In April 2025, Alliance for Korea United USA (AKU-USA) expanded its Korean Dream Campus Campaign to more U.S. universities and international institutions, reaching over 180 participants, igniting dialogue on the urgent need for a unified Korea founded on human rights, peace, and democracy. The forum featured retired U.S. Army strategist Col. David Maxwell and North Korean escapee and human rights advocate Hyun Seung Lee, who brought firsthand insight and strategic clarity to students from Princeton, UC Berkeley, San Francisco State, UCLA, and Brazil’s Federal University of Goiás.

Namsik Yoo, a representative from AKU-USA, speaking at UC Berkeley.

From the Ivy League to Latin America, participants engaged deeply with the campaign’s central thesis: that unification, not denuclearization alone, is the key to resolving the Korean Peninsula’s long-standing crises. Col. Maxwell’s “Two Plus Three” strategy reframed the issue by elevating human rights and empowerment, while Lee’s testimony gave voice to the lived reality under North Korean authoritarianism.

Building on the legacy of Korea’s March 1st Movement, Hyun Seung Lee urged students to view unification not only as a political necessity but as a moral and historical calling. The historic March 1st Movement of 1919 saw millions of Koreans risk their lives in peaceful protest against colonial oppression.

The Korean Dream campus tour visits Princeton.

“We must reclaim the spirit of 1919,” Lee said. “Back then, ordinary Koreans—young people, women, and religious leaders—rose up with a dream of national independence rooted in shared values. Today, we are called to finish what they began: to unite our country not through force, but through freedom, truth, and justice.” His message echoed the Korean Dream’s core vision, that reunification must be led by a people-driven movement anchored in dignity, democracy, and a common identity that transcends ideology.

Students ask questions during the Korean Dream campus campaign.

Students responded with purpose, pledging support for the 10 Million Signature Korean Dream Campaign, a global call to action rooted in the principle of Hongik Ingan (“To broadly benefit humanity”).

Today’s Korean Dream movement, promoted by AKU-USA and the Global Peace Foundation, offers a roadmap for peaceful reunification. It calls on Koreans everywhere and friends of Korea globally to fulfill an unfinished dream: a free, unified Korea that serves humanity. The One Dream One Korea vision is not merely aspirational. It is a roadmap for peaceful transformation, driven by youth, informed by history, and anchored in the ideals of freedom and dignity for all Koreans.

Learn more about the Global Peace Foundation’s work to advance a movement for a free, prosperous, and unified Korea.