By Yun Suh-young
Why is this year’s celebration of the International Day of Peace so significant?
Because it is the 30th anniversary of the creation of the day? Yes and no.
True, this year marks the thirtieth birthday of the IDP, but there is something more than that that makes the day “historic.”
This is the first time the United Nations is hosting an event in conjunction with a particular university.
There has been no precedent of the United Nations working with a university to co-host an international conference like this in the history of its creation.
Although it may be difficult to continue hosting the event annually with universities, the United Nations expressed its interest in participating in the Peace Bar Festival that is held every year, according to the school’s official.
“It was the United Nations that first suggested co-hosting this year’s International Day of Peace conference,” said Khang Gon, dean of Office of International Affairs at Kyung Hee University.
“The UNAI which made the suggestion was created only last year and it was planning to celebrate the IDP for the first time this year. They apparently heard of our annual celebration of the day, and since this year marks the 30th anniversary, they suggested hosting it together.”
The conference will be simultaneously held in New York and Seoul through live streaming video on U.N. webcast. Up until the roundtable session, Seoul’s participants will watch the conference being held at the U.N. headquarters in New York via live streaming video.
From the Q&A session, participants from both sides will interactively engage in the conference by asking questions and sharing opinions about issues related to peace and education.
The title of this year’s conference, “Give Peace Another Chance,” was named as such to bring the issue back on to the table for schools to consider.
“The underlying message of the title is that the campaign for peace hasn’t been very successful until now,” said Khang. “The title sends out a message that the educational institutions should take a more proactive role, beyond their campus boundaries, to making the world a more peaceful place.”
Could we say that a one-time conference can really contribute to bringing peace to the world?
To this question, the dean answered, “definitely yes.”
“We have conferences every year for ordinary fields of study. People may ask ‘what’s the purpose of having such conferences?’ but I believe that sharing each others’ thoughts and opinions is in itself very important.
“The importance of holding such events lies in shedding light on issues that people don’t care about and doing things that others don’t do. All of this is the beginning of a new project. Who would have known that we would discuss about peace today 30 years ago? Dr. Choue Young-seek who first suggested the day of peace would have probably been laughed at at the time. But look what we’re doing now. We’re talking about peace.”