Honoring Dr. Edwin J. Feulner
Remembering a Lifetime Champion for Freedom and First Principles
(1941-2025)
Dr. Edwin Feulner gives remarks at the Dirksen Senate Building during the 2017 International Forum on One Korea.
Dr. Edwin J. Feulner, true patriot and friend of America, Korea, and the world, passed away recently at the age of 83, following a lifetime of championing freedom, faith, and family moored in first principles that empower civil societies and affirm their source in the Creator.
Dr. Feulner founded The Heritage Foundation in 1973 and propelled the “big tent” conservatism of the Reagan Administration’s initiatives to champion families and to defeat the tyranny of communism around the world. President Reagan appointed Dr. Feulner to lead the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy and implemented many of the recommendations in the foundation’s signature “Mandate for Leadership”. Dr. Feulner and his fellow Reagan “happy warriors” propelled bold market-oriented economic reforms and affirmed first principles in Heritage’s mission of “building an America where freedom, opportunity, prosperity, and civil society flourish.”
Dr. Edwin Feulner (right) beside Dr. Hyun Jin Moon at Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC during the 2018 International Forum on One Korea.
With his longtime friend and conservative leader Lee Edwards, Dr. Feulner later co-founded the bipartisan Victims of Communism (VOC) Memorial Foundation, chartered by Congress. In a poignant reminder of the ongoing impact of his work, on the eve of Ed’s passing the Victims of Communism Museum hosted a forum with the Global Peace Foundation (GPF) and the Committee on Human Rights for North Korea (HRNK) featuring North Korean young leaders and escapees, reminding all participants of the egregious violation of fundamental rights exacted by totalitarian regimes to this day.
Dr. Feulner once stated that the cause of Korea and the US-ROK Alliance was one of his most important personal international policy priorities. He travelled to Seoul countless times and was a dear friend and advisor to Global Peace Foundation’s Korean-born Founder and Chairman, Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon. He penned the foreword for Dr. Moon’s landmark “Korean Dream” book and spoke at numerous GPF forums on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and in Seoul.
Dr. Edwin Feulner (center) at the 2024 Korean Dream Grand March for Korea United at the DMZ in South Korea.
One memorable highlight in Korea just last year was at Imjingak Park alongside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea. Dr. Feulner joined Dr. Moon in addressing this massive people power festival for One Korea, convened by Action for Korea United (AKU). Its calls for freedom and human rights for all Koreans were written in the night sky by a remarkable drone show finale visible to North Korean towns nearby. An ardent proponent of an informed and proactive civil society, Dr. Feulner reflected at various GPF convenings in Seoul on the large array of civil society forces gathering through the AKU civil movement to make real the promise of a free and unified Korea led by the Korean people.
Dr. Edwin Feulner speaking at the 2024 Korean Dream Grand March at the DMZ in South Korea.
Korea’s founding fathers linked their 1919 Independence movement to America’s founding, holding a historic rally at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall to further connect with the universal ideals of the American Declaration of Independence. Dr. Feulner was a living embodiment of this America-ROK alliance rooted in universal values and principles: he “had the back” of the Korean people and affirmed their steadfast determination to move beyond the failed policies since the Korean War to finally establish a free and unified new homeland that makes the Korean Dream a reality.
Dr. Edwin Feulner (right) receives the Global Peace Award for Innovative Scholarship at the 2017 Global Peace Convention in Manila, Philippines.
Among the many awards he received were the Presidential Citizens Medal from President Reagan, the Gwanghwa Medal, the Order of Diplomatic Service by the President and National Assembly of Korea, and the Global Peace Award for Innovative Scholarship, awarded at the 2017 Global Peace Convention in Manila, Philippines.
The Global Peace Foundation Founder and Chairman, Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon, Co-Founder, Dr. Junsook Moon, and all of our staff and supporters around the world offer our prayers and heartfelt condolences to the Feulner family and all who had the blessing to work alongside Ed. Like so many around the world, the GPF family will sorely miss him and is immensely grateful for his authentic, spirited, and humble presence in our lives and ongoing work for freedom and peace. We re-dedicate ourselves to the shared mission to achieve an American renaissance and global rebirth of freedom that Ed tirelessly dedicated his life to – perhaps best summarized in the one word Dr. Feulner always left with friends and audiences throughout the world: “Onward!”
Dr. Edwin Feulner (center) beside fellow speakers at the 2017 International Forum on One Korea.