Korean Peace Activism came to South Caucasus
Interview with Mrs. Amy Kim; “Media and Press Department Manager of Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light, North Seoul branch.”
Mrs. Kim, could you tell us the main information about your organization?
Mrs. Amy Kim; “Media and Press Department Manager of Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light, North Seoul branch.”
As a Korean War Veteran and peace advocate, HWPL Chairman Man Hee Lee launched HWPL (Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light) in 2012, international peace NGO. Based on the Declaration of World Peace which was proclaimed by Chairman Lee on 25th May 2013 at the peace gate in Seoul, South Korea. HWPL has actively worked to bring all wars to an end in conjunction with the International Women’s Peace Group (IWPG) and the International Peace Youth Group (IPYG).
The life that grows on the earth is sustained from above – by light, by the rain, and by the air, they provide unconditionally to all living beings. With this grace and life, we have received, we are not entitled to fight, kill and destroy one another. So according to the principles and values of heaven, HWPL pursue to cease wars and conflicts in the world and to leave the peaceful world as a legacy to the future generation. In association with United Nations Department of Public Information (UNDPI) and registered in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in South Korea, HWPL has 70 branches in Korea and another 100 branches around the world and is run on a purely voluntary basis. Recently, from 17th to 19th Sep 2016, HWPL hosted the 2nd Annual Commemoration of the World Alliance of Religions’ Peace (WARP) Summit and 1,000 renowned leaders from 130 countries (Former presidents and prime ministers as well as current ministers, but also experts in the field of international law, UN officials, religious leaders, youth and women’s group leaders and international press members), take part in the summit. At the summit, HWPL built up a practical strategy for advocacy of implementing the international law for global peace.
* World Alliance of Religions’ Peace (WARP) Summit – Attended by more than 2,000 international leaders, on 16-19 September 2014, HWPL hosted the World Alliance of Religions’ Peace Summit (WARP) in Seoul, Korea. At the summit, former and current political leaders and chief justices pledged to work towards the enactment of international law for a cessation of wars, while religious leaders pledged to unite religions as under one God. Furthermore, representatives of organizations and reporters from around the world also pledged to support the two movements. And through annual commemoration of WARP Summit, HWPL presents the achievements and future plan for realizing the contents of two agreements.
How long are you in the South Caucasus region?
About 3 months before the 2014 WARP Summit, HWPL started to contact with many figures in South Caucasus region and Georgia to invite them in 2014 WARP Summit. As the result, some political leaders, religious leaders and representatives of youth groups participated in the summit from Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. After that, through their cooperation with HWPL, we could start peace activities in South Caucasus. In South Caucasus, HWPL doesn’t have an office yet. Especially in Tbilisi… However, lots of professionals and representatives of various sectors are cooperating with HWPL in Georgia. They have done various peace activities with HWPL like peace walk ceremony, HWPL short film festival, peace conference and so on.
Why is it important for you to have Georgia on the list?
One of the main initiatives of HWPL is implementation of the international law for peace and cessation of war. Today wars and conflicts are not just simple problems between the countries directly involved but are related to world level security issues complicatedly. When we see the relation between South and North Korea, division and unification of two nations affect ideological, political, economic and security conditions. Georgia also has conflicts with Abkhazia and South Ossetia internally and Russia externally. But it is not just simple conflict problem between them. That is, to resolve the internal and external conflicts problems, we need the international level of cooperation. That’s the reason why HWPL is proceeding to implement international law for cessation of war. Therefore, HWPL and Georgia are both important to each other. From the point of view of Georgia, HWPL’s initiatives for peace would be a clue to the solution of the conflict. From the point of view of HWPL, through bringing peace in Georgia, we can show the effectiveness of international law based on the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of Wars.
What is your main goal, aim?
