Asian Peace and Unity Corps

Ursula McLackland
December 15, 2013

My Family and My Country: Toward Unity, Peace and Prosperity attracted two hundred and eighty participants to its opening session. UPF-International Chairman Chang Shik Yang; Regional President Chung Sik Yong; Gen. Vishwa Nath Sharma, Indian Army Chief of Staff, 1988-1990; Chairman Kullavanijaya of the think tank that cosponsored the event and Supreme Commander, Royal Thai Armed Forces, Gen. Boonsrang Niumpradit spoke at the launching of the Asian Peace and Unity Corps.

Father saw things from a perspective that no one has had access to for at least two thousand years. He launched initiatives that even our own members sometimes had difficulty fully understanding. One of Father's proposals, which he first announced in 2004 at an Assembly of the Mongolian Peoples' Federation for World Peace, which took place in Korea, was for the Peace Army' and the Peace Police. Father spoke about these protective forces at various times. He said the following on October 5, 2007:

Of course, we have the ambassadors for peace and the Peace Police. Women have to become peace police officers and men have to join the Peace Army. Now is the time if we want to protect the family and protect society. The red corpuscles simply take care of themselves but the white blood cells are there to take care of the wider environment. Society needs to be that kind of protective system. You know, in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve placed too much trust in Lucifer. Lucifer was raised to be a perfect assistant to God, but in ignorance of the fact that he had been entrusted with that, he could not take measures to protect the situation. College Alumni Think Tank of Thailand (NDC-TTT) and the Universal Peace Federation were cohosts and they cooperated as well in the development of the concept that they call the Peace and Unity Corps. The president of UPF -- Thailand, Terdsak Marrome, a retired Thai army general, described this pan-Asian body of security forces as a "network of peace-builders."

Military and law enforcement figures from throughout Asia attended the conference.

The launch of the Asian Peace and Unity Corps occurred at the Grand Fourwings Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 13. Two hundred and eighty people were on hand for the event. Among them were many military and law enforcement figures. It is significant that the participants came from throughout the region. The participants from Vietnam were business and education figures. A media figure and the director of the Planning Division of the government's Ministry of Information came from Laos. A former chief inspector of the police force accompanied the FFWPU national leader from Malaysia. Two deputy inspector generals of the national police force of Nepal came, as did a deputy inspector general of the armed national police force from the same nation. The commanding general of the Second Infantry Division of the Army of the Philippines also attended.

In his opening remarks at the launching, Charan Kullavanijaya, president of the NDC-TTT, and a former general and one-time secretary-general of Thailand's National Security Council, said that human beings tend to have selfish minds. To counter this, he emphasized, we need to be self-governed and therefore "morality is our best armor."

V. N. Sharma, a retired general and chief of the Army Staff of India (1988-1990) stated that the fundamental cause of violence is rooted in selfishness and that conflicts arise from the desire for others' money and resources. The solution is to control our greedy minds.

The ceremonial launching of the Asian Peace and Unity Corps

Sanat Kumar Basnet, a retired general and a former inspector general of the Armed Police Force of Nepal, drew on personal experience. In November 2004, Maoist insurgents ambushed him and one of them shot him. His troops captured the person that shot him, but the then Gen. Basnet forgave his enemy. Although he recovered from his injuries, he concluded that "forgiveness is the true healing."

Among the fourteen guests from the Philippines was Dionisio R. Santiago, who has a background in a great variety of martial occupations. As well as having been the chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (2002-2003), he has also been in charge of his nation's prison system and chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. In his remarks to the audience, he emphasized the importance of thorough training and education.

Two hundred and twenty members of the Thai defense and police forces and civil society participated in this event with great enthusiasm, despite the precarious political situation in Thailand at the time. While the world is suffering from violent conflicts and moral confusion, True Mother said during Hoon Dok Hae on December 1, 2013, "The peace army and peace police are to bring order within this disorganized and messy world and take charge of education. I am not saying here that they should fight with arms but with the word."

Father has indicated that he may was thinking ahead to when he is in spiritual world and Mother is on earth when he proposed the creation of a Peace Army and Peace Police.

At a time when Mother was about to embark on a twelve-city speaking tour of the United States and Canada, he said the following:

The Mother has appeared. Therefore centering on the Mother, people must be born again. Policemen and soldiers should cooperate. That's why I appointed twelve people each for the Peace Kingdom Police and Peace Kingdom Corps. They're to be like the UN peace-keeping forces that were dispatched to Korea during the Korean War. Yet they failed to protect the people of this nation and the land. If Korea had been protected and if I had announced at that time the things I am saying now, it would have taken less than seven years to bring about a world of peace....

Cain and Abel stand before Mother. When Jesus died the women opposed him, and the three women ran away.

If the wives of the three disciples had offered their lives instead, things would not have turned out the way they did. Centering on the mother, Cain and Abel -- the Peace Kingdom Corps and Peace Kingdom Police should unite. Such security measures were not in place in the Garden of Eden. This should be done on a national scale. The peacekeeping forces should also play the role of a global security measure.

Dr. Chang Shik Yang, chairman of UPF International, expressed that the inauguration of the "peace military and peace police" has been a long-cherished wish of Rev. and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon. Members of the Peace and Unity Corps, he said, "would not carry weapons or use 'hard power.' Rather, they would build character in young people. They would teach self-discipline, loyalty and patriotism."

Dr. Chung Sik Yong, regional president of Asia, compared filial piety with patriotism saying they are both, essentially, attributes of true love. "Patriotism is filial piety on a larger scale," he explained, "Each generates the willingness to sacrifice, even your own life, for others."

Throughout 2013, with the heart of a devoted son to True Parents, Dr. Yong kept urging all Asian leaders to quickly implement True Father's vision by establishing the Asian Peace and Unity Corps with the goal of a thousand members throughout Asia. True Parents see their role as "righteous military and police to cooperate with each other and educate humanity in True Love in order to create true individuals, families, nations and world."

After retirement, these capable, well-trained and disciplined officers have the time and heart to serve their nations as patriots. We are making plans to train them as lecturers for the pure love and true family movement through character building and Divine Principle education.

On December 15, at the end of the three-day Divine Principle education program that followed the inauguration, the participants rededicated themselves to their marriages by repenting for past mistakes, forgiving each other and determining to become models of true love for the younger generation. The atmosphere was full of warmth and inspiration. Participants appeared invigorated by the vision of UPF and look forward to working with us. We were deeply touched when True Mother expressed the same hope during her address to our worldwide membership at the Cheongshim Peace World Center the very same morning.