“Up until now, every discussion on unification has been consumed with the “process” of unification, usually seen through the lens of Cold War geo-politics and interests…I believe such a framework only exacerbates the social, political and economic divide between the two Koreas, making any sincere efforts for unification next to impossible. The real issue is whether we, as the Korean people, have a clear vision for unification.” -Dr. Hyun Jin Moon, Korean Dream

Panelists and speakers at a forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Global Peace Foundation were cautiously optimistic about changing dynamics between Russia and the two Koreas. The forum is the fourth part of a series on Korean Unification.

“Russia is strongly interested in better relations between North and South Korea,” Dr. Alexander Zhebin, director of the Center for Korean Studies at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Moscow

“Russia is strongly interested in better relations between North and South Korea,” said Dr. Alexander Zhebin, director of the Center for Korean Studies at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Moscow and 12-year diplomat and journalist to North Korea. “Economic cooperation will help to develop the DPRK economy, to make the North Koreans more prepared to live in a modern society. In other words, it will help to lessen the existing gap between two parts of the country and cut unification’s cost.”

Dr. Andrew Kuchins, senior fellow and director of CSIS’s Russia and Eurasia Program also sees the budding economic relationships in Eurasia as a positive force for Korean reunification. “The fundamentally important thing happening on the Eurasian continent is connectivity and how to take advantage of new transit corridors, and this is where unification and a soft landing of the Korean conflict is important.”

Panelists at a forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Global Peace Foundation expressed reserved optimistic about developing relations between Russia and the two Koreas

However, Dr. Gilbert Rosman, emeritus Musgrave Professor of sociology at Princeton University and senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, advised caution, saying that a purely economic approach fails to consider the underlying ideological challenges.  He said it was impractical to expect that economic incentives would make North Korea “turn around and become a responsible state that may eventually be de-nuclearized”.

Nevertheless, Russia’s strengthened economic ties with the Republic of Korea as well and its continued relations with the DPRK point to a changing landscape in the post-cold war era, and opens new opportunities for connection between North and South Korea.

Yet whether unification eventually materializes is contingent on the Korean people and their will to embrace a shared destiny.

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The sudden passage of Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon on September 3, 2012 was covered globally. Amidst the reports, The Atlantic published an article by Armin Rosen entitled “Sun Myung Moon’s Groundbreaking Campaign to Open North Korea”. He writes, “But for all the focus on the eccentric mogul’s quirks and U.S. investments, his role in North Korea may turn out to be his most enduring legacy, a fascinating story of how one man opened one of the very few cracks in this modern hermit kingdom.”

December 1991, Rev. Sun Myung Moon (left) met with North Korean founder Kim Il Sung (right) of North Korea in December 1991. It was a groundbreaking even for North-South Korean relations. (credit: (AP Photo/Yonhap) )

Rev. Moon was a pioneer for North-South Korea relations in many ways. Despite the stark differences between Kim Il Sung’s communist stance and Rev. Moon’s anti-communist and spiritually based perspective, the two men were close. Close enough that at Rev. Moon’s death, North Korean premier Kim Jong Un issued “messages of condolences”.

Rev. Moon’s frequent and friendly relations with North Korea were “an early and important part of a larger international effort to pry open the hermit kingdom.” Rev. Moon’s breakthroughs were not without risk. At the time, contact with the North was punishable by South Korean law.

Rev. Moon was also among the first to invest in joint economic ventures, mainly Pyonghwa Motors, an automobile company that was a “joint business partnership between a Church-owned South Korean company and a state-run North Korean consortium.”

Mr. Rosen quotes Scott Snyder, a Korea expert with the Council on Foreign Relations, that Pyonghwa Motors was “one of the first efforts to do production of that type in North Korea.” The “path-breaking effort” provided “early socialization” for the North who had limited exposure to modern manufacturing and the global economy. It was an indicator of “later and more significant efforts at cooperation on the Korean Peninsula” Today, over 100 South Korean companies employ North Koreans at the Keasong Industrial Park a few miles north of the DMZ.

Mr. Rosen also notes that Rev. Moon was not a push-over. While he made economic investments and conciliatory gestures, he also issued harsh criticisms of the limitations and dire realities of the communist state.

