Unification rally in Seoul sparks hopes for peace

Former Prime Minister Chung Un-chan, president of the Korean Dream Hangang Grand Festival, delivers a welcome speech at the 2025 Korean Dream Unification Resolution Rally in Yongsan, central Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of the 2025 Korean Dream Unification Resolution Rally

A unification rally took place Friday in Yongsan, in the heart of Seoul, where participants renewed their commitment to achieving a peaceful and unified Korean Peninsula.

The 2025 Korean Dream Unification Resolution Rally drew around 400 distinguished guests, including former Prime Minister Chung Un-chan, who serves as president of the Korean Dream Hangang Grand Festival; Chung Woo-taik, co-chair of the organizing committee and former deputy speaker of the National Assembly; and Lee Jong-kul, also a co-chair and former floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea.

The rally, which began last month in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province and traveled through 13 cities and provinces across the country, was part of a national campaign to build momentum for the upcoming Korean Dream 10 Million Campaign, scheduled for Aug. 14–15, along with the Korean Dream Hangang Grand Festival.

“On Aug. 15, the festival will be held along the Han River, where the history and life of our people flow endlessly,” Chung said in his welcome remarks. “Over the past 80 years since the end of Japanese colonial rule, through your dedication and sacrifice, we have overcome the ruins of war and achieved both industrialization and democratization.”

Following the establishment of the Korean Dream 10 Million Unification Campaign Organizing Committee in 2022, the movement has continued to grow.

Around 20,000 people gathered the following year, followed by 30,000 in Yeouido last year. Their aim was to heal the national divide left by Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule over Korea and the 1950-53 Korean War to build a unified Korean Peninsula, contributing to global peace.

Participants wave the Korean national flag during the 2025 Korean Dream Unification Resolution Rally in Yongsan, central Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of the 2025 Korean Dream Unification Resolution Rally