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Full text of President Moon Jae-in's op-ed for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

SEOUL, May 7 (Yonhap) -- The following is the second part of an unofficial translation of President Moon Jae-in's op-ed that will be published later this month in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) and was released by his office Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday.

4. Peace for the Ordinary

There is a saying in East Asia that goes "Heroes emerge in turbulent times." During turbulent times, however, common folk are unable to make it through life on their own. Heroes may be born, but the common folk fall into misfortune.

The chapter on the Biographies of Sun Zi and Wu Qi (孫子吳起列傳) in the Chinese classic Shiji (史記)³ includes the following passage: "Someone said, 'Your son is a foot-soldier, yet the general, with his own mouth, sucked his abscess clean. What makes you wail?'" (人曰 子卒也 而將軍自吮其疽 何哭爲) The mother cried because she knew her son was moved by what the general had done, and she feared that her son would fight to the death on the battlefield for his commander. The Shiji goes on to say that that woman's husband experienced identical care from this same general, then went on to fight resolutely and die in combat.

Sima Qian, the author of the Shiji, wrote the chapter to describe the extraordinary leadership of General Wu Qi, but hidden inside the passage is the miserable plight of the widow who had lost her husband in battle. Woven into the heroic tales that we enjoy are also the tragedies of ordinary people who are deprived of the chance to form their own destiny.

The history of the division of the Korea Peninsula is also stained with the tears and blood of ordinary people. Division has bred antagonism in individuals' lives and thinking. Division has also been used as the means to protect vested interests, bury political opposition, and enable privilege and deceit. Common folk, during the "turbulent times" of national division, were unable to determine their own destinies. Their freedoms of thought, expression and conscience were suppressed. They took self-censorship for granted and became accustomed to improprieties.

The desire to change this longstanding and contradictory situation is one of the reasons that Koreans carried lit candles. They wanted to usher in peace by upholding democracy. Korea would have been unable to take strides toward peace if the candles had not illuminated the way toward peace. The true hero of the Candlelight Revolution is the powerful solidarity of ordinary people. We need to change the East Asian adage "Heroes emerge in turbulent times" to "The power of the ordinary prevails in turbulent times."

I believe that human history is a process of change, just like the seasons. The Iron Curtain between East and West Germany has been transformed into the Grünes Band, a greenbelt that runs north and south through the heart of Europe. In the same way, I expect that peace on the Korean Peninsula will not stop at the Demilitarized Zone, running east to west between the two Koreas, but will spread beyond the Korean Peninsula to Northeast Asia and even as far as Europe. Our goal is to fundamentally dissolve the Cold War structure of conflict, division and strife that has gripped the Korean Peninsula for so long and to replace it with a new order based on peace and coexistence, as well as on cooperation and prosperity. In Korea this ambitious process has been dubbed the New Korean Peninsula Regime.

The New Korean Peninsula Regime signifies a great geopolitical transition for the area. Geopolitically, the Korean Peninsula has long been a fault line where continental and maritime powers have collided. The situation is like the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, and for this reason Korea has suffered from frequent war historically. Notably, since the Korean Peninsula was divided north and south by the DMZ, the Republic of Korea has been cut off from the mainland and has led an "island-like" existence.

The creation of a new order on the Korean Peninsula means the establishment of a land bridge that connects the Republic of Korea to the continent. I met with Chairman Kim Jong-un of North Korea at Panmunjom in April 2018. This was a historic moment, as it was the first time that North Korea's top leader set foot on South Korean soil since the Korean War. We promised to stop military hostilities between our two sides.

As a first step in this direction, some of the guard posts were taken down on both sides of the DMZ, and some landmines were removed near the DMZ. Roads connecting the two Koreas across the DMZ were opened, and thirteen sets of war dead remains were unearthed and returned to their respective homelands. In November, troops from the North and South who were involved in these various operations unexpectedly encountered one another on Arrowhead Hill, the site of the last hard-fought battle of the Korean War. They spontaneously lowered their weapons and shook hands – spring had finally returned to the DMZ, 65 years after the armistice was signed.

The onset of the spring on the Korean Peninsula began in Berlin. Following former President Kim Dae-jung, who made his Berlin Declaration in 2000, I came to Berlin in July 2017 to talk again about a new peace initiative that reflected the passion of the Candlelight Revolution. At the time, many dismissed this as simply being wishful thinking. The winter on the Korean Peninsula seemed unlikely to retreat, and North Korea added to the crisis by conducting a series of nuclear tests and missile launches. Other nations responded by steadily strengthening their sanctions. Tensions mounted and rumors that armed confrontation was imminent in April and September of 2017 circulated. The Korean people were worried that an actual war would break out.

