Address to Peace Summit 2023
May 2-5, 2023
My thanks to UPF president Dr. Thomas Walsh and my friend Dr. Charles Yang, Chair, UPF Central America and the Caribbean region, for their invitation to this Summit.
In the last ten years, the Republic of Korea has invested more than 740 million dollars in Honduras, including educational scholarships, and in addition cooperates with other Central American countries. They are looking for a Central American country where they can establish an institute of biotechnology.
South Korea is a partner and friend of Honduras, along with the assistance of the Korean Institute for International Economic Policies, which promotes the principles of interdependence, mutual prosperity, and the development of universal values—the cornerstones of long-lasting peace.
We already watch a lot of South Korean-produced videos on Netflix, and we are prepared to support the Republic of Korea’s efforts to host the World Expo 2030 in Busan. On this matter we are in touch with Prime Minister Han Duck Soo.
Korea is a brave country that demonstrates to us how, in just 70 years, nearly from the time that its contacts with Honduras began, it started to develop and emerge from the economic ashes following the war with an avant-garde vision of peace and education. We live in a divided world, and in order to address disputes like the one that now exists on the Korean peninsula, those of us who have access to media and decision-making must cooperate with people from all spheres of society.
I attended the February 2020 Summit during a bitterly harsh winter right when the pandemic started, and I have watched numerous summits on Zoom where UPF has challenged itself to create a culture of peace around the globe.
Understanding and empathy among those of us attending today’s Summit are not isolated efforts, but rather a reaffirmation of an anti-corruption culture that is more essential in Latin America than the rest of the world.
I want to congratulate Mother Hak Ja Han Moon who is celebrating the eightieth anniversary of her birthday. She was born in 1943, in an occupied and impoverished Korea, amid the climax and heat of World War II. She suffered the division of her country, and before turning ten, she was forced to leave her native north and become a war refugee in the south. Most people, in her case, would develop resentment and hatred, but she is living proof that when we carry true love in our hearts, we can be champions of peace. My congratulations, Dr. Moon, for your efforts to unite the five continents around the Culture of Peace following the ideals of your husband, Reverend Moon.
Here, we side with the leaders of nations that have been duped by warlike and dishonest individuals whose goal is to amass wealth, regardless of the societal costs associated with their political ideology.
It is an honor to share this time with Dr. Michael Jenkins of UPF, Hon. Dan Burton of the United States House of Representatives, and religious leaders since the goal of peace is universal.
Latin America and the Caribbean suffer from common problems, and we need to share our experiences so that those of us who are economically smallest do not make the mistakes that the prevailing materialism has caused in those who have more resources than we have in our area.
By combining our areas of expertise and operating as one large nation, we will be able to end poverty—as Korea did—and, along with it, live in peace, as this is the only way for the majority of people to have access to jobs, food, education and healthcare.
The effects of the war between Russia and Ukraine have increased poverty in poor countries like Honduras, where 3 out of 4 people are poor and 2 out of 4 are extremely poor.
We do not produce oil or cutting-edge technology. We are economically dependent on the US, but external ideologies are trying to separate us from the US. We are not prepared, and they place us as if on a battlefield in the conflicts between the US, China and Russia. Multilateral organizations abound, but their interlocutors only inform. Here we are the ones who make the decisions. My wife, Iroska Elvir, who has been with us at UPF since 2018, is currently serving as Vice President of the Honduran Congress. We share a desire for peace and are not prepared to engage with those who seek war, which only serves to exacerbate poverty.
To go to the Peace Summit 2023 Schedule page, click here.