Founder’s Keynote Address
Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon
(Read by Sun Jin Moon, Chair, UPF International)
National Assembly Members’ Hall, Seoul, Korea - February 15, 2016
Events Commemorating True Parents’ Birthday and the 3rd Anniversary of Foundation Day
Your Excellencies. Distinguished Parliamentarians. Leaders from around the world. Ladies and Gentlemen.
I am honored to be with you today, and it is a privilege for me to stand on this stage, in this historic setting.
I was asked by my mother, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, founder of the Universal Peace Federation, to deliver her keynote address today.
She is unable to be with us in person, but she asked me to express her deep appreciation and respect to each of you for attending this very important program.
Two days ago we celebrated her 73rd birthday. Her birthday is the same as my father's, Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, who would have been 96. They lived their entire lives for the sake of building a world of lasting peace for all humanity. Once again, I am honored to be here today to share this important message with all of you.
I will now read my mother's keynote address:
Your Excellencies. Distinguished parliamentarians from around the world. Participants in the International Leadership Conference of the Universal Peace Federation. Ladies and Gentlemen.
I am pleased to address you today at the historic National Assembly of the Republic of Korea.
I believe it is very significant that we have gathered here for this special session of UPF’s International Leadership Conference. I am encouraged that more than 150 parliamentarians have come together from not only Korea, but from more than 50 nations around the world.
My late husband, Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, and I have always believed and taught that Korea has a unique role and responsibility in God’s Providence. Just as God is our Heavenly Parent, Korea must strive to be in a parental role among nations and people of every race, religion, nationality and culture. Korea should lead the way in establishing one universal family under God.
Respected parliamentarians!
The National Assembly venue is the house of the people, a place where the voice of the people may be heard and the public good advanced by democratically elected representatives, parliamentarians.
Representative democracy is a noble tradition, with roots that date back many centuries, and now the most widely practiced form of democratic governance.
Although you have gathered here from nations around the world, you share a common appreciation and respect for serving as a representative of those who elected you. You are each the servant of the people, expected to serve the public good, guided by basic principles of good governance: accountability transparency, collegiality, responsiveness, inclusivity, and respect for human rights and the rule of law.
It is imperative that, within modern democratic systems, we do not lose sight of God, our creator and Heavenly Parent.
My husband and I have dedicated our lives exclusively to building a world of lasting peace.
This has been our lifelong, God-centered mission.
We have always taught that peace is not merely an absence of violent conflict. Peace comes into being whenever relationships are characterized by harmony, balance and mutual respect. Such relationships are created when we practice unselfishness, by living for the sake of others. This is the essence of true love.
True Love is the essence of God, who created all things, as our Heavenly Parent. We all have a nature that derives from our common origin. That is, we are beings capable of practicing True Love, toward one another, and toward all things in the world around us.
Our purpose and responsibility as the sons and daughters of God, our Heavenly Parent, is to become individuals of True Love, with mind and body united; on this foundation we can build marriages and families of true love, as the foundation for the society and the nation; and in turn we should care for the planet and all the forms of life that make up our environment. If we fulfill this responsibility, we can establish a world of peace.
My husband and I have applied this ideal, and the principle of living for the sake of others, in every sector of society, including the spheres of government, religion, civil society, the private sector, academia, the arts, and even at the level of global governance.
We have always honored individuals who applied these principles in their spheres of professional life, appointing them as Ambassadors for Peace. Many parliamentarians around the world have been appointed as Ambassadors for Peace and they work closely with UPF and other affiliated organizations of our movement.
In the year 2000, my husband and I spoke at the United Nations in New York, calling on the United Nations and the member states to consider an innovative proposal, namely, that the United Nations build within its system an interfaith council, consisting of religious, spiritual and moral leaders who could advise, collaborate and deliberate with the representatives of the member states.
Such a council could serve as the voice of universal values and principles. More importantly, we always wanted the United Nations to be centered on God, our Heavenly Parent.
I gave this same message recently when I spoke at the United Nations in Vienna in May of last year.
In other words, no matter what our field of endeavor —priest, parliamentarian, or professor— we should be committed to and guided by universal moral and spiritual principles. Whether we are the mayor of a small town, the pastor of a small church, or the president of a nation or the secretary general of the UN, this is our eternal responsibility. This is the responsibility of each parliamentarian gathered here.
My husband and I have a special appreciation for the United Nations. UN forces intervened in 1950 to prevent this nation from being overrun by North Korean aggression. My husband was liberated from a North Korean death camp by the UN forces.
Without the UN’s intervention and protection, it is possible that neither of us would have lived to fulfill our missions. We both believe that the United Nations, at that time, was acting in accordance with Heaven’s Will.
The UN emerged in the World War II era, and is now celebrating its 70th year. And, whereas, there are UN Headquarters Offices in New York, Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi, there is no such office in Asia, even though we are living increasingly in an Asia Pacific age. In many ways, the geopolitical, economic and social center of gravity of our world is shifting toward Asia.
With this in mind, UPF and other affiliated organizations of our movement, are advocating for consideration of a 5th United Nations office to be established in the land where, 66 years ago, the UN intervened, shedding blood, sweat and tears for peace.
Later today many of you will go to the DMZ. When you visit there, I hope you will reflect on this proposal. President Park herself has proposed the building of a peace park in the DMZ, as a step toward normalization and development of peaceful relations between the two Koreas.
I believe a 5th UN Office on the Korean peninsula, perhaps in the DMZ, with support of both Koreas, would go a long way toward establishing peace on this peninsula and toward peace in Northeast Asia.
In closing, I want to emphasize the importance of the role of parliamentarians.
You represent the people. You are entrusted by the people with a great responsibility. At the same time, your responsibility is to God, our Heavenly Parent.
If parliamentarians of the world join together in harmony and cooperation for the sake of peace, we can transform the current reality of our world, creating a world of joy, harmony and lasting peace.
With this in mind I encourage you, on this day, to form an international association of parliamentarians dedicated to peace, centered on the principle of living for the sake of others, and centered on God, our Heavenly Parent.
You are the representatives of the 7 billion people of the world. If you join together in this way, there is nothing we cannot accomplish.
Let us work together to build a world of lasting peace.
Thank you for allowing me to share these words with you today.
May God bless you, your families and nations.