The Reunification Of Korea And Cooperation Between East And West

Mr. Chairman, Distinguished former Heads of State, Prime Ministers of Government, Honorable Legislators and Ambassadors, Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am pleased and honored to welcome you to Korea for this important conference. I am very glad that we are gathered together for the second Summit Council for World Peace with the theme of the reunification of Korea and cooperation between East and West. Furthermore, I am very happy that together with this summit conference, we are convening the eighth conference of the Association for the Unity of Latin America, commonly known as AULA, which has a tremendous record of achievement in bringing about the harmony and unity of Latin America over the last seven years.

I truly feel that the timing of this conference is very significant. This is the beginning of 1990, and the new decade of the nineties. In ten years, we are going to usher in the year 2000. In our lifetime, we will witness the beginning of the new millennium. We must feel the tremendous importance of living in this time, and not only witnessing dramatic changes in human life, but actually shaping those events.

It is a hope shared by all of us that the new millennium be characterized by true peace. For that to be so, the next ten years will be challenging and demanding. These organizations which have gathered here today, the Summit Council for World Peace and AULA, have a very important part to play during the next ten years. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to you for the work you have already done for the achievement of peace. At the same time, I would like to challenge you to become the champions of peace of the new decade

The period between the close of World War II and the present, roughly forty years, can be viewed as the age of confrontation between two camps of diametrically opposed ideologies. There have been numerous conflicts between people and between nations, accompanied by an escalating arms race. There was really no moment in this time when people could have a feeling of peace in their hearts.

Then, in 1985, Mr. Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union, and began to initiate a series of changes. He encouraged greater freedoms of expression within the Soviet Union, undertook a restructuring of the Soviet economy, and perhaps most significantly, repudiated the Brezhnev doctrine. Within a short time, dramatic political change within the Soviet bloc became a daily occurrence. In the past few months we have seen the democratization of Poland, followed by Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and finally Rumania. These events were accompanied by the crumbling of the Berlin Wall, the symbol of confrontation between East and West. With that, a new era of reconciliation has dawned.

I would like to extend my hearty congratulations to President Gorbachev for his courage and leadership in bringing about these constructive changes, enabling us to usher in this new era of cooperation. I am committed to support the Soviet Union in their genuine desire to uphold individual human dignity, and bring about both economic reform, and most importantly, religious freedom.

As you may already know, I am also committed to working together with the Peoples Republic of China. This giant nation comprises one fourth of the world's population. Certainly we cannot talk about world peace without taking into account the well being of the 1.3 billion Chinese people. To help in providing needed jobs, technology and income, I am now building one of the world's largest automobile assembly plants in China. This is another aspect of our efforts for world peace.

Furthermore, as you may know, in 1981 I launched an International Peace Highway project. When completed, this highway will allow a family car to be driven from Tokyo to London. I am seriously discussing the project with the governments of Japan, Korea and China, and I hope that the Soviet Union will also welcome this project. Of course, this is a lofty dream, but every great undertaking begins as a dream. Not so long ago, no one could even have dreamed of men walking on the moon, but with a vision and hard work, it became a reality. So it will be with the International Peace Highway.

At this point, having shared with you my tremendous feelings of hope and optimism for the future, I feel that I must also address what I consider to be a dangerous tendency by some people to celebrate prematurely the coming of peace. Although the Berlin Wall has fallen, tremendous difficulties remain in both camps. The leading nations of the free world, along with their vast material wealth, are beset with the problem of moral decay. They have fallen victim to a pervasive materialism and freedom is often abused. Furthermore, the rise to near dominance of atheistic secularism in the West has brought with it the collapse of moral standards. As a result, Western society is afflicted with serious social ills, among them the break up of families, an epidemic of drug abuse, an increase in sexual crimes and diseases, and widespread governmental corruption.

To put the matter simply, the current problems of both East and West are ultimately coming from the same source-a confusion of values. Communism has failed because the Marxist value system has proven to be false. It is no secret that I have been ardently opposed to communism throughout my life. I have been so because I know that the militant denial of God and the belief that progress occurs through conflict can never lead to success in building a good society. Through my own life experience I have come to know of a certainty that God is real, and the most important thing in life is true love. Human progress can come about only when God is cherished, and love is given the highest value. Clearly, neither communism nor the free world is presently equipped to lead mankind toward a peaceful 21st century.

What we urgently need at the outset of this new decade is a true value system to fill the vacuum created by the collapse of values in both the free and communist worlds. That new value system must be based on the ideology of Godism-a worldview centered on God. Throughout my entire life, I have been working with members of all religions and denominations to advance the understanding of this God centered worldview. In this way, it has been possible to create numerous broad based academic and religious organizations dedicated to the search for absolute values, and the establishment of true peace. I have also established news media organizations, as well as institutions of art and education. This entire worldwide foundation has been prepared to assist persons such as yourselves in your efforts to attain true world peace.