I agreed with former Chancellor Willy Brandt when he said, "Small steps are better than no steps at all." If something is not started, then the people's longings cannot be realized. A quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe also came to mind: "Dream no small dreams, for they have no power to move the hearts of men." If we hoped to break through the harsh winter and allow sprouts to come forth in spring, we had to discuss the greater dream of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula and permanent peace. It had to be a great dream that could be realized together with the people.

During his New Year's message in January 2018, the North Korean leader expressed his willingness to improve inter-Korean relations, responding to the great dream of the South Korean people. The North then communicated intentions to participate in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Neighboring countries in East Asia and even those in Europe sent words of support and encouragement to the thaw on the Korean Peninsula. The people in Korea rallied around the desire to make the PyeongChang Olympics the "Peace Olympics."

When I made my Berlin Declaration, I made four propositions, suggesting to North Korea that "we first start with what is easy." These were: North Korea's participation in the PyeongChang Olympics, reunions among members of separated families, cessation of hostile actions between the North and South, and resumption of inter-Korean dialogue and contacts. Perhaps surprisingly, all four of these proposals have happened during the past two years. Last February, the entire world watched as the group of athletes from both Koreas marched together, behind the Unified Peninsula Flag, in the opening ceremony to the PyeongChang Olympics. Meetings of separated family members resumed, and a new system was established that permits video reunions any time. Most importantly, the sounds of gunfire have disappeared in the air, on the sea and on the ground around the Korean Peninsula. We opened a liaison office in Kaesong, providing a venue for regular dialogue between the two sides. In this way, spring is just around on the Korean Peninsula.

I have long regretted that my fellow Koreans no longer think about the space beyond the truce line. Should the two Koreas reconcile with each other, lay railroads to connect the two sides, allow goods to be transported and allow people to go back and forth, then the Republic of Korea will no longer be an island. Rather, the Peninsula will become a bridgehead from the sea to the Asian Continent, and a gateway from the mainland to the sea. Expanding the imagination of ordinary people also signifies liberation from ideology. The scope of the people's imaginations, living domains, and thinking will also expand greatly, healing the painful wounds from the division that we've had to endure for so long.

From now on, the North-South issue should not be misused for ideological or political purposes; rather, it must be expanded into an issue of life and existence for ordinary people. The North and South represent a community of life in which coexistence is a must. Blights from harmful insects and wildfires could spread to both sides even when people are not allowed to pass. An invisible borderline on the sea threatens fishing rights or can impact the fates of the fishermen who violate the national border unintentionally. Permanent peace is precisely the way to make everything right. This is peace for the lives of the common people, beyond political and diplomatic peace.

The New Korean Peninsula Regime means switching from the passive Cold War order to an active order in the pursuit of peace. In the past, Japanese colonialism and the Cold War prevented the Korean people from determining their own destinies. Today, however, we aim to develop our own way forward. This empowers the common people to take charge of his or her own fate.

The current order on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia is deeply linked to the "Cold War structure" implanted in the region at the end of World War II. In the process of settling post-war matters, the decision was made to divide the Korean Peninsula into two sides against the wishes of the Korean people, who soon were forced to suffer a tragic war. At this time, a trilateral structure involving the ROK, United States and Japan in the South and an opposing trilateral structure involving the DPRK, China and Russia in the North were implicitly put into place.

This Cold War structure entered into a period of détente in the 1970s, followed by the dissolution of the Soviet Union and China's adoption of a market economy in the 1990s. As such, the confrontation was resolved to a significant degree, but the Cold War situation remained unchanged on the Korean Peninsula. The two Koreas remain divided, and North Korea does not have normal diplomatic relations with either the United States or Japan. Amid this backdrop, the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Reunification of the Korean Peninsula and the Pyongyang Joint Declaration in 2018 were pronouncements of an end to the hostilities between the two sides, marking the first step in the settlement of permanent peace. At the same time, dialogue continues regarding the normalization of ties between North Korea and the United States alongside the denuclearization issue. If the North Korea-U.S. dialogue results in complete denuclearization and the establishment of North Korea-U.S. diplomatic relations, and if the Korean War armistice agreement is replaced with a formal peace treaty, the old Cold War order will collapse and a new order of peace will start to reign on the Korean Peninsula.

Peace is also the foundation for advancing as a nation in which everyone can prosper together. The New Korean Peninsula Regime means a peace-driven economy. Peace linked to economic progress creates a peace-strengthening virtuous cycle. We are pondering the way for both Koreas to prosper in the interest of establishing permanent peace. We have already started work on reconnecting road and rail links between the two Koreas. ROK engineers have inspected the state of North Korean railroads for the first time since the Peninsula was divided, and groundbreaking ceremonies have been held for the road and rail reconnection projects.

