Sunday Sermon, Rev. Park Sang-seon, August 20, 2023 (Heavenly Calendar July 5th, 11th year)
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the leaders and citizens of Gapyeong who joined us in this joint worship service for inter-Korean reunification despite your busy schedules. And I sincerely congratulate all those who have been commissioned to the National Committee for Unification Preparation.
I believe that people coming together as one in the spirit of preparing for unification are the greatest force that will open the door to unification. I am convinced that when the hearts of the people unite, Heaven will be with us and the door to peaceful unification will open.
During this last Liberation Day holiday, I visited a restaurant specializing in spicy fish stew (mae-un-tang) known to be the best in Korea. In the car on the way there, and while eatingspicy fish stew, I kept thinking about what was different that made this place earn a reputation as the best mae-un-tang restaurant in our country.
Then I found out one thing. I also learned that the vegetables and fish used in this eating establishment are premium, and that there are secret recipes handed down for generations. If you went to that Maeuntang restaurant without hearing that it’s supposed to be the best in Korea, you would not have given much thought as to what special ingredients went into it, and you wouldn’t imagine there was some special secret recipe merely from appearances.
The reason I’m sharing this at the beginning of today’s talk is because I want to convey that what you hear and what you see may vary depending on what you think.
The same is true regarding unification of North and South. If there is a national aspiration for the peaceful reunification of South and North Korea, the path can be found. We’ll be gifted to discover the way. When that opportunity comes, we can seize it. However, if there is no national will for that, even if the road opens up, it may not be recognized. You may not even notice that the opportunity has arrived.
That is why people are needed who are preparing for the unification of the two Koreas. If ten million Koreans become members of the National Committee for Unification Preparation and root for peaceful unification with one mind, I believe we can move forward on that path when Heaven opens the way.
There must be an earnest national aspiration for the reunification of the two Koreas. However, the path to inter-Korean reunification does not open just because of people’s wishes and dreams. Based on such a burning desire, we have to prepare. You can’t just wait for our wish to come true without making any preparations.
I would like to introduce what Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol said as a closing remark at the Ministry of Unification Progress Report on January 27, 2023.
“Unification is something that can be achieved only through preparation, not something that will just happen.” He emphasized the importance of preparing for unification, saying, “Unification will come suddenly, but it can only be realized if it is well prepared.” Anyone would agree that it is only natural that the entire nation should prepare for unification with one mind.
Among our people, many have different thoughts in regard to unification of the Peninsula. It is very difficult for the leaders of the two Koreas to hold dialogue, and it is not known how much it will cost before reunification is achieved. In any case the reality is that there are many people who say that we can just live as we are without reuniting.
It is not necessarily a wrong opinion to hold that it would be nice to live just as is without reuniting the two Koreas—but the problem is North Korea.
This year 2023 marks the 73rd year since the outbreak of the Korean War and the 70th year since the ceasefire. The war is not technically over. How many North Korean provocations have there been in the past 70 years since the armistice? How many provocations have there been, such as breaking across the DMZ, digging tunnels, attempted landings by sea, armed guerrillas, and spies?
“A miraculous ‘70-year peace’ in Korea… but at the price of 4,360 lives”
(July 24, 2023, JoongAng Ilbo)
This is what the JoongAng Ilbo reported on July 27th, marking the 70th anniversary of the armistice: “Even today, 70 years after the Armistice Agreement, the war has not officially or virtually ended. From July 27, 1953 to this day, a total of 4,360 people, including 4268 South Korean soldiers and 92 US soldiers, died in low-intensity warfare and irregular warfare with North Korea in the effort to protect the ceasefire line resulting from the armistice agreement. After the hot war, still 4,360 more people have sacrificed their lives to support peace and prosperity while the Republic of Korea worked on the Miracle on the Han River and is now heading toward the world stage not only economically but also culturally.”
The war is over, but not completely over. 70 years later, aren’t some people still guarding the 155-mile DMZ at the border? Moreover, North Korea has become a nuclear power.
North Korea has demonstrated three capabilities as criteria for becoming a nuclear power: thus it is now a de facto nuclear power. First is a successful nuclear test. Second, there must be a missile capable of delivering an atomic weapon. Third, it must be capable of detonating a nuclear bomb 500 meters above the surface. North Korea has demonstrated all three capabilities.
