"Many died in the confrontation between Left and Right following Liberation. Is it not we who should collect the bones of the wronged and comfort their spirits? It is my hope that even if I do not live to see reunification, we can at least see the Korean people start down the road of national reconciliation. "
Those are the words of Kim Cheol-ho, written in the cornerstone of the Hankyoreh Foundation for Reunification and Culture, established with 500 million won (US$508,000) and 12,000 pyeong (40,000 sq. m.) of space that had been given to the Hankyoreh. Kim used to say that "Bones have no [political] color." Disease took his life before he was able to see the foundation begin its work. In July the year following his death, 32,000 people of all ages signed on as people formally established the private, nonprofit foundation.
On Friday, the foundation celebrated its 10th anniversary with a workshop on how to resolve conflict on the Korean peninsula, held at Seoul’s 63 Building and attended by experts of both conservative and progressive leanings. It was truly a time for debate about finding ways to coexist. After the workshop, there was a time called "An Evening of Peace and Coexistence," complete with an artistic performance and a chance for people to consider how things have been in the past and how and what needs to be done in the future. The mood was decidedly serious and passionate.
The Hankyoreh Foundation for Reunification and Culture has focused on promoting reconciliation and exchange between the two Koreas and seeking peace and prosperity in East Asia. When North Koreans were suffering from a food shortage in 1997, it ignited the fires of a nationwide assistance campaign. It organized the first purely nongovernmental inter-Korean exchange event in 1998 with the first annual Yun Isang Unification Music Festival, which was held in Pyongyang. Since then, it has played a critical role in other trans-border and peace events, such as the Seoul performance of the Pyeongyang Performing Art Troupe, the Grand Mount Geumgang Bicycle Parade for Peace, a campaign to send needed pharmaceutical products to children in Iraq, supporting the construction of the Peace Museum, and assistance for North Koreans affected by the explosion at Ryongchon (Yongcheon) Station. Plans are to continue with international symposiums that promote the formation of a greater East Asian community and the Hankyoreh Award for Unification Culture.
The foundation has decided that its new mission will be the pursuit of a "100-Year Road to Peace and Coexistence, Together With Humanity." It will endeavor to resolve the many conflicts that obstruct the peaceful prosperity of the Korean peninsula so as to create a peaceful and mutually prosperous future. Concrete plans include the creation of a "conflict resolution academy," building a "Hankyoreh Peace and Life Park" at Mount Jiri, developing programs to educate about peace, supporting "peace exchange" between the children of North and South Korea, establishing a "Hankyoreh Asian Future Center," and holding a "peace exchange" between youth and university students in East Asia. Its mission will be about "Being farmers of peace who, by spreading the seeds of reconciliation, will raise trees of peace to bear rich fruit for the Korean peninsula and Asia."
[Editorial] Hankyoreh foundation seeks peaceful coexistence |
