The landscape has dramatically changed in Korea over the last decade. The third Inter-Korea summit is set for April– the last one held in 2007. Domestic and international interest in the two Koreas is at an all-time high.

In 2010, when Dr. Hyun Jin Moon began working in earnest on the issue of Korean reunification, public interest was focused on domestic issues. At the same time, support for reunification had dwindled to just under 20%, a dramatic drop from the 41% support in 1994. The Korean War and division had become an abstraction, with a comfortable acceptance of two separate states: North and South. Meanwhile, international attention to the division sparked and fizzled in reaction to growing security threats, yet the issue was never given the sustained attention needed to push things forward in a positive direction.

Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon speaks at the International Forum on One Korea in Seoul.

Dr. Moon pointed out that Korean reunification would be critical in determining the fate of the Korean people. Over the last eight years, Dr. Moon has systematically built out an approach to reunification that has significantly shifted the perspectives of Koreans and the international community on Korean reunification.

First, he has urged Koreans to dig into their heritage and rediscover their shared identity to form a vision that can transcend the Cold War divisions that have left the people divided for more than seven decades. Significantly, Dr. Moon has cautioned that it is important to articulate a common vision before focusing on the process of reunification. A shared vision would serve as a rallying point for people who have grown apart and guide the shaping of a reunified Korea. Dr. Moon went on to coin the term “Korean Dream,” to refer to a common vision which draws upon the ancient Korean ethic of Hongik Ingan, that encourages the Korean people since its founding as a nation to honor human dignity and grow to become a nation to be of benefit to all humanity.

Second, he has brought the issue of reunification to the people. Until that point, Korean reunification was mostly thought of as an issue best left to high-level diplomacy and policy discussion. Such perspective has fed the growing apathy towards the division as one agreement after another has fallen apart as negotiations and diplomatic relations have repeatedly stalled. Dr. Moon has sought to bring the issue to the grassroots, noting that the power of an informed and engaged civil society is crucial to reunification as well as the establishment of a Korean nation that can become a model of universal principles and shared values to the rest of the world.

Through the groundbreaking work of the Global Peace Foundation and Action for Korea United (AKU), a coalition of civil society organizations committed to advancing Korean reunification and the Korean Dream, awareness and engagement in the issue of Korean reunification has significantly grown. A survey in 2017 reported that close to 53% support reunification just as the AKU coalition itself has grown from 300 organizations in 2012 and to over 900 in 2018.

United Olympic team Korea marched into the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics opening ceremony at Olympic Stadium in PyeongChang, South Korea. Photo By: Leonard Zhukovsky/Shutterstock.com

Yet, in many ways, the hard work has just begun. As the protests during the Pyeongchang Olympics illustrate, South Koreans are still far from reaching consensus on the manner of, or even the need for, reunification. Furthermore, the percent of those opposed to reunification is highest in the up and coming voters, namely the 10s-30s generation.

Coalitions such as AKU can work to foster consensus on a long-term vision, not just for reunification, but beyond to imagine the building of an entirely new one Korean nation. In his most recent remarks at the 2017 Action for Korea United Leader’s Assembly, Dr. Moon pointed to a lack of a long-term vision when he spoke of the shortcomings of the Sunshine Policy:

“Through the failures of the Sunshine policy, I realized that the first problem in creating One Korea did not lie with the North. The problem lay in the South, with the failure of Southern leadership to articulate a clear end-game strategy.”

Dr. Moon went further to say along with a clear vision, there is a need for a clear, coordinated effort among all sectors: civil society and the public and private sector.

“Civic organizations, corporations, NGO’s, faith groups, and all the many forms of civil society need to cooperate and build consensus, not only on the endgame strategy but also on how they should engage the North.”

Reunification will be a complex process with many hurdles and walls considering the fact that the two Koreas have literally been at war for the last 70 years. Therefore, before delving into the process, a common point of reference needs to be established, with an inspiring, engaging vision that can light the way through the tough times ahead. What Koreans the world over need to recognize is that there has been such a touchstone all along, by which the Koreans have navigated through some of their most challenging moments, in the spirit of Hongik Ingan, the Korean Dream.

Now is the time to revive the true spirit of the Korean people. Now is the time for the Korean Dream.

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As the current stand-off between the U.S. and North Korea continues to heat up, its threat to global security illustrates that high-level dialogue and inter-governmental diplomacy alone may not yield a solution. The crisis calls upon the people of the world to utilize alternative pathways like Track II, civil-society based efforts to de-escalate conflict and propose new possibilities.

Dr. Moon’s latest book, Korean Dream: A Vision for a Unified Korea, published this year in English, puts forth an out-of-the-box approach to Korean Unification based on a vision that transcends the over 70-year ideological division, and calls on the people of Tangun to rise up and meet their calling to become a model nation for the rest of the world. His proposal depends on a key ingredient – people power.

Dr. Edwin Feulner

A tribute to Dr. Edwin Feulner on his 75^th birthday quotes him saying, “I’m the congenital optimist in Washington and in the conservative movement.” Dr. Feulner attributes his enduring optimism on one thing, stated succinctly and profoundly by late U.S. President Ronald Reagan, “Trust the people.” Dr. Feulner is a renowned scholar and policy expert of Korea and Asia and a recipient of the Global Peace Awards at the Global Peace Convention 2017.

Placing trust and responsibility into the hands of the people is not always the quickest or easiest way. Sometimes it would seem more efficient to invest money into a system or government to find the solution.

However, there are moving accounts in history like the people’s movement that preceded the collapse of the Berlin wall, or the people’s movement for independence led by Mahatma Ghandi. These transformational moments in history were brought about through civil society engagement. Dr. Moon calls for an awakening of such a grassroots civil society movement that is driven by people of conscience who can reach past ideological, political divisions and work together towards a unifying vision that seeks for the benefit of all humanity.

The same article on Dr. Feulner’s optimism writes that change does not happen with “one mighty burst of legislation or a single dramatic event like the fall of the Berlin Wall” but through a series of discrete actions. It outlines the responsibilities required of each individual to sustain a vibrant and ethical civil society that drives positive change.

• Thought leaders continually seeking truth and generating new models of progress.
• Families equipping individuals with the values that enable them to take responsibility for themselves and their future families.
• Faith and community leaders acknowledging universal principles and working together to articulate a global ethic and encourage cooperation across lines of difference.
• Public servants acting in the interests of the greater good.

The situation on the Korean peninsula so often seems to move from bad to worse, but as history shows us, and optimists like Dr. Feulner and Dr. Moon remind us, the power of each individual, united by a powerful vision of peace and prosperity, can open the way for new possibilities.

Learn more about Global Peace Foundation chairman Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon’s ongoing efforts for peace and security in Northeast Asia: http://www.hyunjinmoon.com/korean-dream/

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