearly understood human limitations; they made it a point to counter the prevalent belief during the 18th century in the “divine right of kings” with the principle that “unalienable rights” and freedoms of all people come from the Creator. In essence, the founders countered human claims to ultimate authority with that of God. This truth that fundamental freedoms and rights come from “the sovereignty of God” has endured the tests of time and has allowed western democracies to thrive.

Confrontation of worldviews and the current reality of the North

Without the acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty as the source of fundamental rights and freedoms, serious problems arise. A good example is the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights that does not recognize the Creator as the source of those rights, due to its creation during the height of the Cold War. Consequently, the UN cannot deal effectively with authoritarian and statist regimes that decide for themselves what rights and freedoms their subjects are allowed and what they are denied.

The two Koreas represent the most extreme example of this confrontation in worldviews – between a democratic South and a statist dictatorship in the North. The DPRK is a nuclear-armed state whose leadership has sacrificed the well-being of its people to achieve that status. There is no doubt that they would use force to unite the peninsula, for they were the instigators of the Korean War in 1950 that, technically, still has not ended. Here, as well as on other fronts, geopolitical uncertainty has intensified, increasing the danger that a false step or miscalculation could lead to a major escalation and catastrophe.

This is certainly true for North Korea, where the geopolitical situation is exacerbated by internal tensions. The regime has long sacrificed development for its idea of security, foisting extreme hardship and deprivation upon its people. As a result, there is a real danger of food shortages producing famine on a scale to rival the disaster of the mid- 1990s.

People in the DPRK, today, no longer live in a cocoon, however, with no information from the world outside. The current generation of North Koreans has experienced the freedom of enterprise and choice, however restricted, offered by the jangmadang informal markets. They watch TV dramas from China and South Korea and do not accept the propaganda that, however harsh their own lives might be, those of their Southern brethren are even worse.

The regime fears the confluence of a more informed, less unconditionally loyal population, with the greater hardships they are forced to endure. The situation today is very different from the past. When there was the potential of conflict between the DPRK and the United States, the North Korean regime was clearly more concerned about the threat of an uprising of the Korean people than it was about the US. The current reaction of the DPRK is typical of authoritarian regimes under pressure – enforcing tighter security at the border with China and cracking down on those accessing foreign media. When loyalty is replaced by fear and the general population suffers increasing hardship, the situation becomes unsustainable. Change is bound to come. We just don’t know when, or in what form, it will happen.

The Korean Dream

The Korean people today face two major challenges: unifying their divided homeland and rediscovering their Korean identity. The two are intertwined. Once we understand that unification is not just about the dealings of governments but is the coming together of a separated people, then it becomes clear that a strong sense of Korean identity is essential for the Korean people in the South and in the North to be able to reunite.

That identity has been eroded in the North through 77 years of oppression and suffering. But it is also disappearing here in the South. After the devastation of the Korean War, a total national effort was invested into developing the economy and securing the country against another invasion.

That produced remarkable prosperity but we now see that it came at a significant cost. The chaebol system that originally drove growth has become a drag upon entrepreneurial enterprise. Highly educated young people suffer debilitating unemployment and many can even no longer afford to get married.

To navigate this uncertain future, a clear national purpose is essential, but has been seriously lacking. To move beyond the stagnant status quo, a new approach is needed, with a broad vision and a movement to advance it. That vision, I believe, is the Korean Dream. As I explain in my book of that title, to build our future we need to learn from our past.

Before the tragic 20th century, before the ideological conflict between communism and democracy and the bloody division it produced, Koreans shared a 5,000-year history as one, homogeneous people with a common culture. That culture was rooted in ideals and principles that arose from the founding spirit of Dangun. Foremost among these was the ideal of hongik ingan, “living for the greater benefit of all mankind.”

From that very beginning of our history, the Korean people held to a moral vision that embraced all people. This was their providential mandate, and to fulfil it was their destiny. Koreans have always embraced different faith traditions that have come to this land. But our ancestors digested those traditions and gave them a unique Korean character, rooted in the hongik ingan tradition.

They recognized Hananim, one Lord or God above all, whatever the variety of their religious expression. The Korean flag itself, the taegeukgi, is a lesson in the principles that sustain the harmony of the universe. It is an example of the spiritual character inherent in the Korean people across their history.

This is the shared heritage of all Koreans that transcends the current ideological, political and national divisions. It is the root to which Koreans in both North and South must be re-connected to provide the vision and energy that can reunify a separated people. Arising from this history, the Korean Dream promise is for a free and unified Korea, a new nation, in which the fundamental, God-given rights of all people will be secured, under the sovereignty of God.

