Global Peace Foundation's Moon: Unification key to overcoming Korea's partisan divide

By Jhoo Dong-chan

The famous phrase "Winter is coming," from HBO's long-running fantasy series "Game of Thrones," has become an iconic warning, signifying that difficult times or challenges are approaching and serving as a reminder that something unsettling is on the horizon.

"Ipchun," which marks the start of spring in the lunar calendar's 24 seasonal divisions and was observed on Feb. 4, has already passed. However, Hyun Jin Preston Moon, founder and chairman of the Global Peace Foundation, suggests that winter is still lingering due to the current unpredictable and turbulent situations unfolding both at home and abroad.

“(Donald Trump) won the presidential election by an overwhelming landslide. Historically speaking, that is unprecedented for any Republican president,” Moon said during a roundtable conference at the Fairmont Ambassador Seoul on Feb. 4.

“The mandate was to fix a lot of issues that was basically put into place by the previous Biden administration such as (the) U.S. border, illegal immigration and energy. Most of his policies he has signed were supported by the American public. Trump has one of the highest approval ratings for any incoming president. American people are 100 percent supporting all those executive orders he has signed. So, there are many things happening across the world because of the Trump effect.”

The son of the Unification Church's founder expressed his concerns that Koreans are unaware of the rapid changes occurring on the global geopolitical front.

“South Korean people really need a wake-up call,” he said.

“South Korea is impeaching their president right now. There is nobody leading South Korea now. Don’t you think it is common sense that a conservative president will be able to deal with a conservative American regime better for South Korean people?”

Moon claimed that South Korea is unprepared for the figurative coming winter due to the deep political polarization within the country. He implied that the nation needs to reform its political system, suggesting it should be led by a smaller group of more educated and morally driven elite citizens.

“Those civilized well-functioning modern democratic republics are based on the Constitution run by ethical and moral people making objective decisions that benefit the country, not by hyper-partisan interest groups,” he said.

“A key weakness of the system of democracy was the tyranny of the majority. This is one of the reasons why the U.S. system has the Senate, an upper body, and the electoral college for the national elections. So, it is not pure democracy, very much like the Roman Republic where there are several stages of electoral processes. There, you have so-called people who are more well-educated that make big decisions for the sake of the nation.”

He added that recent developments in South Korea's politics are highly concerning for this reason.

“It really disturbs me,” he said.

“There are questions whether the rule of law stands here and whether there is a judicial process. The are foundations of any democratic state, especially for a constitutional democracy. Not only Korean people are now questioning it, but also our allies around the world are, especially the U.S. Where is the future of South Korea?”

Moon urged that the unification of South and North Korea, along with his organization's Korean Dream Movement, could provide a solution to the country's current crisis.

“Unification is such a significant opportunity. It is a jackpot,” Moon said.

“It will bring all the necessary components to allow the South Korean economy to continue to grow. All Korean people, especially the young, will have opportunities for prosperity that their parents had never had.”

He also presented his economic projections, outlining the potential benefits if the two Koreas were to unify.

“Imagine you have an additional 25 million people added to the Korean economy, not including the diaspora,” he said.

“If unification happens, most of the diaspora around the world will come back to Korea as well. The population will be 80 million, 90 million. We are going to have a boost in terms of not only the domestic consumption market but also a tremendous amount of talent and capital.”

South Korea is now classified as a super-aged society, grappling with a record-low birthrate of just 0.72 last year.

Moon added that a unified Korea would attract a significant influx of foreign investment aimed at rebuilding its northern territory.

“A vast majority of funding for rebuilding North Korea will actually come from private sources. There is $30 trillion worth of capital looking for investment around the world. Most of our allies will support financially the unification of the two Koreas because the North poses a great security threat across the world.”

According to the Global Peace Foundation, the Korean Dream Movement is rooted in the revival of the spirit of "Hongik Ingan" — a principle that means "to broadly benefit humanity." This was the founding ideal of the first Korean kingdom, Gojoseon. In the vision of a reunified Korea, it represents the creation of a powerful and prosperous nation with a positive influence on the global stage.