"New Government National Strategy Proposal ‘DMZ United Nations University for Peace’ & ‘Museum for Peace and Unification’" (Sand Times, 2025.06.06)

https://www.sandtimes.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=1173


<Photo> Dr. Son Gi-woong, President of the Korea Institute for Peace and Cooperation (President, the Korean Association of DMZ Studies), proposed the idea of ​​establishing the DMZUPEACE at an academic conference held on October 24, 2018.

Is there no way to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula in a practical way?

What is the way to establish the Republic of Korea as a symbol of peace and, based on this, contribute to the spread of peace, that is, world peace?

At the same time, what is the way to expand and solidify the foundation of national growth within international solidarity and provide new and vibrant driving force to national growth?

What is the way to lead not only national growth but also balanced local development at the same time?

What kind of measures can we undertake to promote changes in North Korea, such as reform and openness, while also opening up a channel that Kim Jong-un cannot arbitrarily close?

What kind of measures can we undertake to continuously reach out to the North Korean people and promote unification through changes within the North Korean people?

What is the way to ensure stable and permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula even after ‘the Korean War Armistice Agreement’ (27.07.1953) is changed to a peace treaty ending the war and the United Nations Command is disbanded?

How can we lay a solid foundation for our future generations to prosper in peace?

However good and plausible it may seem, what is a feasible solution even within the international sanctions against North Korea that are still in effect despite having many loopholes?

With this understanding and consideration, I propose the establishment of the ‘DMZ United Nations University for Peace (DMZUPEACE)’ as a national strategic project for the new Korean government.

Here, DMZ refers to the Demilitarized Zone established in the center of the Korean Peninsula according to the Armistice Agreement.

The new president promises to put it into practice within his five-year term, and as soon as he takes office, he focuses the country's diplomatic, administrative, and mental power on it.

If successful, it will be a historical legacy that will bring glory to the Republic of Korea, peace and prosperity to its people, and the joy of unification to future generations.

If successful, the president will be recorded and established as a great leader symbolizing peace not only in the constitutional history of the Republic of Korea but also in the history of world politics. After retirement, the president will not have to return to his hometown or wander around here and there, but will be able to live the rest of his life proudly and fulfillingly as the chairman, president, or lifetime professor of the DMZUPEACE.

The establishment of the DMZUPEACE is a national strategy to create a permanent peace education institution under the UN in the center of the Korean Peninsula and the center of Northeast Asia, which was once the fiercest battleground and has been a symbolic region of conflict and dispute for the past 70 years, with the Republic of Korea at the center and Northeast Asia and the international community joining forces to contribute to the restoration, maintenance, and expansion of peace on the Korean Peninsula, Northeast Asia, and even the entire world, and to our growth and unification in the process.

At this time, ‘peace’ is a concept that includes peace between humans, between countries, and between human and the natural environment. It is a consideration of the characteristics of the DMZ, which requires not only resolving conflicts and hostility between humans and countries caused by the Korean War, but also preserving and protecting the vitality of nature that was revived after the war.

The goal is to create a ‘Peace Officers’ Academy’ that will provide theoretical and practical education on the restoration, maintenance, and expansion of peace to students selected from around the world, and enable them to contribute to world peace and community formation by working in their own countries or in international organizations or companies after graduation.

The DMZUPEACE will start as a two-year master's program and expand to undergraduate and doctoral programs. The faculty will consist of world-renowned peace scholars, experts, and practitioners.

If we select and educate just one student from each of the 193 current UN member states each year, a peace network with 193 solidarity members will be formed worldwide each year.

All students receive scholarships and are encouraged to establish a community identity through dormitory life.

During their studies, they will have opportunities to practice in the UN's humanitarian and peace activities. Naturally, they will also have internships with the Korean government and organizations and field trips related to peace.

During the training period, students will be trained to speak three languages. Korean will be included as much as possible to build and accumulate our international solidarity network.

The DMZUPEACE will be established across the DMZ and the border areas between the South and the North, centered around the Military Demarcation Line (MDL).

However, considering military and ecological sensitivities, only limited space within the DMZ will be used as a symbolic passageway, and the DMZUPEACE main building will be located in the southern border area, and a branch building will be located in the northern border area.

The location of the DMZUPEACE will be determined by reviewing the entire border area and selecting multiple preliminary candidate sites. This will be reviewed first through consultation with South Korea, the United States, and the UN Command, and then the final location will be determined through inter-Korean negotiations.

After the opening of the DMZUPEACE, the surrounding area will be revitalized as an educational, cultural, and artistic space, making it a center and a sacred place for peace. As peace also includes peace between humans and the natural environment, the establishment of institutions and research institutes related to environmental protection will also be promoted.

The DMZUPEACE is a purely educational institution, and can be implemented even within international sanctions against North Korea for the purpose of denuclearization of North Korea. If there are any parts that conflict with international sanctions against North Korea during the process of promotion, we will persuade and adjust them based on the founding purpose and meaning of the DMZUPEACE so that they can be compatible with international sanctions against North Korea.