North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests. The sixth nuclear test was conducted in September 2017. Moreover, it claims that the fifth nuclear test was a hydrogen bomb.
North Korea has fired more than 20 rockets as of July of this year. Among them, the “Arrow-1” and “Arrow-2” models launched on March 22 were set to test-explode at a set altitude of 600 meters, and it was announced that the test of the nuclear explosion control system and detonator was successful. A nuclear bomb does not explode when it strikes the ground, but bursts about 500 meters above the ground, causing the heat, nuclear blast, and radiation to cause much more extensive ground damage. North Korea announced on March 22 that it had pulled off such a missile test without a hitch.
North Korea has succeeded in launching missiles capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, and it has demonstrated the ability to launch rockets from trains, trucks, and submarines. It is now an established fact that North Korea has become a nuclear power.
South Korea does not possess nuclear weapons, but the United States, which is an ally, maintains nuclear-equipped aircraft carriers, submarines, and bombers off the coast of the Korean Peninsula to warn North Korea against reckless provocations.
On July 18, the nuclear submarine USS Kentucky made a port call at the Naval Operations Base in Busan. She is a submarine capable of carrying over 20 nuclear weapons. July 18th was the day the first meeting of the Korea-US Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) was held, and the strategic nuclear submarine arrived right on time for that event.
In retaliation, the North Korean Defense Minister Kim Soon-nam told the Korean Central News Agency on July 20 threatened, “Increased visibility of deployment of strategic assets, including strategic nuclear submarines, may fall under the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons as specified in the State Nuclear Forces Policy Act.”
Once having developed nuclear capability, North Korea announced the “National Nuclear Forces Policy Act” on September 8, 2022 last year. The “National Nuclear Forces Policy Act,” in other words, is the “Nuclear First Strike Policy Act.” The preemptive use of nuclear weapons was made into law. North Korean Defense Minister Kim Soon-nam referred to the “National Nuclear Forces Policy Act,” stating that the US nuclear submarine docking at Busan served as sufficient condition for North Korea to preemptively use nuclear weapons. This was a strong, not a veiled threat.
Dr. Kwak Gil-seop, a former North Korea analyst at the National Intelligence Service, stated that in the preface to North Korea’s “National Nuclear Forces Policy Act” it says “Nuclear force protects the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and fundamental interests of the state.” He went on, “We analyze this as a phrase that more explicitly expresses their goal of unification of the Korean Peninsula under communism, as stipulated in the preamble of its terms of applicability.”
On July 17, the day before the first meeting of the Korea-US Nuclear Consultative Group, North Korean Workers’ Party Vice Minister Kim Yeo-jeong made a particularly threatening and harsh remark: “The current situation is far beyond the level of confrontation that was created in 2017, and the possibility of an actual armed conflict and even the possibility of a nuclear war are being discussed,” she said, using the expression ‘territorial completion’, which means unification under communism.
It has been 70 years since the armistice was reached in the Korean War, but now, with North Korea’s nuclear weapons and US nuclear arms in confrontation around the Korean Peninsula, even the word ‘nuclear war’ is being bandied about.
So, with North and South Korea facing each other down like this, there’s no need to reunify? Can you think it would be nice if we just go on living like this, each minding our own business? You never know when a war may break out between the North and the South, yet can you survive just by saying, “Let’s live along and just leave each other alone”?
Then, how can we open the door to unification? And what should we do to prepare for that eventuality?
Russia and Ukraine have been at war for a year and a half. There is no way to comfort the pain that the soldiers and civilians of that country are experiencing, but it reminds the people of Korea of our painful memories from the Korean War, and it gives a very important lesson on how to prepare to open the way for peaceful unification. Ukraine has recently been involved in two wars with Russia.
The first war was nine years ago in 2014, when the Crimean Peninsula, which was Ukraine territory, was not fought properly and was confiscated in less than a month. And the second war, which started with the invasion of Russia in February 2022 last year, is a war where Ukraine is fiercely defending its country, fighting off Russia’s indiscriminate onslaught, which has been going on for 1 year and 6 months thus far.
