‘Let us make a world of peace for our future generations’

The first yearly Commemoration of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW) held on March, 14, when 1800 participants gathered in Seoul for Advocacy of International Law for Peace​. Faced with the reality of uncertainty in global cooperation, triggered by a chain of political upheavals from the Brexit to elections in the United States and European states, a new approach to pursue an international peaceful order was discussed.

In commemoration of the DPCW proclaimed on the same date in 2016, the forum reaffirmed the importance of global peace movement currently on progress under the Legislate Peace Campaign to establish the principle of international law for peace through the introduction of a UN resolution based on the DPCW.

Chairman Man Hee Lee of HWPL emphasized that peace building “is not an individual task,” but “is relevant to everyone” as a common purpose of the global community. He offered the role of religion as a bridge builder of peace, rather than the core of conflict and violence by adding “our orientations must be one for peace. Whether religious, secular world, there is no exception.”

In the progress report, Dong Min Im, the secretary general of HWPL, explained the significance of peace projects in HWPL by saying, “The work is to put an end to war in our globe and make a foundation of a world of everlasting peace, which is unprecedented in history.” He continued, “The solution to peace is all of us becoming messengers of peace.”

Bup Hye Kim, chairman of Buddhist Central Council for National Unification, offered a picture of concrete action plans of HWPL in achieving peace. “Youth and women are the main scapegoats in war, but even in this reality we must face the fact that youth and women are voluntarily standing at the forefront to build the foundation of peace with HWPL,” he said.