The Republic of Korea will deposit a special fund to the United Nations to cover the finances required for the DMZUPEACE. Based on this, most of the necessary finances will be raised through deposits from countries participating in the establishment of the DMZUPEACE, as well as donations from individuals, organizations, and companies around the world who agree with its establishment.

The Korean Peninsula is a place where war broke out, and North Korea’s nuclear problem and provocations continue, and it is not the DMZ located at the center of it, but the world’s number one heavily armed zone, so it is a powder keg where war could break out at any time.

It is expected that many businessmen and people of good will will line up to donate to the establishment of the DMZUPEACE at the center of the Korean Peninsula, an educational institution that aims to contribute to the restoration, maintenance, and expansion of peace not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in Northeast Asia and the world.

The DMZUPEACE refers to the case of ‘the United Nations University for Peace (UPEACE)’ established in San Jose, Costa Rica in 1980, but is seeking to establish it as a separate university under the United Nations, taking into account the special circumstances and characteristics of the Korean Peninsula and the DMZ.

While the UPEACE was established by a resolution of the UN General Assembly, the DMZUPEACE targets all UN member states and is therefore promoted by a resolution of the UN Security Council as well as the UN General Assembly.

If a peace treaty is signed in the future, the UN Command will be disbanded, which could cause security instability on the Korean Peninsula. This is because it is difficult for the people to feel assured that peace will be guaranteed simply by a signed agreement.

The DMZUPEACE can be a stabilizing device for peace. If the military power of the UN Command guarantees peace on the Korean Peninsula during the Armistice Agreement period, the DMZUPEACE, the UN’s peace education institution, will assume that role during the peace treaty period.

The DMZUPEACE is a national strategic project that requires the government to play a central role, so the will of the president is the key. A ‘DMZUPEACE Promotion Committee (tentative name)’ should be established under the president and all-out efforts should be made to realize it during his term of office.

The President will serve as Honorary Chairman, the Prime Minister as Chairperson, and relevant government ministries such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Unification, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and the National Intelligence Service, as well as domestic and foreign experts and personnel from international organizations including the United Nations, will work together from the beginning.

In order to secure the initial momentum for establishing the DMZUPEACE and to ensure its sustainability, the Republic of Korea, North Korea, the United States, the parties to the Armistice Agreement, as well as the permanent members of the UN Security Council, such as the United Kingdom, France, China, and Russia, will serve as members of the ‘DMZUPEACE Steering Committee (tentative name)’. Other interested countries, such as Japan and Germany, will also participate as members.

In order to secure the initial momentum for establishing the DMZUPEACE and to ensure its sustainability, the Republic of Korea, North Korea, the United States, the parties to the Armistice Agreement, as well as the permanent members of the UN Security Council, such as the United Kingdom, France, China, and Russia, will serve as members of the ‘DMZUPEACE Management Board (tentative name)’. Other countries that show interest, such as Japan and Germany, will also participate as members of the board.

Kim Jong-un only needs to open a small piece of land that cannot be compared to the Geumgangsan tourist site or the Gaeseong Industrial Complex. With a military burden that cannot be compared to the Geumgangsan tourist site or the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, he can obtain political propaganda as a peace-loving leader and economic ripple effects along with an environmentally friendly leader. He can also send his younger sister Kim Yo-jong to the DMZUPEACE Management Board.

However, Kim Jong-un may be lukewarm or negative about the establishment of the DMZUPEACE.

In this case, the new president of the new government should announce and propose the DMZUPEACE concept as a South Korean initiative for world peace, and first establish and operate only the DMZUPEACE headquarters in the southern border area of ​​the DMZ, while inducing and urging Kim Jong-un to participate.

I actually proposed and presented the idea of ​​establishing DMZUPEACE at an academic conference titled “Building Peace through the Establishment of DMZUPEACE” that I hosted on October 24, 2018, the 73rd anniversary of the founding and launch of the United Nations.

And the meaning and necessity were repeatedly emphasized through various media outlets, such as “Establishing a UN Peace University in the DMZ to Complete Peace on the Korean Peninsula” (Sisa Journal, 2018.10. 12), “Campaign to Establish a UN Peace University in the DMZ Begins on October 24, 2018... Expected to Create Results in Building Peace” (VOA, 2018.10. 24), “Now is the Best Time to Establish a UN Peace University in the DMZ” (Sisa Journal, 2018.10. 25), “The Meaning and Implementation Plan of the DMZUPEACE” (Tongil Shinmun, 2018.11. 01), “The DMZUPEACE Will Be a Guaranteed Check for Peace on the Korean Peninsula” (Unified Korea, 2018.12. 03).

Also, just before the 20th presidential election, I proposed it as a national strategy such as “The next government should think strategically about establishing ‘the DMZUPEACE’ in the border region” (Choi Bo-sik’s Journal, 2022.02.23), and even after the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol government, “The dream of summoning again ‘the DMZUPEACE’” (SkyeDaily, 2024.05.30.).