Chairman & President Lee Man-hee of the Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL)
As you can catch in the name of HWPL, its main goal is realizing world peace and cessation of wars. The status of today’s world can be traced back to the two tragic world wars of the last century, in which the United Nations was founded to respond to the atrocities of conflict and loss of human dignity. Since the Declaration of Human Rights which designated human rights as a core value of our contemporary times, declarations and several international agreements have been developed as mechanisms to secure peace in this world. Such efforts not only provided the grounds to dissuade armed conflicts that threaten today’s common norm but also facilitated the need for the global community to defend freedom from violence.
Nevertheless, additional challenges such as national and religious conflicts, cultural bias and ethnic hatred hinder the movement of peace and these elements of division make it even harder to effectively cope with the new phenomenon of recent global conflicts. In this regard, it is imperative that the global community introduces a comprehensive legal approach to achieving the peace that can bind global citizens together regardless of their nationalities, religions, and ethnicities. The invention of a legal framework to secure peace at both national and international levels and the assurance of peace in the form of an international agreement (law) will pave the way to developing peace processes in our world. So one approach to HWPL’s initiatives to world peace is to establish an enforceable law that can be adopted by every state.
To pursue this goal, the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW) was proclaimed on 14 March 2016 by the HWPL International Law Peace Committee made up of leading experts, inspired by Chairman Lee’s advocacy and efforts of building cooperation. The DPCW has been drafted with the intention of promoting the respect of fundamental human rights and international law, and of further involving States in the active protection of those rights. The Declaration, which advocates for peace by specifying provisions on the cessation of war, inspires the global community to develop a legally binding document that can be implemented at an international level. For supporting DPCW, at the same time with proclamation ceremony, Legislate Peace Campaign was started and over 500,000 supporting signatures were collected from 154 countries in less than two months. And through 2nd Annual commemoration of WARP Summit, HWPL established advocacy strategy for implementing international law based on the DPCW. No matter how we build up law instruction for prohibiting wars and armed conflicts, religious conflicts are very sensitive to deal with because it is connected to the matter of faith.
Religious misunderstandings and the misinterpretation of religious texts due to different faiths has triggered religious hatred, persecutions, and conflicts involving physical violence. The world of religion, which accounts for more than 80% of the causes of war, absolutely must change. What people of religion need is not guns and swords. Instead, they need a messenger of peace who carries out the will of God and guides the world into peace. So other HWPL’s initiatives HWPL has turned its eyes to the alliance of religions initiative through the promotion of interfaith communication among religious leaders who play an integral role in educating their congregation about differences in religious beliefs which should not hinder the progress of establishing world peace.
Solely based on religious scriptures, comparing and contrasting the most controversial issues such as the concept of peace and nature of human existence, HWPL’s interfaith communication (WARP Office Meetings) has guided religious and non-religious communities to reach a consensus of principles required for the establishment of world peace.
As of Sep 2016, 183 offices are operating in 91 countries including nations of South Caucasus region. As a representative example of solving the religious conflicts by HWPL, we can say about the island of Mindanao, which was a region full of painful cries and gunshots due to its 40-years war between Catholics and Muslims. On 24th Jan 2014, Chairman Lee meditated and persuades the representatives of Islam and the Catholic Church not to cause conflicts anymore by getting their signs on the peace agreement. This agreement played a decisive role for the peace process in the island of Mindanao. After that the island of Mindanao officially declared January 24th as HWPL Day and has celebrated the day to commemorate the peace agreement, HWPL Peace monuments were erected and MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) has handed over its batch of weapons progressively.
Why is it important to develop Korean-Georgian Relationship in the context of your organization?
Since December 1992, South Korea and Georgia have had diplomatic relations. But only relatively recently, Korean embassy was opened in 2015. As HWPL has headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, the developing Korean-Georgian friendly relationship would be helpful to spread the news of HWPL’s peace movements in Georgia also.
Thank you, Mrs. Amy Kim.
Interview was done by Edita Badasyan (Tbilisi, Georgia).
Reporter, Georgia 
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