Opening Ceremony

The World Peace Academic Conference began with an opening plenary featuring a graceful keynote address by Dr. Sun Jin Moon, daughter of Rev. Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon. She reminded all participants of the responsibility of scholars to contribute to the renewal of the natural and cultural environment. The next speaker, SunHak Peace Prize laureate Dr. Modadugu Vijay Gupta, continued the theme of the social responsibility of scholars for the alleviation of human suffering. Then, former Ambassador Marc Vogelaar placed our gathering in the context of the continuing tension on the Korean peninsula, and proposed concrete steps that could contribute to peace-building between South and North Korea. Lastly, Dr. Heon-Young Kim emphasized the importance of universities in research and education, in Korea and internationally.