Many people question whether the DMZUPEACE can be established. We have hosted not only the Summer Olympics but also the Winter Olympics and the World Cup. It would not be more difficult to establish the DMZUPEACE than any of those.

Moreover, the DMZUPEACE is not a one-time event. It is not something that requires a huge investment of human, material, and mental resources and then ends with only glorious memories.

It is a national and ethnic mission that can continuously guarantee peace and prosperity in the Republic of Korea and establish a foundation for a humane life for ourselves and future generations.

I hope that the new president of the new government will recognize the national significance of the DMZUPEACE and be determined to implement it, and that the people who dream of prosperity in peace and wish for unification will actively respond.

I propose that the DMZUPEACE concept be implemented in stages, starting with the establishment of a ‘Museum for Peace and Unification (MPU, tentative name).’ For decades, we have been calling for and wishing for peaceful unification, peace and unification, but our reality is that we still do not have a single decent museum related to it.

I intend to use the MPU as a stepping stone to concretely present the meaning and will of establishing the DMZUPEACE to the domestic and international communities and use it as a driving force for realizing the DMZUPEACE.

What can be a great force is the will of the local residents where the MPU and DMZUPEACE will be located. The local residents should sympathize with the meaning and necessity of the DMZUPEACE and MPU for peace, growth, unification, and regional development, and unite to move the central government. They should provide the impetus for the central government to move.

If any city or county in the border area between Gyeonggi-do and Gangwon-do shows such will, I will rush to help without hesitation and do my utmost to help.

After announcing the DMZUPEACE concept, I wrote an opening speech in 2020 with the determination to realize it at all costs despite the neglection and difficulties. I want to read it together with the people of the Republic of Korea who wish for peace, prosperity, and unification (Unification, the Road We Have Come and the Road We Will Take, Seoul: Overflow, 2020, 250-251).

“I declare the opening of ‘the DMZ United Nations University for Peace.’

I am truly deeply moved. Thank you, citizens of the country and citizens of the world. The sweat and tears we shed have finally borne fruit.

I would like to give the opening address of the DMZ United Nations University for Peace today in the spirit of the will and wishes of John F. Kennedy, who visited the Berlin Wall, the symbol of division in Europe, on June 26, 1963, when the Cold War between the East and the West was at its most intense, and gave a speech on freedom, democracy, and peace.

Two thousand years ago, the proudest words were ‘I am a Roman citizen (Civis Romanus sum)’ and 57 years ago, ‘I am a citizen of Berlin (Ich bin ein Berliner)’.

The proudest words for all peace-loving people today are, ‘I am a DMZ citizen.’

Today, South and North Korea open a small door in the DMZ with the cooperation and support of the UN and the international community. Here, the DMZ United Nations University for Peace has been established. The fruits of all those who have worked to lead peace with faith and a sense of mission for peace over the past several decades are now taking root.

And we sow seeds again so that this tree of peace can grow and spread throughout the DMZ, throughout the Korean Peninsula, and throughout Northeast Asia.

Please come to the DMZ. Everyone who has wanted and worked for the right to peace, the right to live in lasting peace, is now a citizen of the DMZ.

Citizens of the DMZ, peace is indivisible. If one country on Earth is not at peace, all countries are not at peace.

This place where the DMZ United Nations University for Peace stands tall is a small island of peace within the DMZ. Let us dream here that this island will grow and connect to the entire DMZ, become land, and connect to the continent.

Today, only the DMZ United Nations University for Peace is at peace, but tomorrow, the entire DMZ, the Korean Peninsula, and the entire Northeast Asia can become a space of peace. Let’s look forward to hope and gain strength.

Only when everyone on the Korean Peninsula enjoys peace will this Korean Peninsula be able to unite with all the peaceful and hopeful countries on this planet.

Beyond the DMZ, let's dream of peace everywhere on earth.

Let's think of peace for all mankind beyond the barbed wire of the DMZ that still exists.

When that day finally comes, we will be most proud of the fact that we have become citizens of the DMZ today, as we celebrate the opening of the DMZ United Nations University for Peace.

All peace-loving people, wherever they are, are citizens of the DMZ.

Let’s all shout together:

‘We are proud citizens of the DMZ!’”

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Son Gi-woong, president of the Korea Institute for Peace and Cooperation, received a doctorate in political science from the Free University of Berlin in 1992. After personally experiencing the collapse of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, he decided to devote himself to the unification of the Korean Peninsula.

He served at the Korea Institute for National Unification under the Prime Minister's Office, the only national unification-related research institute in Korea, until his retirement as president in 2018.

Dr. Son is currently also serving as the president of the Korean Association of DMZ Studies, as well as the president of the Seorak Peace and Unification Forum, the co-president of the Korea-Germany Unification Forum jointly operated with the Hanns Seidel Foundation.