However, the article ends observing that Rev. Moon “may have helped to foster engagement between Pyongyang and the outside,” but he “never lived to see his efforts pay off as he’d dreamed.”

Dr. Hyun Jin Moon during an interview with Korean media outlet NewsIs.

In an interview Dr. Hyun Jin Moon, Rev. Moon’s third son, has made it clear that he is still pursuing his father’s dream and learning from the past. Dr. Moon stated, “My father was the one who opened the door to North Korea.  I was in a very unique position to be very close and observe what happened when North Korea opened its doors, and I was able to see the mistakes that were made.”

Among these errors, according to Dr. Moon were the uncoordinated efforts of the South to reach out to the North, particularly during the Sunshine Policy. It allowed North Korea to play one group against the other.

Thus, the Global Peace Foundation, which Dr. Moon founded, has been a part of launching Korea United, a coordinated effort among over 350 civic and religious organizations towards unification.

Dr. Moon is well aware that he stands on different grounds than his father. For him, he is one generation removed, and Kim Jong Un is two generations apart. Yet Dr. Moon is hopeful to see his father’s dream fulfilled in the near future.

For the full article from The Atlantic visit: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/09/sun-myung-moons-groundbreaking-campaign-to-open-north-korea/262057/

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The situation on the Korean Peninsula has become a subject of the global community’s concern of late. From United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s remarks, to Pope Francis’ Easter message, the world is praying for reconciliation in Korea.

In December, Chosun Daily TV recognized two significant figures who have fostered relations between the two Koreas. Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon made history in December 1991, when he paid a visit to Kim Il Sung, in Pyongyang. It is said that that meeting opened the way for cultural  exchange, economic ventures and reunions for divided families. Dr. Hyun Jin Moon has continued his father’s work for North and South Korean reunification through the Global Peace Foundation. Last year GPF was part of launching Korea United, an effort that has brought together 350 NGOs together to envision and work towards Korean reunification. 

Below is an excerpt of the interview Dr. Moon gave during the Global Peace Convention 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Q: Dialogue between North and South Korea has been severed. How can we resolve this complex situation?

A: Wait and watch. I’m grateful that the Korean people, especially the media, recognize the contribution of my father. He was the one who opened North Korea. Even though North Korea persecuted my father, looked at my father as a major enemy, Kim Il Sung told my father that he was the only one he trusted outside of North Korea.

That says a lot. There is a difference between a person of faith, a spiritual leader, versus a political leader. A political leader will say what he needs to say. A business leader might make a negotiation. A person of faith, a spiritual leader, who has deep convictions, he will say what he means, and do what he says.

At the end of the day, the person you most likely will trust to take care of your children, to take care of your most important issues, is a person of faith who means what he says, and does what he says. The same thing is true with North Korean relations.

This foundation is being driven locally and globally and I am recognized as the spiritual leader who is bringing together all people of faith. In order for unification to happen in Korea, there has to be trust established. Trust is essential.

Q: Is there less trust with the next generation?

A: When you have a whole new generation, you’re starting from a whole new footing. Absolutely. You cannot carry over Kim Il Sung and my father’s trust. Of course it eroded with Kim Jung Il. Kim Jung-Eun, same thing.

You have to build a new basis. You cannot ride on it. You have to build it, because it is a new generation. With a new global circumstances, and that administration has new sets of issues and new sets of interests, very different from Kim Il Sung or Kim Jung Il.

But, I believe in the Korea United initiative. I think there is tremendous power there. Especially if the Korean people take ownership, if this really becomes national movement that really moves, North and South Unity will be just around the corner.

And to me, that’s the only way that it can happen. If you look at even Germany, German Unification did not happen because Regan said, “Gorbachev tear down this wall” and Gorbachev started Perestroika. It was actually the German people, both east and west that moved towards unification of the German nation. That’s how it happened.

That’s how trust was established. So if you really want to see this happen, you need to get the people, both South and North, then the leaders will naturally follow the process that is already begun.

And that is one of the great thing about how we framed the Korea United movement. We’re talking about outcomes, we’re not talking about we need to get rid of this regime; we’re talking about outcomes for the entire Korean people. In terms of how that settles, you give room so that it does not become a confrontation issue. It’s non-threatening. That’s the power of the framework of establishing the outcome, and what are the principles and values that are going to lead you there. There’s a certain momentum that we can build.