These two wars were caused by the attack of the same hostile country, Russia, in the same country, Ukraine. The first time around, they did not use their guns properly, and in less than a month, their own territory, the Crimean Peninsula, was snatched away. Now, the second round, even though Ukraine was attacked by Russia, which has enormous might that no one can stand up to, Ukraine has been valiantly thwarting Russia’s indiscriminate barrage for 1 year and 6 months.
There are lessons we must learn from these two wars in Ukraine, which are taking place right in front of our eyes with the whole world watching. It is not a story from the distant past; it is a very real situation that is happening right in front of our eyes, and it teaches us a lot.
First of all, it took less than a month for Ukraine to lose Crimea, a part of its country, to Russia. How did that happen? Crimea is a land the size of Gangwon-do in Korea. The population is about 2.5 million, so the population is more than the population of Gangwon-do. There is a lesson we must learn from the process of losing such a large chunk of territory.
I will briefly review the process by which Ukraine lost Crimea.
In Nov. 2013 a movement called the Euromaidan Revolution began, and in February 2014 pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia after which a pro-Western Ukrainian interim government was established.
On Feb. 25, tens of thousands of protesters called for dissolving the central government of Ukraine and the Parliament of the Republic of Crimea. In such a situation where the central government is in chaos, tens of thousands of pro-Russian protesters also rose in Crimea on Feb. 25, demanding the dissolution of the Ukrainian central government and the dissolution of the parliament of the Republic of Crimea, causing the resignation of the mayor of Sevastopol in the Republic of Crimea and creating a new mayor. Ukraine was in political turmoil, and in that state recognized the independent parliament of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
On Feb. 27, at 4:00 a.m., Russian troops (unknown at the time) entered Crimea and quickly occupied Parliament and local government offices, and installed Akshonov as Prime Minister of the Republic of Crimea. Prime Minister Lee Akshonov promptly requested Russia to help ensure peace and stability in the Republic of Crimea, so Russia immediately sent troops to occupy the Crimean Peninsula.
On March 11, a referendum on independence from Ukraine was held to declare independence from Ukraine.
On March 16, another referendum was held to declare the merger with Russia.
On March 18, Ukraine and Russia signed a merger treaty.
On March 19 the Russian Constitutional Court declared the annexation of Crimea constitutional.
On March 21st, President Putin signed, completing all legal procedures for the Republic of Crimea to be merged with Russia.
You may think the process appears legal at first glance, such as holding a referendum twice, signing a treaty with Russia, and having the Russian Supreme Court declare it legal, but the functions of the National Assembly and government buildings had been paralyzed. It is illegal in itself, so what is the meaning of a referendum in such an illegal situation, and what does it mean if a treaty is signed?
That is why the whole world, including the United States, still recognizes Crimea as Ukrainian territory, but only eight countries, North Korea, Cuba, Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Russia recognize Crimea as Russian territory.
What is the most important lesson learned from the process of annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea by Russia? Most importantly, it shows people around the world that the worst situation comes when the government itself loses its power and its function is paralyzed, and the country is taken over by physical force, whether it is the central government or the local government.
The cause of confusion in the government of Ukraine was that the people were not united, and the most important issue over which the people were not united was whether it is better for Ukraine to cooperate with Russia or to receive help from Europe and the West.
This problem is similar to the problem our country is facing today. What happened when the question came up whether it’s better for Korea to cooperate with the United States or with China and Russia? Opinions diverged at the National Assembly, and divisions of public opinion arose. If such divisions intensify, the state will not be able to exert its full power and we can even lose our territory. If the people do not stand together, chaos can arise at any time. This shows how important it is for the people to become one. I think we’ve already experienced this enough in our history.
But what about the war Ukraine is currently taking a battering in? In February 2022, eight years after Russia annexed the Republic of Crimea, Russia attacked Ukraine again. Russia already had the experience of obtaining the Republic of Crimea without shedding a drop of blood, and in terms of military power, Ukraine is a country that one would have expected to have no chance of standing up to Russia.
When Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24 last year, the United States had already announced the date of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as if it were simply relaying the progress of the war, and also told where the Russian army was gathering and preparing for the attack. But, completely unaware of that, Russia went ahead and invaded Ukraine. From the outset the takeover was predicted to be a cinch. You would suppose that by attacking Ukraine and installing a Russian president, they could just take Ukraine like a piece of cake. Furthermore, since Ukrainian President Zelensky was a comedian, they expect he would be a pushover and surrender readily.