True world peace cannot be achieved without a clear value system shared by all. When values are clarified, humankind will no longer be in darkness. Godism allows each individual to clearly see the meaning and value of his life. Each person is then motivated to seek his own spiritual well being by living responsibly and serving his fellow man. This is the ultimate solution to world suffering.

In other words, what our world needs today to save itself is a spectacular spiritual awakening. The world must be awakened into the reality of God and equipped with a worldview based on God affirming principles. This worldview will be capable of eliminating the confusion in the value systems of both camps.

Based upon such an awakening into higher values, the nature of the relationships between nations must be transformed. Until now, the driving force behind economic development has generally been the desire for profits. In this way, a great amount of human potential has been unleashed, and remarkable world development has occurred However, the desire for profits must be balanced with the fundamental understanding that all people are the children of God. We are all brothers and sisters. Furthermore, the purpose of our life on earth is not to amass material goods. We are alive in this world so that we can develop and perfect our eternal spirit. The only way to do this is through the practice of true love, that is, living for the sake of others.

True love must be practiced on all levels of life, including the relations between nations. The developed nations of the world should feel that they have been blessed by God for the purpose of helping others. They must be willing to sacrifice themselves for the underdeveloped nations of the world If the prosperous nations do not think in loftier terms that the desire for profits, their prosperity will slip away in spite of their efforts to retain'

Today, Korea is the point of convergence of the key nations of China, Japan, the Soviet Union, and the United States. At the time of the Korean War, people of many nations made the supreme sacrifice to determine the future of this peninsula. We have gathered here today in the same spirit of concern. It is entirely appropriate that political leaders from around the world should come here to discuss the issue of Korean unification. Historically, this is more than a national issue. It involves the entire international community.

I would like to suggest a few guidelines which I hope you will consider in your discussions about the unification of Korea. With regard to North Korea, there are several prerequisites to the process of reunification. First, North Korea must abandon its plans for a military conquest of the South. Second, they must put an end to their extreme isolation, and open their society to the world community of nations. Third, they must carry out their own version of glasnost, thereby giving their people the most important freedom, the freedom to worship as they desire, and the must put a stop to the deification of their leader.

Only then will North Korea be ready to undertake effective economic reforms. As North Korea begins to cooperate with South Korea and the other nations of the world, it will become more and more evident to them that unless people are given realistic hope for a better life, as well as incentive to achieve it, it is virtually impossible to increase human productivity.

I want to emphasize, however, that there must also be change in South Korea. South Korea has been experiencing an unprecedented wave of prosperity. This prosperity must be seen for what it is-the blessing of God-and it must be shared with others. This nation must now be ready and willing to embrace our bothers and sisters in the north, and help to alleviate their suffering. In the same way, the free world must now totally support the initiatives toward freedom which have been made in Eastern Europe, the Soviet union. and China.

The Bible tells the story of two brothers, Jacob and Esau. Though they were both destined to play an important part in the providence of God, there was a great conflict between them. Jacob was blessed by his father, but only after some trickery. When Esau learned of this, he wanted to kill Jacob and Jacob had to flee. It was only after they had lived separately for more than twenty years that Jacob returned with gifts and with love in his heart for Esau. When the two brothers met after this long period of separation, Jacob approached Esau and said, "When I look at you, I see the face of God." They forgave each other and embraced in tears. Esau no longer wanted to kill Jacob, but to live with him, share with him and learn from him.

Today the free world stands in the Position of Jacob The communist world stands in the position of Esau. Many communist nations, such as Cuba and North Korea, have been taught that, like Jacob, the free world has stolen the blessing from them. Like Esau, in the past they have wanted to destroy the nations of the free world. Like Jacob, for many years, the free world has wisely stayed militarily strong and avoided falling into a position where the communist world could destroy her. However, I believe that now the time has come for the free world to be reconciled with the communist world. When we see our bothers and sisters who have been suffering for many years in the communist system, we must see in them the "face of God." We must support them, comfort them, fill them with confidence, and allow them to enter the world community of democratic nations.

Ladies and gentlemen, I hope your deliberations over the next two days will be productive and rewarding. I am certain that because of such efforts as these, Korea will be one unified nation well before the end of this decade. On behalf of the sixty million Korean people of both the north and south, I want to express my gratitude that you have come. I pray that your efforts will be fruitful.

God bless you. Thank you very much.