1 of 5 | Hyun Jin Preston Moon, center, is pictured during the 2024 Korean Dream Grand March for a Unified Korea.
Sept. 29 (UPI) — Tens of thousands of Koreans from across the South and the Korean diaspora marched and rallied today for Korean unification and the freedom of the people in the North at the Imjingak Peace Park, seven kilometers from the DMZ. The event was held to mark Korea’s National Foundation Day, officially celebrated on October 3.
Billed as the 2024 Korean Dream Grand March for a Unified Korea, it was organized by Action for Korea United (AKU), the largest coalition of civil society groups supporting Korea’s unification in the country. AKU has 17 regional chapters and has run hundreds of educational workshops in the Korean Dream philosophy of unification.
That philosophy was conceived by Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon, founder and chairman of Global Peace Foundation, a non-profit and co-sponsor of the March. He looks to Korea’s history — and a reconnection with its deep spiritual roots — to provide the glue that can unite diverse groups of Koreans around a common purpose.
He told a lively crowd they were at a “watershed in the history of our people” where a “confluence of issues is moving Korea towards unification.” He called upon the audience to help revive Korea’s ancient “high spiritual civilization” represented in the hongik ingan ideal linked to Korea’s founding, which means “living for the greater benefit of all humanity,” and the spirit of the March 1, 1919, Independence movement.
These mobilized around 20% of the population in peaceful, mass demonstrations, the first in modern times, against Japanese colonial rule.
Appealing to this legacy, Moon said, “We are a providential people with a mandate to serve humanity. Rise up and show the world who we are!”
He urged the government to re-establish the Ministry of Unification as a committee of scholars, experts, and civil society representatives to provide continuity and avoid the policy shifts that now came with changes of administration.
North Korean escapees were prominent among speakers and performers at the rally. Chol-hwanKang, author of “Aquariums of Pyongyang,” and founder and president of the North Korea Strategy Center in Seoul, noted that September 28 was the anniversary of Seoul being “reclaimed” from the North Korean Army during the Korean War.
“Today, righteous citizens have gathered here for the freedom of Pyongyang, which is yet to be reclaimed,” he added.
The key was the emergence a unification-led movement in South Korea. He believed that the Korean Dream was a “historic unification vision that Koreans in both North and South could resonate with.”
“If the people of South Korea unite around this unification vision, the Kim regime will soon collapse,” he said.
Kang was sent to the notorious Yodok political prison camp at the age of nine with most of is family after his grandfather was accused of treason. He endured ten years there before his release and eventual escape from North Korea.
Ja-un Lee, lead actress in the docudrama, “Acorn,” which dramatized the experiences of North Korean escapees, fought back tears as she recounted her experience working with around 100 escapees who told and re-enacted their experiences.
“I realized how blessed I was to be born in South Korea and felt ashamed of my previous indifference to unification,” she said.
The singers, dancers, and musicians who performed at the rally were all North Korean escapees.
This event was planned as a precursor for 2025, the 80th year of Korea’s liberation after World War II, but also the start of Korea’s current division. AKU is planning large rallies across South Korea in support of unification, reviving the model of the March 1st Independence Movement demonstrations.
Disclaimer: Dr. Moon is the chairman of UCI which owns UPI’s parent company.