So how has the war been faring? Until now, Russia has not been able to swallow Ukraine for a year and a half. The situation has turned out totally different from when it engulfed the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
What has changed? First of all, the president is different. We all imagined he would quickly surrender and run away just because he was a stand-up comedian-turned-president, but he was serious business. As the President took the lead to protect the country, the people stood fast with him. The Ukrainian people showed me that you and I are participating in the war. In the face of the struggle against Russia, national divisions do not surface.
More importantly, most countries in Europe, including the United States, have been standing behind the Ukraine. Since we entered the fray by supporting Ukraine with a lot of weapons, we were not opponents of Russia in the beginning, but now we are standing up against Russia, and it seems that Russia is rather taking it on the chin and being pushed back.
Ukraine’s cooperation and support from the United States and other European countries constitutes the best strategy according to Sun Tzu’s Art of War, which teaches that forming cooperative relationships or alliances with neighboring countries and isolating enemy alliances is the best way to win without fighting.
Ukraine is in that situation now. It is cooperating with and receiving support from the United States and neighboring European countries, while Russia is isolated internationally. From Ukraine’s point of view, they are winning without fighting, and from Russia’s point of view, they are losing without fighting. Even though Russia pushes with its mighty power, it cannot win. Even though Ukraine is a country that is being pushed back by Russia by force, isn’t it stymying Russia with cooperation and support from its surrounding allies?
The Korean War can also be explained from the perspective of Sun Tzu’s Art of War. During the Korean War, North Korea was completely united with the Soviet Union. It was a relationship of cooperation and alliance with the USSR. What was our Republic of Korea like at the time?
On Jan. 12, 1950, five months before the outbreak of the Korean War, U.S. Secretary of State Acheson announced that the U.S. Far East Defense Line for Northeast Asia would be a line of defense connecting the Philippines and Japan, and Taiwan and the Korean Peninsula would be excluded from this line of defense.
After all, just before the Korean War broke out, South Korea had weak alliances with neighboring countries, while North Korea had strong alliances with its allies. From North Korea’s point of view, it was the best condition. North Korea attacked in such a situation, and how was the going? Wasn’t South Korea just helplessly pushed all the way to the Nakdong River? If it had not been for the help of the UN forces, it would have been only a matter of time before South Korea became enemy territory.
What has North Korea always insisted on, even after the Korean War? Isn’t it the withdrawal of US troops from the Korean Peninsula? It has always tried to undermine our country’s relationship with the United States.
And at that time, South Korea was in a state of division close to self-destruction. We were ideologically divided and failed to stop the activities of North Korean spies, so we were not prepared for a war. Without the help of the UN forces, today’s Republic of Korea would not have existed on this earth. The armistice led to the construction of today’s Republic of Korea.
It is clear that we have to learn from the war between Ukraine and Russia and from Sun Tzu’s Art of War. The best strategy is to win without fighting. To do so, cooperation and alliances with neighboring countries must be well established. Even if a fight breaks out by the lowest strategy, you must have the strength not to be pushed back in a fight.
Most importantly, don’t destroy yourself before you even fight. To do that, we need to become a healthy and strong nation.
For a nation to self-destruct is, so to speak, comparable to the death of a person from loss of health. A healthy person is one who has the power to detect and eliminate germs or viruses that are harmful to health. If cancer cells form in the body, a healthy person is one who has the power to locate, isolate, and destroy the cancer cells.
The same goes for countries. We must be able to protect the lives and property of the people from all crimes and evils that threaten their lives and property. A nation can be said to be healthy and powerful only when it is able to block domestic and foreign forces that threaten its security. You can understand what an unhealthy country is like by watching the news these days.
There is a country in Central America called Haiti, bordering the Dominican Republic and next to Cuba.
The country has not been able to stop the activities of armed gangs that threaten the safety of the people, and eventually 90 armed gangs control 40% of the country. After the president was murdered in July 2021, this country has become a lawless place where gangs predominate. After the president was murdered in 2021, Prime Minister Ariel Henry took power, but the police are not functioning because the armed forces of the police are weaker than the armed forces of the gangs. Prime Minister Lee went to an event and was humiliated by being kicked out by a gang leader claiming to be the prime minister. Haiti is a perfect example of what happens when a nation is not healthy enough to function properly. A country that does not have the ability to detect and remove elements that threaten the safety of its people in advance is like a person who has lost health and will inevitably self-destruct.
