The Nation and People Inherited from Our Ancestors
Is dividing the nation and people inherited
from our ancestors into two—North and South—truly for the sake of the nation
and its people? Is this not rather an act of destruction and ruin against the
nation and its people? Dividing the nation and people handed down by our
ancestors and killing one another through war is not true politics. It is the
work of the devil. Even after seeing with your own eyes and hearing with your
own ears the reality that our nation and people are suffering today, do you
still not understand? Our ancestors in heaven are watching. The blood of the
righteous who were shed for the nation and its people—the blood of the
independence fighters—cries out in sorrow. Politicians, repent.
The North and the South have lived as one
nation and one people on the same land. The roads blocked by foreign powers
must be opened as soon as possible so that people can travel freely between the
two. Allowing the same people who once lived as one nation to freely visit one
another is the most urgent task for reunification. Blocking interaction among
one’s own people is an act that makes one an enemy of the nation. Does North
Korea not understand this?
I personally fought as a frontline combat
soldier during the Korean War. At that time, I witnessed many young men in the
prime of their lives from both the North and the South lose their lives. After
being discharged from the military, I began a life of faith and came to work
for peace, following the example of Jesus. As a result, I founded HWPL, a
global civilian peace organization, and became a messenger of peace. I traveled
around the world 32 times, calling for an end to war and peace for humanity. In
doing so, I met with presidents and prime ministers of various countries and
obtained their signatures pledging to work together for the cessation of wars
around the world. The evidence proving these facts is still in my possession
today (at the Peace Training Center in Goseong-ri, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi
Province).
Have you not seen this? Have you not heard
this? Why must people of the same nation fight and kill one another? Why must
people of the same nation, who once lived as one country, be prevented from
even traveling to see one another? Heaven and earth will witness this and cry
out in lamentation. I believe that the shortest path to reunification is for
politicians to reflect on past history with repentance and to open the divided
roads so that people of the same nation may freely visit one another.

This powerful story reminds me that the independence we celebrate today came with unimaginable hardship. May we never forget the strength of those who lived through it. #ShincheonjiChurch
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