Interviews for the 'One Dream One Korea' campaign

Question asked to young leaders participating in the One Dream One Korea campaign in Insadong, Korea on August 9th, 2015: "Why is the Korean reunification important to you?"

Namsik Yoo of California: "We need to build a model nation for other nations to follow. Korea is the only divided nation in the world. Once it unites based on its founding spirit of Hongik Ingan it can benefit the entire world.

Pilchul Kwak of Washington state: "I read the book 'The Korean Dream' and learned that the unification of Korea could be a turning point for world unification. Also, if families are separated by the 38th, I can imagine their pain. If I'm separated from my family event for a short time, it hurts, so I can imagine how those families feel. I want to destroy that barrier as quick as possible."

(right) Jinhyung Yoo: "For the sake of Global Peace"
(left) Eun Kyung Kim: The Korean peninsula is mixed with communism and democracy. We must set an example by our unity for the world to unite faster"

"One Dream One Korea" campaign #1Dream1Korea

Do you like history?

Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it. -Edmund Burke

History is a fascinating subject for me, because I can often see how similar events and circumstances are occurring in the present day. If we study history carefully, we can learn lessons that can instruct us how we should live today.

Reading up on the history of my ancestors from Holland

You shall know them by their frutis

"You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit." Matthew 7:16

The greatest measure of a man is in his children, because in the ultimate sense, they are the 'fruits' of your life. Today I reflected about this as I mentored some youth in my community.

We did a project where the kids made fruit-kabobs for their siblings. I could understand more why parents are the happiest when their children get along and love each other. It is because they are demonstrating the good fruit of the parents' life-long investment.

Thank God for the family where we can learn these valuable lessons.

Inspiring speech at the Global Peace Convention 2014 Paraguay

I was impressed by this speech by Dr. Hyun Jin Moon at the Global Peace Convention Opening Plenary in Paraguay last year. In it he details a model for national transformation based on the case study of the work of the Global Peace Foundation in Paraguay.

Text: http://www.hyunjinmoon.com/global-peace-convention-2014-opening/

video: http://youtu.be/TsLekyotz38?list=UUUc_CFLrDIWFDz_tsAfw0NQ

"Positive social transformation leads to political and legal change that then leads to sustainable economic development"

I believe this is a key instruction for any form of national development, because change first has to start in the hearts of people, then the people should form a system of governance to establish order. Upon that orderly framework, economic development can take place without corruption or bias.

It's not over till it's over

During the GPF Leader's meeting adventure workshop, we had an interesting experience during one of the hikes that reminds me about the importance of striving for excellence. 

We were hiking all day, and we thought we may have reached our destination, but we couldn't tell for sure. The map was hard to read accurately and all we knew was that we were supposed to reach the highest elevation point in that area. We had reached a rather high point, but it looked like there might be something a little higher further up the trail. What should we do?

My team discussed and we decided that if we were going to shoot for a goal, in this case reaching the highest elevation, we should give our 100% effort to reach that goal with confidence, rather than going back wondering if we had really reached the highest point. 

And so we trekked on and on, uncertain about how long the hike would last. Yet finally, we did reach a clear end-point, and at the moment we reached the final destination, a heavy snow came through the fog and showered us as if celebrating our victory of reaching the real destination. Everyone on our team agreed this was something profound. 

We should always strive to complete our goals completely, and definitely not settle for a half-hearted effort that we'll look back on with regret.

2/25/2015 Wenatchee National Forest:
Snow came down right as we completely accomplished our stated goal.
It lasted just for the 5 minutes we stayed there and as we headed back it stopped.  

Are you an owner or a renter?

Today I realized that I am a renter. Literally, I am renting the house I live in with some other friends.

And because I am a renter, I have a certain attitude that displays itself in how I care for my house.

For the past few months, I and a few of my house-mates noticed that the tap water and shower was not as hot as it used to be. Immediately, my reaction was to tell the house management about the problem, and wait for them to fix it.

Finally after months of pestering, the management suggested we actually look at the boiler for any leaks. So I checked it this evening, and I found no leaks. Yet I also noticed something that I would have seen a lot earlier if I had bothered to look at the boiler previously. The thermostat knob was set to warm. So I turned the thermostat to a higher setting and a few minutes later, we had hot water again!

The problem was the boiler's thermostat was set to warm instead of hot

This slightly embarrassing incident taught me a valuable lesson about the mindset of ownership versus the mindset of a renter. When there is a problem in any situation, an owner immediately takes responsibility to fix it no matter how tired he is or how inconvenient the solution may be. But a renter complains about the problem and waits for someone else to fix it until he's forced to deal with it.

I also realized that even if I am a renter in my house, I should have the attitude of an owner if I want to get problems fixed a little quicker! I guess this applies to any situation where there are problems that need to be fixed. Rather than just complain about it, I should take responsibility if I really want to get anywhere.