The World Peace Academic Conference, which also served as the inaugural conference of the International Association of Academicians for Peace, took place on February 4-5, 2020 at the Kintex Exhibition Center outside of Seoul, Korea, as part of World Summit 2020. Among the many significant events that were part of World Summit 2020, the World Peace Academic Conference was specifically designed to honor and develop the academic legacy of the UPF Founders, Reverend Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, during the past nearly 50 years. Beginning in the early 1970s, the founders have invested vast financial and human resources in laying the foundations for a new, God-centered academic culture.

The World Peace Academic Conference was organized by Dr. Sung Bae Jin, Chairman of the Hyo Jeong Academic Foundation, along with an international conference team. It was divided into four concurrent sections, representing natural sciences, social sciences, religion and culture, and university education.

The World Peace Academic Conference was a fitting inaugural conference for the International Association of Academicians for Peace (IAAP) under the auspices of UPF, because the sections of the conference addressed the UPF core themes of interdependence, mutual prosperity and universal values. Interdependence was explored in Section 1, with reference to the domain of natural sciences and to an expanded understanding of the environment, both natural and spiritual.

Mutual prosperity was the underlying theme of Section 2 in the domain of social sciences, with its academic critiques of the materialist paradigm of the communist movement and demonstrations of the fundamental political importance of religious freedom. Section 3, on religion and culture, explored universal values through interreligious work. Each of the three sections on academic fields began with an orientation to the founders’ purpose for that area of academic endeavor, presented by a seasoned Unificationist scholar.