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On May 3rd, 2012 the Unification Pledge Campaign was launched at the National Assembly Building in Seoul, Korea. The pledge places the question and responsibility of reunification into the hands of every Korean, North and South, with a simple question, “What are you willing to do for reunification?” This grassroots movement for Korean unity is propelled by a partnership of over 400 civic and faith-based organizations.

The Korea United campaign makes reunification a part of every Korean’s everyday life. It shows that reunification is not just a matter reserved just for high-level discussion, nor is a phenomenon that will to occur through protracted government and international policy. It is an issue that needs the voice and commitment of all Koreans, starting with the attitude of South Koreans towards North Koreans.

South Korea has been on the United Nations International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination’s watch list since 2003.  Progress has been made with key policies like the National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and the establishment of the Interpretation Support Center for Foreign Migrant Workers.

However, in his blog post, Mr. Kim, director of GPF Korea realizes that South Korean bias towards North Korean refugees is even more severe than their bias towards foreigners. He wonders if reunification feasible with such profound discrimination.

Korea United’s approach is based on a higher vision based on spiritual principles and values rooted in Korea’s own shared historic philosophy of living for the benefit of mankind. That is why Korea United is driving forward service initiatives like the Power of 1,000 Won, the Alllights Village Project, and the Global Leadership Exchange Program, to bring Korean back to it’s original culture of living for humanity. In this way, it is pulling down preconceived barriers between not just Korea and the world, but between North and South to realize we are, one family under God.

Read Mr. Park’s blog post.

http://blog.naver.com/moraeal21/100173083594

Monday, November 19, 2012

Good morning.

It is me, Director Park.^^

When I was driving on the freeway in the early hours of the morning, it began to snow.

At first, it was sleet, but it gradually slowed and became huge snowflakes.

It was still dark before dawn, but I was happy to see the first snow of this winter.

Last Saturday, I stopped by the office to do some work, and I noticed there were several people in the meeting room.

Who could they be?

I slowly opened the door.

The GPYC team members were having a meeting with a few guests.

I said hello. Director Dong Hoon Lee smiled and invited me to join them. So I did.

A few refugees, a couple of student winners from Unification-themed contest, and a North Korea expert were in the room.

We tasted North Korean style tofu rice and meatball rice, typical dishes sold in North Korea, and had a good talk.

The most striking part about this experience was my realization that South Koreans tend to discriminate against North Korean refugees more than foreign workers.

There is a lot of talk about reunification, but maybe it first needs to happen in our midst.

I realized, these refugees are one of the faces of reunification.

If we remain indifferent and biased to the issue of reunification that is right in front of us, how can we ever become one with our brethren in North Korea?

We need to change our perspective of reunification. That it is not just a word but an actual and ongoing process.

I thought I was conscious of reunification, but as I listened to what the refugees had to say, I realized that the division between North and South does not only lie at the DMZ, but is also deeply rooted in our minds and hearts.

It is Monday morning, and I sound so serious. -.-;

I think the grassroots Korea United Movement starts when we begin to dialogue with each other to close the gap between the hearts of North and South.

Have a good day. ^^

GPF Director Park

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Dr. Hyun Jin Moon gave an exclusive interview to the Korean Media during the Global Peace Convention (GPC) 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia.

He encouraged the journalists to use the media to “educate well instead of coming up with conspiracy.” The Korean media, Dr. Moon said, has a critical responsibility to inform the public of  “real news that will affect the fate of the Korean people. ”

Shin Dong-A ran the interview in its January edition.

See the original article in Korean.

Interview with Global Peace Foundation Chairman, Dr. Hyun Jin Moon 

Below is the unofficial English translation.

“Trust must first be established on a grassroots level for the reunification of North and South Korea”

Global Peace Foundation Chair Hyun Jin Moon stressed in his opening speech at the Global Peace Convention, GPC Atlanta 2012, “We need a new framework rooted in our shared spiritual aspirations and principles that give rise to the values needed to build peace.”

During the interview, he gave an overview of GPC Atlanta 2012 and talked about GPF’s movement for Korean reunification.

Shin Dong-A: Why was Atlanta selected to host the GPC?

