Forum for Korean Unification Draws Multi-Sector Leaders, Launches Multiple Commemorative Events in Seoul
Scholars, researchers, civil society leaders and Korean government ministers urged greater consensus and collaboration in advancing a process of peaceful unification of the Korean peninsula at a forum convened in Seoul on October 8, 2015. The forum, “Role of Civil...
Dr. Hyun Jin Moon’s Keynote Address at Global Peace Economic Forum “Peaceful Unification and Economic Development”
Dr. Hyun Jin Moon, Founder and Chairman of the Global Peace Foundation, speaks at the Global Peace Economic Forum in Seoul, Korea, on October 8th, 2015. The speech stresses the need for economic reform in South Korea as a key component for creating a re-unified Korean...
Opposition Party Leaders Join Together for One Dream One Korea
The music video for “One Dream One Korea,” a new unification song composed by Kim Hyung-suk with lyrics by Kim Eana, was released on September 18, 2015. The song is creating a buzz among K-pop fans lauding over the performances of stars like Baekyun from boy band EXO...
Japan-Korea Relations and Korean Unification
As Korea prepared to celebrate the 70th year of the end of WWII, there was much speculation over the content of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s August 15th message. China’s foreign ministry released a statement that it expected a “clear and correct message about...
The Limits of Korean Regionalism
The Korean people regularly display a strong sense of shared history, tradition, and national pride to the world. After failing to win a single game in five World Cups, in 2002 several million people poured into the streets of Seoul to watch the FIFA games. After the...
70 years of Korean Freedom?
For those familiar with modern Korean history there are clear tensions in celebrating 70 years of Korean independence from Japanese colonial rule. The most uncomfortable fact is that while Korea is free of foreign rule, it remains divided, and Koreans in the North...
Lincoln’s Legacy and Korean Reunification
This year marks the 70th year of Korea’s independence, but also its division. As Koreans contemplate the challenges of unification and the “reconstruction” of one nation, there are some lessons perhaps that can be offered by the leadership of Abraham Lincoln. Abraham...
우리의 소원은 통일 – Looking Back at the Original Unification Song
The composer of the original Korean unification song, Ahn Byung-Won, lamented in a interview that, “We shouldn’t sing this song any more. When we wrote this song, we thought unification would come sooner.” John Cho reported this quote on his piece in the Korea Herald,...
Spreading the Korean Dream
In the past few years, the idea of a “Korean Dream” has been building momentum in Korea and around the world. Although many continue to focus on the idea of Korean reunification from economic and political perspectives, people are beginning to realize the importance...
The Legacy of Genghis Khan
For centuries since his passing, Genghis Khan has taken on mythic proportions as a blood-thirsty barbarian who destroyed and plundered his helpless and hapless victims during a horrific reign of terror. Yet, in what is only recently being discovered, is what...
Unification Tree
We called it the Unification Tree. A simple paper tree that started the day with branches empty, but began to “sprout” leaves as passersby jotted down their thoughts and hopes for Korean Unification. One leaf had “Our hope for unification” the title of an old song...
Our Hope for Unity
“Uri e sowonun tongil,” her voice waivered as she sang the lines of the song commissioned 70 years ago. It was initially a song longing for liberation, but rewritten as a song for unification after the prolonged division of Korea. Her eyes were closed, her retina...