Here’s another example that illustrates very well what happens when a country is unhealthy. San Francisco and Philadelphia in the US.
In the newspaper, it was depicted as having become “the city of zombies” after being “the city of romance.” The picture on the left shows San Francisco’s famous tram going up the hill in the city, and the picture on the right shows a drug addict inside the San Francisco Civic Center Station.
This photo is of Kensington Street in Philadelphia. Philadelphia is the fifth largest city in the United States. Kensington Street, northeast of the city, is America’s No. 1 drug street. This street is out of control because there are too many people doing drugs. The cops are patrolling, but they can’t do anything about it even though people do drugs in front of the cops. The police catch people who distribute or take drugs, but there are too many of them and they can’t do anything about it. As a result of this, the vicious cycle of factories closing down, the economy getting worse, and getting more easily seduced by drugs continues.
A country that fails to keep its people safe is like a person who has lost their health, unable to find and eliminate germs or viruses. Circumstances like they are in Haiti in Central America, San Francisco Zombie Street, and Philadelphia’s Kensington Drug Street illustrate very well unhealthy and self-destructive countries and cities. It would not be a normal country to continue on such a path while looking at such a country or city.
There is no need to tell you what to prepare for the unification of the two Koreas, and it is well shown through what is happening in the world right now. We must become a healthy nation. We must be able to protect our country from the military threat of North Korea. More importantly, we must not become a country that self-destructs before even going to war. We must protect the lives and property of the people and find and root out crimes that are becoming more and more clever. We must maintain good relations with neighboring countries so that other countries cannot attack us without their objecting.
I think you will understand why we need to appoint 10 million people as National Committee members to prepare for unification and conduct a campaign to educate them. If divisions occur among the people in our country, we cannot become a healthy nation. Furthermore, if there are many of our citizens who support North Korea, we will head down the path of self-destruction.
In this photo, taken at Gwanghwamun Plaza right here in Seoul, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un is being called a great man, and they’re holding a rally with banners urging to warmly welcome Chairman Kim Jong-un. It is said that the welcome party is openly recruiting. A nation loses its power when its people are divided. You can’t do this and you can’t do that. It means you can’t use your strength. When the people gather their strength with one mind, the nation is healthy and has the power to protect the lives and property of its people. Citizens’ Committees for Unification Preparation should play a central role in uniting the hearts of the people. We must not allow North Korean communism to befuddle the minds of our people.
A healthy nation is one that has the power to protect the lives and property of its people. We must have the power to find and eliminate elements that threaten the lives and property of the people in advance. A healthy country is a country that has the power to protect and maintain the environment and nature in which its people can enjoy a happy life. We must have the power to detect and remove the environment or factors harmful to the health of the people in advance. Going one step further, a healthy nation is one that is also interested in protecting and maintaining the culture and environment for the mental happiness of its citizens. It must also have the power to remove the environment or elements that are harmful to the people’s mental health.
All people are precious, and they want to have what they like. No matter how good a thing someone give you, it’s not good if you don’t like it. You may have experienced what happens when you buy clothes for your children without asking them. If they don’t like the item, they don’t want to wear it no matter how expensive it is.
So freedom is precious. There is joy in life when you can do what you want to do, have what you like, and go where you want to go. People want to find and own precious and valuable things through their free lives. Communist countries like to claim that the state can give its people everything they need, but that is a fundamentally wrong ideology. What’s more, the state cannot deliver the things that the people pursue and think are spiritually precious and valuable. This is because spiritually valuable things and precious things are obtained through individual effort, sincerity, and realization.
People need freedom to live. Life is to find and possess good and precious things while enjoying that freedom, but the most valuable thing a person must find in life is parental love. So among the ten thousand actions of people, the most valuable is called filial piety. True filial piety comes out when you realize the love and grace of your parents. Some may say how could I not know the love of my parents, who gave me life, protected, nurtured, and nurtured me, but there are also people who do not know the grace of their parents. That is why it is said that those who do not know the grace of their parents are like animals.