The vitalization of inter-Korean economic exchanges will link surrounding countries and go beyond the Korean Peninsula to reestablish an economic corridor between East Asia and Eurasia. The two Koreas and Russia have begun working-level discussions on a natural gas pipeline running from Russia and across North Korea to South Korea. Last August, I proposed the establishment of an East Asian Railroad Community, involving six Northeast Asian countries and the United States. I am calling for the East Asian Railroad Community to be modeled after the European Coal and Steel Community. It will then lead to the creation of East Asian energy and economic communities and could ultimately be developed into a multilateral peace and security regime in Northeast Asia.

The New Southern Policy and New Northern Policy being promoted by the Republic of Korea will further expand the peace-driven economy on the Korean Peninsula. The New Northern Policy will spur economic cooperation with Eurasia. Last June, North Korea, for the first time, consented to South Korea joining the Organization for Cooperation of Railways, the international rail transport organization with all Eurasian countries taking part. The day will come when people and goods can move by rail from Busan all the way to Berlin. The Republic of Korea, building on inter-Korean rapprochement, will be a facilitator of peace in Northeast Asia.

The New Southern Policy seeks new forms of strategic cooperation between the Korean Peninsula and ASEAN and Southwest Asia. The Republic of Korea considers a community of people, peace and prosperity to be a core value and will bolster exchanges of people and goods with neighboring countries. We are seeking the way to realize Asia's potential together and achieve mutual prosperity.

Koreans have demonstrated that the greatest power to change the world lies in the voluntary actions of ordinary people. This power will bring down the last vestiges of the Cold War and be the impetus for proactively ushering in the New Korean Peninsula Regime. Importantly, it prevents ordinary people from suffering misfortune unrelated to his or her own volition. The achievement of peace, too, ultimately begins with the will of ordinary citizens, and I hope that the completion of this undertaking can be shown to the world.

5. Heading for an Inclusive World Order

After the Second World War, Europe was also swept into the epicenter of the Cold War. Individual national governments sought new alliance strategies. Germany, divided by the Cold War, made bold strides toward peace, and led the change of Europe in the process.

The 450,000 Berlin citizens who were involuntarily separated overnight because of the sudden erection of the Berlin Wall yearned for reunification and peace, venting their feelings by assembling in front of Brandenburg Gate, in West Berlin, in June 1963. That year, Mayor Willy Brandt offered to open negotiations for a border pass agreement, allowing West Berliners to visit their relatives in the eastern part of the city during the Christmas season. This marked the beginning of the Neue Ostpolitik. Subsequently, the two Germanies began to view one another as partners for cooperation and mutual growth rather than as rivals and blockade targets.

Small prayer services were held every Monday in the East German city of Leipzig from the early 1980s. This modest gathering developed into a series of peace marches, which called for free travel and elections as well as German reunification. The first peace march, held on Oct. 9, 1989, involved 70,000 participants. After just two weeks, the number swelled to 300,000, and the Berlin Wall came down a month later, on Nov. 9.

I believe the European order changed because the ordinary people of Europe took on the task of making peace and aggressively prodded their governments to do the same. The determination and actions of European citizens gave rise to the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952, the blueprint for the European Union, and in 1975 served as the impetus for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which can be seen as the origin of the modern European security order.

As these European examples show, inclusiveness is essential in international relations. The world becomes a place where all can prosper together and progress when we are inclusive and guarantee fair opportunities and mutually beneficial cooperation, transcending national borders and areas of concern. Now, however, free trade advocacy and internationalism that have been the foundation of the post-World War II order have been weakening markedly, while protectionism and national self-centeredness have been creeping to the fore. This international crisis is causing the spirit of inclusiveness and cooperation to disappear. What is urgently needed is the politics of cooperation that emphasizes the responsibilities and norms of individual countries as members of international society.

Again, ordinary people are important. The things that ordinary people can change are not limited to domestic issues. When nations change, the world order can change as well. A new world order can be created when ordinary people consider that everyone has the authority and the responsibility to run the national government and that the fate of the world is linked to their own fates. When ordinary people transcend the notions of national boundary, race, ideology, and religion, and unite in solidarity and cooperation, then the world will also advance sustainably as a place where all can live well together.

An inclusive world is one in which the socially marginalized are not excluded and the majority – provided with reliable welfare benefits – receive compensation for the labor that they deserve and enjoy the fruits of growth. We already know about the achievements that ordinary people have made through inclusiveness in Korea, Europe and other places around the world.