Need for unification centered on Korean Dream

This resonates with the ideals of the 1919 Sam Il Independence Movement. Certainly, they wanted to end Japanese colonial rule. But, more than that, they sought to create a nation that lived up to the highest ideals. They even envisioned a free Korea working together with Japan for the benefit of the region and the world. Here was the spirit of hongik ingan in action, and the aspirations of the nation united around it.

The end of World War II brought an end to Japanese colonial rule that we celebrate every August 15. It also brought the opportunity to create a free and unified Korea that the Sam Il Independence Movement had longed for. UN mandated elections were to be held in 1948 across the whole country, but they never happened.

Despite visits by Korean leaders from the South to persuade Kim Il Sung to work with them for a united Korea, he and his Soviet sponsors at that time, declined to hold elections in the North. They were held only in the South and, shortly after, two separate states were founded, a division that lasts until this day. The aspirations of the Sam Il Movement remain unfulfilled.

The separation of the Korean people has persisted far too long. The current status quo cannot endure. The situation on the peninsula is the final remnant of the Cold War, and a dark legacy of former colonialism. It is long past time to unify the peninsula, and the Korean Dream is the way forward to forge a new and better future.

The Korean Dream can inspire and motivate Koreans in both the South and the North to reconnect with their unique identity and heritage in order to take ownership over our common future. At the same time, it offers North Korea the prospect of becoming part of a united and independent nation that enjoys great prosperity as well as fundamental freedoms and rights. Most importantly, it will safeguard the Korean homeland from an increasingly aggressive and powerful China and Russia.

Over the next three years, we will work to greatly expand the understanding of and support for the Korean Dream approach, both within Korea and internationally. This initiative already has significant momentum through Action for Korea United, an unprecedented coalition of nearly one thousand civil society organizations working collaboratively to promote a free and unified Korea. Its education programs have been informing Korean professionals, organizations, opinion leaders, and civil society stakeholders across the social spectrum. The progress of its work will continue to accelerate in the coming years as it builds consensus around unification and the character of the new Korea that will emerge from it.

Conclusion: Call to Action

We will build broad support in South Korea and the diaspora around a national vision for peaceful unification based upon the Korean Dream. By 2025, the 80th anniversary of liberation, we will hold public rallies in towns and cities all over the South in support of a free and unified Korea, reminiscent of the Sam Il Movement for independence more than a hundred years ago. The Korean Dream will galvanize the hearts of every Korean to realize our collective destiny and, thus, honor the legacy of our ancestors through fulfilling the hopes of our forefathers.

Such a powerful expression of solidarity behind a common vision, led by the Korean people themselves, instead of any government or political party, will enable the South to bypass its hyper-partisan divide and will let their brethren in the North know that they are not alone. This will be an expression of a truly “bottom-up” movement of the people beyond national and ideological divisions and, as a consequence, would also be a catalyst for greater international recognition and support. Through it, we the Korean people, will achieve what the world deems impossible.

I call upon Koreans everywhere, young and old, at home and abroad, to take ownership over the Korean Dream, creating a new, model nation from the ashes of a divided peninsula, one that guarantees freedom and human rights for all.

This is not just a call for Koreans, but for all who believe in freedom and fundamental human rights and that nations must protect those rights and recognize their source. That is the Korean Dream. It is your dream and your cause too.

If we succeed then, without a doubt, Korean unification will be recognized as the most monumental achievement for world peace and will spark the light of hope and possibility for the 21st century.

In closing, let me remind you of the prophetic words of Genghis Khan. He said, “If one person has a dream it is but a dream, but if everyone shares that dream, it will become reality.”

By each and every one of us owning the Korean Dream as our own personal dream, let us realize the providential destiny of creating a unified new nation together as one Korean people. Then, let us offer this new nation, centered upon the sovereignty of God, to the world and fulfill our providential mandate of “living for the greater benefit of all mankind.”

Thank you very much and may God bless you and your families.

One of the most fascinating stories in modern history is the story of Genghis Khan. Previously, much of what people knew about Genghis Khan came from depictions written by his enemies. Luckily, today we have more information about what gave rise to his massive empire and the important leadership lessons it has to offer.

Although there are many, we can key into four lessons from the man, his life, and his empire.

It starts with a vision

His story shows us that you can start small but must know where you want to go. A clear vision of what you want to build allows you to take concrete steps to make something a reality. But, for better or worse, the details of achieving a vision don’t usually emerge full scale, and we need to be willing to test, build, plan, and reassess our plans.

