Hanminjok’s Mission in the 21st Century: How Korean Values Can Heal Global Conflicts

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GAPYEONG, South Korea — On May 3, leaders and scholars from around the world convened at the HJ Cheonju Cheonbo Training Center in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, for an international symposium that reexamined Korean national identity and the universal values of its culture. 

The event was hosted by the Family Federation World Mission Headquarters and organized by the World Peace Professors’ Association. It drew roughly 100 Cheon Il Guk leaders from across the globe. 

Do Hyun-seop, president of Sunhak UP Graduate School, opened the symposium with a welcome address in which he outlined the event’s purpose and significance. 

In his remarks, Du Seung-yeon, director of the World Mission Headquarters, described the grand epic of the Korean chosen people as “a song of hope and a vision for human peace that, honoring the will of the Heavenly Parent and together with the Only Begotten Daughter, can open a new era of peace.” He urged global leaders and blessed families to carry out the mission inaugurated by the True Parents and to lead efforts to realize a one-human-family peace community.

At a session chaired by Professor Joo Jae-wan, presenters engaged in an in-depth discussion about the historical mission of the Korean people. 

Dr. Cho Hyung-guk (World Peace Academic Alliance) presented on “The Grand Epic of the Korean Chosen People and Korean Culture,” characterizing Koreans as a heaven-descended people and a chosen people committed to peace. 

He argued that, having overcome a history of suffering, Koreans must fulfill a mission to spread the values of coexistence, shared prosperity, and justice—rooted in the Hongik Ingan ideal—around the world.

Professor Lim Hyun-jin (Sunhak UP Graduate School) spoke on “The Grand Epic of the Korean Chosen People and a Providential Understanding of the Chosen People,” contending that despite more than 900 episodes of upheaval, the Korean people preserved purity and peace and that their history has served as a refining process to heal humanity’s pain. 

He said the recent global popularity of Korean culture stems from the universal appeal of its underlying values—filial piety and communal affection—and stressed the importance of realizing a peace community of “one human family under the Heavenly Parent.”

In the closing presentation, Cho Kwang-myeong, chairman of the World Peace Professors’ Association, noted that Korea’s conception of chosenness has evolved by embracing various foreign religions and by placing greater emphasis on moral responsibility. 

Cho predicted that “a chosenness consciousness rooted in the Hongik Ingan spirit will become a core driving force for Korea to serve as a spiritual leader in healing 21st-century global conflicts.”

During the discussion that followed, attendees agreed that Korea’s culture of filial piety and heartfelt communal bonds could form a new ethical foundation and a practical peace movement to address modern social fragmentation and conflict. 

Incheon — Reporter Lee Chun-man lcm9504@viva100.com