More than 1,800 people from 121 countries, including the United States, the Philippines, Ukraine, South Africa, Pakistan, Thailand, Romania, and India, attended the 9th Anniversary of the September 18th HWPL World Peace Summit held in Incheon, South Korea, from September 18th to 21st.
During this event themed “Implementing a Multidimensional Strategies for Institutional Peace”, leaders and experts in the fields of international law, religion, education, youth, women, and media participated in about 30 sessions over four days. The participants engaged in discussions, tailored not only by fields but also by countries, on practical and viable strategies to establish a legally binding international law for peace.
Furthermore, in Timor-Leste, a total of 14 experts and representatives, including José Honório da Costa Pereira Jerónimo, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Culture, José Turquel, Senior Advisor for Ministerial and Governmental Affairs, Benevides Correia Barros, Councilor of Timor-Leste Press Council, Jose Agostinho Da Costa Belo Pereira, Rector of Dili University, and João António Soares, Professor of the University of Peace in Timor-Leste, gathered to discuss peace and development in Timor-Leste.
At the press conference on the 18th, Lee Man-hee, Chairman of the host organization, Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), urged politicians and leaders of countries to work together for peace as he called for action, drawing from his personal experience as a war veteran, having witnessed the harsh realities of war.
“Why should the lives of young people be sacrificed in war? What is politics, and for whom is it for? When war breaks out, it is not politicians who go out and fight, but young people who have never bloomed before who are sacrificed. Peace cannot be achieved through words alone. If we don’t have one, we have to create one, so we have traveled 32 times around the world to carry out peace activities. If peace had won in this world, there would have been no regrettable deaths. Through the enactment of international law, we must leave peace as a legacy to the global community where our descendants will live,” he stated.
To achieve fair and sustainable peace, HWPL advocates for building an internationally agreed concrete institutional peace based on the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW) that proposes comprehensive measures of peace continuum, ranging from conflict prevention to maintaining peace. In addition, HWPL continues activities such as facilitating interreligious dialogues, fostering peace activities led by youth and women, providing peace education, and promoting a culture of peace through media outreach.
HWPL officials expressed gratitude for the visit to South Korea by global peace messengers, including former heads of state and leaders of ministerial rank, all united for the common aspiration of humanity: peace. They also called for the cooperation of the South Korean government along with the support of the international community, to ensure that such nongovernmental diplomacy can contribute to achievable and lasting peace.
