Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: Episode 324
Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: A Selection of True Parents’ Speeches
Book 8: The Reunification of Korea and World Peace
Speech 07: True Peace in Our Time, the Reunification of Korea, and East-West Cooperation, pg 1200-1202
The way to reunify Korea
We are all brothers and sisters. 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, to live for the sake of others.
We need to practice true love on all levels of life, including relations between nations. The developed nations of the world need to believe that God blessed them for the purpose of helping others. They must be willing to sacrifice for the developing nations of the world. If the prosperous nations do not think beyond the desire for profit, their very desire for prosperity will result in their prosperity slipping away.
Today, the interests of the key nations of China, Japan, the Soviet Union and the United States converge on Korea. 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 have 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 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 they 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 increasingly evident to its leaders that unless they give people realistic hope for a better life, as well as incentives and freedoms to achieve it, it will be virtually impossible for them to increase their 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. We the people of this nation must now be ready and willing to embrace our brothers 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 made in Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and China.
The two worlds of democracy and communism must reconcile as bothers as did Jacob and Esau
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, yet only because Jacob tricked him. 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: “to see your face is like seeing the face of God.” (Gen. 33:10) 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 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 it.
However, I believe that now the time has come for the free world to reconcile with the communist world. When we see our brothers and sisters who have been suffering for many years under 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 during the next two days will be productive and rewarding. I am certain that because of such efforts as these, Korea will transform into 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 for your having come here. I pray that your efforts will be fruitful.
God bless you. Thank you very much.