Germany has achieved social cohesion by pursuing a free market economy while offering guarantees against various social risks, including job insecurity, wage disparity, poverty, and post-retirement insecurity. Northern European countries have maintained their national innovation capabilities by continuously investing in education so that the social welfare system, which comes at a high price tag, does not weaken national competitiveness.

Efforts by certain nations or by the public sector alone cannot tackle climate change and other issues that affect the entire world. Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change approved the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius. The report predicts that the lives of 10 million people could be saved by holding global warming to an increase of 1.5 degrees over pre-industrial levels, as opposed to 2 degrees or more. The goal is to have all countries jointly address the problem of climate change through international support and cooperation.

Moreover, inclusiveness needs to be embraced worldwide. Asian countries have since 2000 BCE considered conservation of mountain forests and control of waterways as the most important virtue for successful state administration. The spirit of respecting nature is embedded within this concept of mountain and stream management. Landslides were avoided when mountainsides were forested, and damage from floods and droughts were mitigated by allowing water to flow naturally rather than damming it up. The concepts of people and nature, development and preservation were not considered mutually exclusive, and I believe that this is in line with sustainable development sought globally now.

Today, however, many nations still consider economic development and environmental protection to be separate matters. We need the developed countries and developing countries to be willing to show empathy toward the other. Now is the time when we must exhibit the power of inclusiveness that ordinary people possess and display the wisdom that people and nature should coexist harmoniously for the earth which is not just for us but also for future generations. When that happens, the dream of a new world order and sustainable development will be realized.

Individual nations have to become more inclusive so that disparities among nations can be reduced, and the people of each country need to cultivate the ability to think as global citizens. Europe's unity and prosperity, created by ordinary citizens, can make the world a better place by inspiring courage and resolve in the rest of humanity.

6. The Greatness of the Ordinary

The way to a new world order can be found in the things that enable ordinary people to keep on with their lives and the things that let them maintain hope day to day. The people who are not identified in the history books, who are described in common noun terms such as laborers, woodcutters, shopkeepers, and students – each and every one of them should be addressed by their own names. Nations and even the world start from the "self." We must recognize and value the fact that the world is made up of the ordinariness that does the work, dreams the dreams, and maintains life day by day.

To this end, the lives of individuals must be respected. Of course, the individual must understand how much his or her own life is worth, but that value needs to be reassessed historically and culturally as well. We should discuss and record the impact that individual actions can have on the surroundings as well as the kinds of effects that ensue when certain actions become widespread.

Turning ordinariness into greatness requires justice and fairness, not just freedom and equality. Stories told in every culture remind us of a generally held truth: good behavior is to be praised, and bad behavior is to be condemned. In East Asia, this sentiment is summed up as gwonseon jingak (勸善懲惡 promote the good and chastise evil). This simple and clear truth represents the beginning of justice and fairness. We continue to live in an era of unbridled competition, but justice and fairness must be applied universally in the order of things.

Ordinary people can grow as global citizens only when justice and fairness prevail. Everything may still appear to be in progress, yet the solution for a new world order exists in the already trodden path humanity has been on. An ancient classic in East Asia states, "When the granaries are full, (the people) understand propriety and moderation; when food and clothing are adequate, they understand honor and disgrace (食廩實而知禮節, 衣食足而知榮辱)⁴." With justice and fairness, the world may share evenly the fruits of growth, which in turn empowers all. Duty springs forth, and responsibility will arise.

Those things that the world considers to be crises now must be resolved in everyday life. The tasks before us can neither be settled by a single country nor carried out on the insight of a single great politician. Assisting those in need, reducing waste, and caring for nature are activities that we need more of. When such behaviors are limited to an individual, one may ask doubtingly, "What good will it do?" However, when these small actions accumulate, the overall flow can change greatly.

Ultimately, the world can change slowly but surely by peaceful means as we protect the world and share what we have with one another. As with the everyday lives of ordinary people, Goethe's quote "Haste not! Rest not!" rings true.

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3 The Shiji (史記 Historian's Records) was written by Sima Qian (司馬遷) between 109 and 91 BCE. The text of more than 526,500 words is organized into 130 volumes (卷 gwon), which are organized into five different categories: Annals (本紀), in 12 volumes; Treatises (書), in 8 volumes; Tables (表), in 10 volumes; Biographies of the Feudal Houses & Eminent Persons (世家), in 30 volumes; and Biographies & Collective Biographies (列傳), in 70 volumes. The Shiji recounts Chinese history from the time of the legend in high antiquity down to Sima Qian's own time at the end of the 2nd century BCE. The original name was Records of the Grand Historian (太史公記) but changed to the present name at the end of the Later Han dynasty.

4 From the "Biographies of Guan [Zhong] & of Yan [Ying]," in the Shiji.

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