While there is not much written down about what Genghis Khan envisioned in building up his empire, he had the insight that “if one person dreams a dream, it is but a dream, but if a people dream that dream, then it becomes a reality.” In this, we can see that Genghis Khan not only had a dream, but it was so clear that he could then work to transmit it to others. The ability to do so was probably one of the keys to his tremendous success. 

Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon, in his Korean Dream: A Vision for a Unified Korea, explains: 

“the vision guiding Genghis Khan was a simple one, yet with profound significance: there should be “One World under One Heaven.” This was the ultimate key to peace, a peace that could become universal in its scope […] The phrase “under One Heaven” was not mere rhetoric but was at the heart of Genghis Khan’s vision.”

These ideas were set out and manifested in governance policies that transformed global relations of the time and, according to Genghis Khan scholar, Jack Weatherford, set the stage for the “making of the modern world.”

Where you are today doesn’t determine where you can go

It’s said that nearly 16 million individuals today can trace a direct lineage back to Genghis Khan himself. One of the most famous men throughout world history, Genghis Khan was once a boy named Temujin who came from essentially next to nothing. The barren, harsh lands of the Asian steppe offered little by way of resources, and the nomadic tribes that wandered those lands were constantly at war with one another. As a result, life was “nasty, brutish and short.” Early on, his clan had once abandoned him, his newly widowed mother, and his siblings to ensure its survival in those harshest of circumstances. 

From such desolate beginnings and through long years of fighting, planning, and strategizing with and between the different Mongolian tribes, Temujin eventually consolidated power and led a united people to build the largest contiguous empire in modern history. This is important because sometimes people have misconceptions about what’s possible and what it takes to get there. Genghis Khan’s powerful vision was able to propel this man from the humblest beginnings to a place in the halls of history.

It’s not just about you

And so, whatever our vision, if we can learn how to communicate with others, inspire others, and work together with them, we can and will impact those around us. The more effective we are in this, the more significant our impact.

One thing that not many people know about Genghis Khan is that, above all, he was a man of faith. His endeavors toward building “One World under One Heaven” was not about self-aggrandizement. Instead, he was known to be a man who spent long periods in meditation, prayer, and self-reflection to try to align with the will of God. Mongolian folklore surrounding Genghis Khan often recounts how he held himself to a high standard and lived his life as a man of noble principles. He was known to be disciplined, loyal, generous, and held to principles, not giving regard to religion, ethnicity, rank, or birth. In fact, even people from enemy tribes or non-Mongols could attain high ranks within his army or counsel. 

Genghis Khan was known to spend days fasting and praying before every campaign. As odd as it might sound for those who only think of Genghis Khan as a bloodthirsty tyrant, he sought God’s counsel and favor in conducting those campaigns. As part of this, he would carefully weigh whether he was justified in his attacks. And whatever criticisms modern people might have of those campaigns and his tactics, how he ruled his empire demonstrates his deep respect for something bigger than himself.

You can never know how big an impact you might have on human history

This respect was reflected in one of the most remarkable features of the Mongolian Empire: the protection of religious freedom throughout its territories. 

Most empires and kingdoms throughout history dealt with the problem of religions and diversity of belief by imposing one religion over all others. This has been the rule for the most part. So it makes sense that the many wars fought throughout human history are associated partly with religion and religious beliefs. 

Genghis Khan ruled over a vast empire that stretched across most of Asia, touching Europe directly and indirectly. He also had a deep faith and practice. Yet, in what might appear to be a paradox, his faith was such that he didn’t seek to institute a State religion. Instead, he granted religious freedom to all and even created tax exemptions for the different houses of worship that thrived under his rule. These policies were remarkable for their time, and some scholars suggest that this “policy resulted in the century of peace called ‘Pax Mongolica.’”

Genghis Khan and his empire demonstrated how this solid foundation built upon a vision of “One World under One Heaven” could be a dream of universal peace for all people. This period of Pax Mongolica opened new pathways for exchange that ultimately led to the linking of the East with the West. This unprecedented exchange between different faiths, cultures, nations, and people and experts from all over the empire led to unique innovations and developments that would not have otherwise been possible. 

Weatherford has even found evidence that suggests that Genghis Khan’s policies may have influenced religious freedom in the early American colonies.

For these and many other reasons, Genghis Khan, the man, and his empire continue to be studied today. In his book, Korean Dream: A Vision for a Unified Korea, Dr. Hyun Jin Moon outlines many more lessons and applications toward peaceful Korean reunification.