“Peace isn’t just the absence of war, it’s the ending of the suffering of North Koreans living under worse oppression than any battlefield. The Korean dream, a unified Korea is the only path to heal this divided peninsula and bring true peace.” —Hyunseung Lee
On May 14, 2025, Global Peace Foundation Indonesia held the U-Gen Seminar under the theme “Korean Dream: Voice from the North.” With over 400 online participants, the webinar discussed topics on Korean reunification and Indonesia’s role in supporting peaceful reunification efforts. Additionally, the session featured insightful personal testimony from a former North Korean soldier on life in North Korea and human rights abuses.
GPF Indonesia hosts the annual U Gen Seminar highlighting Korean reunification.
The event set a hopeful tone for one Korea and brought speakers from the Global Peace Foundation (GPF), Alliance for Korea United (AKU) USA, and the Indonesia Defense University. Ingill Ra, Regional Representative of GPF Asia Pacific, welcomed everyone and talked about the future for a united Korea. He stated that 70 years ago, Indonesia, along with 16 other nations, stood up to a full-scale invasion of South Korea from North Korea. Indonesia sent help with medicine, food, and compassion. He also talked about Mochtar Lubis, who travelled through Korea in 1950 and wrote a book Hatan Korea, a powerful record of what Lubis saw and felt on his travels through Korea. He further drew parallels between the Korean philosophy of ‘Hongik Ingan’ and Indonesia’s Pancasila.
Namsik Yoo, Director of Youth Programs of Alliance for Korea United (AKU), then presented on the topic, “Korean Dream: A Call for Unity and Global Peace,” where he talked about historic parallels between the Indonesian and Korean independence from Dutch and Japanese colonialism in 1945. He said, “These historic moments reflected a shared spirit, a longing for freedom, and self-determination.” However, within three years, Korea was divided along the 38th parallel. Yoo explained the repressive regime of North Korea that not just violates human rights but also poses a global security threat with its “growing arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.” He clarified that a united Korea doesn’t mean the South absorbs the North, but rather, it is an opportunity to build a new nation based on a higher vision, solving challenges on both sides. He talked about the Korean Dream, a term coined by Dr. Hyun Jin Preston Moon, Chairman of the Global Peace Foundation, which describes “a vision to restore the Korean people’s shared identity and fulfill their long-held aspiration to live as one free unified nation.” Guided by the ideal of Hongik Ingan, the Korean Dream is a symbol of hope, resilience, and peace, and is about creating a new nation that honors God-given dignity, freedom, and the human rights of all people.
Yoo highlighted the diplomatic relationship between Indonesia and Korea and invited Indonesian youth to support the cause and participate in the Korean Dream 10 million signature campaign, a global effort to gather 10 million signatures displaying international support for a peacefully unified Korea.
Hyunseung Lee shared his personal testimony as a former North Korean soldier. He escaped North Korea in 2014 and now serves as the Lead Program Strategist at North Korea Initiatives. He shared his harrowing journey, describing living a controlled life where he was fed propaganda in every aspect of life. Every daily action began with pledges of loyalty to the Kim family. “Their quotes and directives filled our textbooks, and we were expected to treat them as life’s ultimate truth,” said Lee.
Despite coming from a relatively elite family background, Lee and other high school students were forced to do manual labor. Students were constantly mobilized as laborers, with poor food, no pay, no rewards, and no voice. Lee chose the military pathway, but living conditions were no better: “Eggs on birthdays, if you are lucky,” he reflected, urging everyone not to believe the North Korean propaganda about the invincible soldiers and the elite training. Regular soldiers spent more time collecting firewood than training, and his friend was happy to be in the military as he could eat three meals there. The terrible living conditions caused infections and leg sores, leaving him unable to walk for two weeks. Lee was exposed to the outside world with “the rare chance” to study in China. However, like most North Koreans sent abroad, Lee’s 14-year-old sister was left behind as a hostage. Later, by special order, she got to study in China.
“The first time I went online, I was speechless. The idea of freely sharing information was mind-blowing,” Lee shared, as North Korea has banned the internet. He hoped for economic reforms and dreamt of a better future, but his dreams were crushed. Many friends and countless innocent people disappeared without a trace, executed and/or sent to political prison. His family questioned the “so-called elite life” they had with his father turning down a ministry role and the family’s eventual escape to South Korea in October 2014. Due to an assassination attempt, they moved to the U.S. in 2016.
Lee described his home country as a “dictator’s playground,” and said that the regime blocks information, feeds propaganda, and seals borders to prevent escape, turning the entire nation into a giant slave camp. He further stated that, like he once was, many North Koreans don’t even realize their rights are being crushed. He ended his remarks saying, “Peace isn’t just the absence of war. It’s the end of the suffering of North Koreans living under worse oppression than any battlefield. The Korean dream, a unified Korea, is the only path to heal this divided peninsula and bring true peace.”
Lastly, Gen. I Gede Sumertha, a lecturer at Indonesia Defense University, presented a talk, “Hope for Reunification: Perspective from an Indonesian,” where he discussed the Indonesian perspective on unification and ways Indonesians can support the Korean Dream. He highlighted similarities between the Korean philosophy of Hongik Ingan and the Indonesian mantra Pancasila. Sumertha brought up the division of Timor and Indonesia, which separated families and led to a difficult life for people on the border, similar to Korea’s painful history. Reflecting on his visit to Korea’s Demilitarized Zone, he mentioned the stark contrast between North and South Korea and advocated for Hyunseung Lee’s plea from the international diaspora to come together for the Korean Dream.
A screenshot of some participants during the 2025 U Gen Seminar online.
The speaker panel was followed by an interactive question-and-answer session from the online audience. Answering a question about communicating with the North Koreans, Hyunseung Lee discussed the difficulties and the risks of communication. One of the participants asked about the extent to which the idea of reunification has influenced the younger generation. Namsik Yoo answered that there has been a generational gap, and those who express support for the reunification are usually the older generation. He further stated that the burden of reunification will be on the younger generation, however, but that reunification provides significant economic benefits for all Korean people.
The session concluded with insights from experts and a call to sign the 10 Million Signature Campaign. Participants who engaged in a final quiz won special prizes delivered by GPF Indonesia.
The U-Gen Seminar on “Korean Dream: Voice from the North” closed on a note of reflection and renewed commitment. It underscored the power of shared history, the urgency of human rights, and the strength of global solidarity in the face of division. With poignant testimonies, deep historical ties, and visionary calls to action, the event moved beyond dialogue—it sparked a sense of duty among its 400 participants. As Indonesia continues to play a role in peacebuilding, the seminar served as both a reminder and a rallying cry: the dream of a unified Korea is not just a Korean dream, but a global one. The road ahead may be long, but with collective will and the voices of the next generation rising, hope remains unwavering.
