It is not just the cease-fire line that divides our people. The Youngnamand Honam regions are also divided by an invisible line.
Also, Koreans who live in Japan are divided between the Korean
Residents Union in Japan, or Mindan, which has ties to South Korea,
and the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongryon,
which has ties to North Korea. The conflict between the two
organizations in Japan is based on the hometowns of their respective
members. Second- and third-generation Korean residents in Japan,
who have never been to their parents’ hometowns, still live in conflict
with each other, as they live within the lines drawn by their parents. The
members of the two organizations use slightly different language, send
their children to different schools, and do not intermarry.
In 2005, I put into effect my long-held plan to create oneness among
Koreans in Japan, as well as among Koreans in the Youngnam and Honam
regions. I invited one thousand members of Mindan and one thousand
members of Chongryon to Seoul, and matched them in sisterhood and
brotherhood relationships to one thousand people from the Youngnam
region and one thousand people from the Honam region. It is next to
impossible for Chongryon and Mindan to sit down together in Japan
and talk about the peaceful unification of North and South. The task
of gathering these people in one place was difficult, but it was deeply
moving for me to see them sitting together and embracing each other.
One Chongryon official at the event was visiting Seoul for the first time.
He spoke in tears as he commented that he deeply regretted the many
years he had spent fighting a war that was not his own, particularly as
he was not even certain which part of the peninsula his father actually
came from. He said he felt immeasurably ashamed for having lived his
life with a meaningless line of division drawn in his heart.
To fully understand the division of the Korean peninsula and the
conflict between the two sides, we must be able to look comprehensively
at the past, present, and future. Every incident has a root cause.
The division of the Korean peninsula was created by the history of
struggle between good and evil. When the Korean War broke out, the
Soviet Union, China, and other communist countries came to the aid
of North Korea. In a similar way, sixteen countries, led by the United
States, sent armed forces to the aid of South Korea. Also, five countries
sent medical teams, and twenty nations provided war supplies. What
other war in history involved so many countries in the fighting? The
reason that the entire world became involved in a war that took place in
the tiny country of Korea is that this was a proxy war between the forces
of communism and the forces of freedom. It could be said that Korea came
to represent the world, and that good and evil fought fiercely on its soil.
Retired general and former U.S. secretary of state Alexander Haig
made an unexpected statement in his congratulatory remarks at the
tenth anniversary of The Washington Times, celebrated in 1992.
“I am a veteran of the Korean War,” he said. “As a commander, I was
in charge of the attack against Heungnam, and we staged the strongest
attack we could. I am deeply moved to hear that Reverend Moon was
being held by the communists and was set free by that day’s attack. It
seems I was sent there to free Reverend Moon. Now, Reverend Moon is
here to save America. The Washington Times is a newspaper that will
save the American people by providing a balanced view of history that
is neither right nor left, and show us the way forward. As we see, there
is no such thing as coincidence in history.”
A few years ago in Korea, there were people making the argument
that the famous statue of General Douglas MacArthur in an Incheon
park should be removed. If United Nations Forces had not joined the
war effort, the country would not be divided between North and South,
as it is today, this argument went. I was shocked to hear this. Such an
argument can only be made from the position of the communist party
of North Korea.
Great sacrifices were made on a global level, and yet the peninsula
remains divided. We do not know the exact date when unification will
come, but it is clear that we are making strong strides in that direction.
There are many obstacles to be overcome on the road to unification. As
we come face to face with each obstacle, we need to work to tear it down
and then move on. Though it may take a long time and prove difficult,
unification will absolutely come if we work with the same desperation
we would have if we were swimming across the Yalu River.
Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Romania resisted change
the longest among the communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
Then, at the end of 1989, Romania experienced a bloody uprising
by its people. As soon as the regime was toppled, Nicolae Ceauşescu,
who had ruled the country for twenty-four years, was executed, along
with his wife. He was a brutal dictator who mercilessly massacred those
who opposed his policies. In any country, one reason a dictator will
tend to tighten his grip is that he fears for his life in the event he may
lose power. I think that if a dictator can be certain that his own life will
not be placed in danger, he will not go headlong down a dead-end street
in the manner of Ceauşescu.
Our country, too, will be unified before long, by one means or another.
So politicians and economists need to make the necessary preparations
in their own fields of expertise. As a religious person, I will work hard
to prepare to greet the unified Korea in which we can embrace North
Korean people with love and share in a common peace.
I have studied the unification of Germany for a long time. I have
listened to the experiences of those who were involved with regard to
how it was that unification could come without a single bullet being
fired or a single drop of blood being spilled. In so doing, my hope has
been to find a way that is appropriate for Korea. I have learned that the
main reason Germany could be unified peacefully was that East German
leaders were made to understand that their lives would not be in
danger following unification. If East German leaders had not believed this
would be so, they would not have allowed unification to occur so easily.
I came to believe we need to give a similar understanding toward the
rulers of North Korea. A novel based on North Korea was published
in Japan not long ago. In this fictional novel, the rulers of North Korea
repeatedly watch a video of Ceauşescu’s execution and cry out, “That is
what will happen to us if we lose power. Under no circumstances can
we lose our hold on power!” Of course, that is only a novel published
in Japan. We should, however, devote our attention to this real problem
and find a solution for North Korean leaders, to bring about Korea’s
speedy unification.
Building a world of peace on the Korean peninsula is not as difficult
as we may think. When South Korea lives fully for the sake of North
Korea, North Korea will not try to fight the South, and peace will come
naturally to the peninsula. The power that can move a rebellious child is
not the fist or brute power. It is the power of love that wells up naturally
from within the heart. More than rice or fertilizer, it is important for
us to give love to North Korea. We must never forget that it is only
when we consider North Korea’s situation and live for its sake with a
loving and sincere heart that the North will open its heart to us and the
world.