The fact that children do not know filial piety is not because their parents do not love them. No matter how much love your parents give you, it is difficult to realize it without your own wisdom and life experience. Parents can’t do everything for their kids. It is so difficult for people to realize the grace of their parents. Some people only realize it after their parents go to their graves, and some people live their whole lives giving their parents pain and then pass before their parents.
A mother’s love is said to be supreme and pure love. It is like a mountain that is so high and so big that you can’t reach it and you can’t climb it. Standing in front of such a mother’s love, I become infinitely smaller and humbled. But at the same time, I think that I wish to leave such pure mother’s pure love to my children, and when I think that way, my life becomes deeper and my heart broadens. Such a mother’s love remains forever unchanged even after my mother has passed away. When something good happens in the family, I think of my parents who passed away: on the one hand, I am happy, but on the other hand, my heart is full. Truly invaluable and precious things are invisible like this: they are more valuable than anything that can be seen.
When I look at another mother, I think she must have lived a noble life like my mother’s. Even when I see children other than my own, I think that that child must have grown up like that because of her mother’s boundless love, and I cannot treat anyone carelessly. It is when we open our eyes to the invisible love and grace of our parents that as a person we become truly human.
This is the confession of the Venerable Wontaek, whose senior monk was the Venerable Seongcheol, one of the great Buddhist monks. Venerable Wontaek was working outside the temple when he heard the news that his earthly father had passed away. Venerable Seongcheol also found out about the news, and it is said that Venerable Seongcheol called Ven. Wontaek and asked him to go home and take good care of his father’s funeral instead of entering the temple after working outside. However, Monk Seongcheol confessed that he did not go home when his own parents died.
There are stories about another great monk. Just before he entered nirvana, the disciples asked the great monk one last time: “How is it that you are going to Nirvana so soon?” It is said that the last words of the great monk were as follows: “There is nothing that bothers me, except the fact that I did not attend my mother’s funeral still remains in my mind.”
These are the words of a person who, from the time he left home until he reached the position of a great monk, had already sorted out all his ties with the world and purely walked the path of asceticism only to reach true enlightenment, before his final death. What does it mean when you say that even though you walked the path of asceticism to the extent that nothing bothered you, what remained in your mind before death was that you did not attend your mother’s funeral? The bond between parents and children, especially toward mothers, is so precious and priceless. He confessed that even those who cut off all ties in the world and only walked the path of asceticism have a bond with their mother that remains unbroken until the end. The Ven. Monk Seongcheol Sunim also expressed that kind of mind. He didn’t go to his parents’ funeral, but when his beloved disciple was mourning his parents, he made a request. He told him to go home and offer his whole heart at the funeral.
The relationship between parents and children is one that cannot be severed even if you try to force it, and the source of filial piety, which is the root of all actions, is the relationship between parents and children. Even if you cut off everything in this world, what remains in your heart to the very end is parental love.
Hyo, filial piety toward parents, is the most important thing among all thoughts and actions because parents’ love is so precious and inestimable. Parental love is when you feel sorry for not being able to do better for your children even after giving them life, feeding them, clothing them, educating them, and educating them.
Parents are different even if the child raised in such a way goes out into the world, fails to become a respected person, and is criticized by people other than his parents as a “killer” and is known as a “bad guy.” Parents think about how to change the heart of their children, even if they have committed a mortal sin. Parents try to find any way to save their child. Isn’t there a story about a child who accidentally overheard a mother’s tearful prayer to save her child in the middle of the night and became a completely new person? That is parental love.
A healthy country is a nation that strives to protect the lives and property of its people and to preserve nature and the environment. Going one step further, a country in which the teachings of parental love and filial piety are alive is a healthy nation.
While talking about the unification of South and North Korea, I am talking about the love of parents. Even if a peaceful unification of South and North Korea has been achieved by becoming a healthy and strong nation, all efforts for peaceful unification will be in vain if the country does not become mentally healthy. This is to emphasize that the most important part of that mental health is love for parents and the teaching and realization of filial piety.
