“At around 2010, some of the most influential thinkers in Korea advised me that Korean people are not interested in unification,” Moon said. “They looked at the feasibility and the possibility of unification being some type of inter-governmental negotiation. That is a flawed model.”

He said those inter-governmental negotiations do not guarantee what the Korean people really want from unification, but rather become a dangerous gamble risking the future of a unified Korea without understanding how Koreans want to shape their new country.

“They were just throwing the dice,” Moon said. “As long as we have some type of inter-governmental dialogue or some type of commitment, the future of a unified Korea turns into a crapshoot.”

To this end, Moon claimed that the most urgent task for Koreans is recovering the Korean identity, such as the founding ideal of Korea “Hongik Ingan,” which means to live for the greater benefit of all.

“Everyone knows how hyper-partisan and hyper-divided South Korea is … but I can tell you one thing. Regardless of if you are on the liberal side or the conservative side, whether you’re Christian or Buddhist, whatever your background is, there is one thing that brings Koreans together — the Korean identity, rooted in the Hongik Ingan ideal,” Moon said.

“What do you think it’s going to bring North and South Koreans together? It’s going to be their Korean identity.”

Along with the civil unification movements among Koreans, Moon also noted that unification cannot be done by Koreans alone. He said his foundation’s Global Peace Leadership Conference in India in April was also part of hopes to convince Indians to use relations with Pyongyang to influence North Koreans.

During his keynote speech at Monday’s forum, Moon said a unified Korea could play a role in addressing global tension between global superpowers by becoming “a model nation and a catalyst for advancing a new civilization” through “unalienable rights and freedoms.”

Under the theme of “Free and Unified Korea: A Catalyst for Regional and Global Peace and Development,” the forum hosted hundreds of scholars, former government officials and other experts on geopolitical matters, including former United States Forces Korea (USFK) Commander John Tilelli and former South Korean Vice Minister of National Defense Paik Seung-ju.

During the session, Tilelli shared a similar view to Moon that people should be “the instigators of change” toward unification. He said that unification could be a solution to various challenges that surround the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia.

“Peaceful reunification in the peninsula is a strategic imperative for all of us,” Tilelli said. “The main instigators of change, were the people themselves, as one who witnessed the change in Germany … Governments cannot build the relationships that friendships and people do.”

The former U.S. general cited the North Korean leader’s recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Crimes against humanity will not be resolved until the Korean dream is realized,” he said referring to Moon’s idea that a unified Korea could be a model to the world, adding that Korean society should lead such efforts.

“I believe the only way we will see an end to nuclear weapons of mass destruction, provocations and human rights abuses is a reunified Korea,” Tilelli said.

Who is Hyun Jin Preston Moon?

Having graduated from Columbia University, Harvard Business School and Unification Theological Seminary, Hyun Jin Preston Moon, 54, founder and chairman of the Global Peace Foundation (GPF), has been leading the nonprofit organization for 14 years since its foundation in 2009.

He presented his idea of the Korean Dream in 2010 and authored a book titled “Korean Dream: A Vision for Unified Korea” in 2014. Moon published the book with the purpose of inspiring civil society, individuals and overseas Koreans aspiring for the peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula to be “more hopeful about unification.”

After the first edition came out in 2014, English and Japanese editions were published, and the centennial edition, published in August 2020 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement, became a bestseller across the United States. In April 2018, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) selected it as a must-read book for 2018.