Dr. Moon: Atlanta is a place rich with history and faith. It was the center of the civil rights movement, led by Dr. Martin Luther King; it is also the home of former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, who has been deeply involved with the Habitat for Humanity movement.  The King Center and The Carter Center are located here. They both were a part of the conference. I have always seen the civil rights movement as not just the struggle for African American civil rights, but as a great spiritual movement to awaken all humanity. We can rekindle that spirit in Atlanta and make a global awakening that will offer a new perspective for peace.

Shin Dong-A: You mentioned that the co-prosperity of North and South America, the reunification of North and South Korea, and the Middle East are all connected to a single theme.

Dr. Moon: What is the relevance to Korea? This is an international gathering. I’m actually building awareness of how important the unification issue and the unification movement that we initiated is in terms of American foreign policy.

Before that unification process happens, America also needs to help Korea. Of course Korean people should actually initiate, but it actually needs the aid of many international parties to support the process, and this is an effort to build that support.

This whole process that is happening right now, I went from Mongolia to Korea, now to the United States, and I’m planning on doing a GPF in Japan, I’m basically bringing this entire region, not just the United States, North and South America. So it’s this entire Pan-pacific rim that is recognizing this as a major issue not only in terms of security but in terms of stability of the region.

Shin Dong-A: You underlined the importance of civil diplomacy. What do you think of the current government’s policy towards North Korea?

Dr. Moon: It needs to re-engage. No matter who wins [the Korean election], most likely there will be re-engagement.

Shin Dong-A: Dialogue between North and South Korea has stalled. How can this situation be resolved?

Especially if the Korean people take ownership, if this really becomes a national movement that really moves, “North and South Unity” will be just around the corner. Dr. Moon: In order for unification to happen in Korea, there has to be trust established. Trust is essential.

I believe in the Korea United initiative that I started. I think there is tremendous power there. Especially if the Korean people take ownership, if this really becomes a national movement that really moves, “North and South Unity” will be just around the corner.

Shin Dong-A: There is criticism that aid to North Korea will end up benefiting only the government of North Korea.

 Dr. Moon: It all depends on what kind of aid is provided. If we offer flour aid for example, it can be used for another purpose. But if we set up a bakery plant and have baked goods produced for consumption, we don’t have to worry about those kinds of problems.

That is one of the great things about how we framed the Korea United movement. We’re talking about outcomes, we’re not talking about, “We need to get rid of this regime”; we’re talking about outcomes for the entire Korean people. You give room so that it does not become a confrontational issue. And not only that, it’s non-threatening. That’s the power of the framework of establishing the outcome, and what are the principles and values that are going to lead you there.

Shin Dong-A: Have you been to North Korea?

Dr. Moon: I have been invited several times, but I haven’t been, yet. I would like to go when I have established a foundation upon which I can make a substantial contribution towards reunification. I do not want to go for political show, to just take pictures.

See also Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon’s speech at the Opening Plenary of the Global Peace Convention 2012 in Atlanta.

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Korea United brings new approaches to Korean unification.

• Up to now the discussion for unification has been among leaders. Mainly political and military representatives sat at the negotiating table.
  • Korea United is opening the discussion to every citizen.

• Up to now Korean unification has been a slow and distant process. Road maps use decades and call on mostly political and economic institutions.
  • Korea United believes that unification starts NOW and needs everyone’s effort.

• Up to now Korean division has been seen as a clash between communism and democracy.
  • Korea United sees the shared principles and values of Korea’s common history as the starting place of unification. For example, the ancient philosophy of Hongik ingan (living for the benefit of mankind) is honored in both North and South Korea.

400 civic organizations are partnering in activities like:

Activities like the Power of 1000 Won are giving opportunities for Koreans to make unification a part of their daily lives.

1. Unification Pledge Campaign: The goal is millions of signatures and awareness that unification is in everyone’s hands.
2. The Power of 1000 won : Collect 1000 won a day for a cause. The goal is to instill the culture of service into everyday life, particularly for young people. In one project, elementary school students raised funds for bakeries in North Korea so children their age could have fresh bread.
3. Unification Project Contest : The contest invites college students to submit their ideas on how they can contribute to unification. Winning ideas will be awarded cash prizes and shared to with the U-Generation (Unification Generation).

Everyone can contribute to unification. Everyone can start now.

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