Seoul, Korea—The second day of World Summit 2017 began with a celebration of the UPF founders’ birthdays.
On the morning of February 2, the participants traveled by bus from Seoul to the Cheongshim Peace World Center in Gapyeong, about an hour’s drive, and joined more than 30,000 well-wishers to commemorate the birthdays of Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon and her husband, the late Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, the founders of UPF.
Congratulatory remarks were given by Hon. Dan Burton, the co-chair of the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP), an organization founded in 2016 that is affiliated with UPF.
The former U.S. congressman from Indiana thanked Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon for her “exemplary leadership to move the world toward true peace based on strong families centered on God, our Heavenly Parent.” He reported on The Washington Times’ fact-finding tour to Korea in February 2016, co-chaired by himself and Matt Salmon, a former member of Congress from Arizona, which included several former U.S. congressmen and a former U.S. ambassador to Korea.
Rep. Burton expressed deep appreciation to Dr. Moon for the UPF International Leadership Conference (ILC) held in Washington, D.C., from November 28 to December 1, 2016, and the IAPP inaugural program held at the Kennedy Caucus Room of the U.S. Senate’s Russell Office Building on November 30, 2016.
“Mother Moon, you embraced them all with love and called for us to work together for the sake of world peace, and your words hit the mark: Human power alone cannot solve the deep and terrible challenges that we face in this world. To really solve the world’s problems we must turn to God, and as parliamentarians, we must lead our nations to unity and peace.”
Dr. Sun Jin Moon, a daughter of Rev. and Mrs. Moon and the chair of UPF International, warmly welcomed family and friends from around the world. Commenting on the work and legacy of her parents, she said: “They have given us all the tools we need to repair this world, to transform this world. … They always wanted the principles and values and the practices they taught throughout their lives to serve as the moral and spiritual foundation of the family, the society, the nation and the world.”
She praised her mother, who “has led and carried forward our movement with absolute faith, love and wisdom. She alone was qualified, anointed and appointed as True Parent to lead our global movement, after having worked side by side with my father for more than 50 years. She works tirelessly to realize his vision, their vision of world peace.”