Second Trump-Kim Summit, Landmark Centennial Celebration of Korea Independence Movement Charts New Course for the Korean Peninsula

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. President Donald Trump announced at his second State of the Union address on February 5 that a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will take place on February 27-28 in Hanoi, Vietnam.  "As part of a bold new diplomacy, we continue our historic push for peace on the Korean peninsula," the president said.

The summit follows unprecedented direct talks between North Korean leader and South Korean and U.S. presidents, and renewed commitments from the North to step back from military confrontation and engage in further peace efforts.

The summit comes just before Koreans celebrate the centenary of the March 1, 1919 Independence Movement, a watershed event inspired by President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points affirming "absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims" and the right of full representation of affected populations in defining national sovereignty.

Korean patriots drafted a Declaration of Independence that was proclaimed in peaceful rallies throughout the country on March 1, 1919. Although violently suppressed, more than two million Koreans rallied for freedom from Japanese colonial rule, which inspired people-led movements for freedom and self-determination in the twentieth century.

In coordination with the centenary celebration, the One Korea Global Campaign announced a program of events supporting the unification of Korea to be hosted in Seoul from February 26-March 1, 2019. The program includes a conference of international scholars and policymakers, a One Korea Concert with leading K-pop artists, a documentary film debut, art and poetry competitions, and a culminating Centennial celebration in central Seoul.

"It is the Korean people – in the South, North and diaspora – that are the most important stakeholders in the movement for unification and, therefore, should be the driving force behind the process," said Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon, Chairman of the Global Peace Foundation, one of the major organizers of the campaign.

Action for Korea United, a key stakeholder in the campaign, has grown to be the largest citizen-based coalition for unification, encompassing every sector of South Korean society. It includes more than 900 member organizations and partners, including major faith communities, human rights groups, civic and humanitarian aid relief organizations, corporations, media, student groups, academic institutions, NGOs, political parties and South Korean government ministries.

"The People Power Revolution in the Philippines, the Solidarity Movement in Poland, and the anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa were all grass-roots movements that transformed unjust societies in the last century," said AKU co-chairman Inteck Seo. "It was international recognition and support for these people-led movements that eventually reached a tipping point. We believe that greater recognition of the suppression of human rights in North Korea and the imminent threat of a nuclear-armed regime in the North can mobilize world opinion to bring about change in Korea."

AKU has sponsored ping pong tournaments and economic capacity building programs to support resettlement of North Korean refugees, and cultural campaigns to build intergenerational awareness and support.

The One Korea Global Campaign is also enlisting international support through expert forums in the United States, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, India and Ireland to examine implications and approaches of reunification, and the nature and scope on a reunified Korean nation.

Alliance for Korea United represents Korean diaspora communities around the world committed to Korean reunification. Over 6 million ethnic Koreans living outside of Korea are a powerful force in the work of creating a united, free and just Korea.

"The Korean people are at a historic crossroads," said Jai Ryu, Chairman of the One Korea Foundation in Washington. "Set against the enormous challenges of ending the division and creating a new nation, Korea has an opportunity to achieve a true greatness that history rarely accords to any people.  Now is the time to build a national consensus for a shared vision of One Korea on the foundation of Korean identity and a common destiny, and to garner international support for it."   

Contact:          [email protected]

SOURCE Global Peace Foundation