The reason people have freedom is to find and own what is precious, valuable, and favorite. The most precious thing is to realize your parents’ love. One step further and more valuable and treasured is to attain the realization of God’s love. When I realize that God is my parent, my life becomes renewed. It is so difficult to realize the grace and love of my parents who gave birth to me and raised me, but how can it be so easy to realize the invisible love and grace of God? Although it is not easy to realize God’s love and grace, it should not dissuade us from following this road.
Since North Korea’s communist system fundamentally bars the way for its citizens to find precious things they like on their own will, even North Koreans want to leave the system, but how can they embrace South Koreans? North Korea’s communist system needs fundamental changes. The most important change is to guarantee freedom of religion to the people.
Then how about our Republic of Korea? South Korea is a country with freedom of religion. Is it a society where people can freely walk the path leading to the realization of the love of their parents and God’s love? There is no doubt that this society enjoys freedom, but there are many things that block the way to the realization of what is truly. It is blocked by individualism, materialism, and decadent culture. We are surrounded by many environmental influences that are not conducive to our spiritual health.
Even if North Korean compatriots become unified and can live a free life, if they cannot escape from individualism, materialism, and decadent culture, what is freedom for? Freedom to find something really noble and precious? Or is it the freedom to live in the prison of individualism and materialism under the name of freedom?
Now, as I wrap up my talk, I would like to talk about President Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, who have devoted their whole lives to the Victory Over Communism Movement and the North-South Reunification Movement. In talking about President Sun Myung Moon’s victory over communism and the North-South reunification movements, one thing that cannot be left out is his teachings on the importance of family. Whenever he spoke about the importance of the family, he emphasized the teaching that all people in the world are children with God as our Parent, and that we are all one family. Rev. Moon said that communism would not work, and that Lenin’s statues should be brought down. He was adamant when he spoke of right and wrong. That is why, when teaching about communism, he made it clear to the communist leaders that it is fundamentally wrong for communism to block the way to God.
When he met with Chairman Kim Il-sung and likewise with Soviet President Gorbachev, he clearly warned that there was no hope if freedom of religion was not accepted, and he even said without hesitation that North Korea could not develop with North Korea’s Juche ideology.
Dr. Hak Ja Han Han particularly emphasized the teaching that humankind is one family as God’s children in her lectures at the Great Hall of the People in China and at the Kremlin Palace in Russia.
All the time that Rev. Moon was conducting the International Victory Over Communism movement, he firmly stated that communism, which does not recognize freedom of religion nor God, is fundamentally wrong. On the other hand, however, he did his best to lead communism on a path of change through exchanges in various fields at the private level.
This photo shows the Youth Student Seminar between the two Koreas. On five occasions since 1994, college students from the South and the North gathered in Beijing, China, and Moscow, Russia, to hold seminars and talk together, opening the way for South Korean students to understand even a little bit about North Korea right away. It opened an opportunity for North Korean students to understand South Korea through meeting and exchanging with South Korean students.
This photo shows the performance of the Little Angels Art Troupe in North Korea in 1998 and the photo of the Pyongyang Children’s Art Troupe visiting Seoul in 2000 and performing at the Seoul Arts Center.
This is a photo of the groundbreaking ceremony for Pyeonghwa Motors plant built in North Korea and the first cars produced.
Rev. Moon has taught that all human beings are God’s children and that we are all one family with one God as our parent. Regarding communism, which denies God, he firmly stated that it is fundamentally wrong, but he continued to make constructive efforts to enable communism to embark on the path of change.
I would like you to think of the National Committee for Unification Preparation as a reserve force mobilized to achieve peaceful inter-Korean reunification without war. It is like a reserve army mobilized in advance to prevent being mobilized as a reserve force after a war has started. The reserve forces that are mobilized after war are those that are forcibly mobilized. They are reservists who have to go even if they don’t want to go. The National Committee for Unification Preparation is the people of the Republic of Korea who have moved their hearts and gathered together to prepare for unification.
President Hak Ja Han emphasized that the people of Republic of Korea must come together as one in order to face the destiny of unification that is fast approaching. She told me to pray.
Through today’s joint worship service, I earnestly pray that the people of the Republic of Korea will become of one mind, and that Heaven will help and be with us so that the two Koreas can lay down nuclear weapons and open the way for peaceful unification. I earnestly pray that the door will be opened to the world of truly precious and lasting love, tearing down all the walls and being freed from the trap of decadent culture. Thank you!