This is the keynote address given by Hyun Jin Nim at the International Leaders' Conference for Japanese, Italian, and German Ambassadors for Peace.

Distinguished panel, respected guests from abroad, especially from the axis nations of Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Welcome to Korea and to this International Leadership Conference. I know that you have all made a long journey to this, my homeland and the homeland of my parents, to participate in this most special and illustrious of conferences that deals with the current crisis that our world is engaged in at this very moment.

As you all know, the world is in peril. We stand on the precipice of a century that could lead to peace, or a century that could carry on the horrible legacy that humanity had to endure since the beginning of human history; the legacy of war, conflict, misunderstanding, hatred, you name it.

Those of us gathered in this auditorium were probably born in the 20th century. Many of us developed ourselves, our concepts our perspectives in that century. Yet when we reflect on the 20th century -- that century rooted in the Atlantic sphere, it has been a century of the greatest violence, wretched in its crimes against humanity.

Comparatively, to all the centuries preceding, more people died in the 20th century than in all the centuries combined. The war was engaged in conflict. Up until the 20th century there was no such thing as a world war; yet, we had three world wars in the 20th century.

We had the First World War, the Second World War and then we had the Cold War. It was a century of unprecedented violence, bitterness, and hatred. Yet, tremendous things happened in the 20th century, things that we take for granted today in terms of development in the sciences, as well as efforts to bring the international community together.

As we can see, the founding of the United Nations happened shortly after the Second World War and what a commending effort it was for the world community, trying to build an illustrious international body that could deal with the problems of war and conflict. Yet still, as we look at the world today, we see that we have not resolved these fundamental root problems that lead to war and conflict.

The reason why we are gathered here today, the reason why I am able to stand here and talk to you about a potential formula for peace, is because of the effort of my parents, The Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon. Now the course on which they built this foundation on which we stand today was not an easy one.

In order for me to contextualize and put this into perspective, we have to go back many, many years to this hillside in North Korea, when a young boy at the age of 15 went into those hills, climbed up top of those hills and prayed with the heart of liberating God.

To pray for humanity and how humanity could realize the dream that God had and has been having ever since the beginning of time. There he was anointed by Jesus and was inspired by God to be the owner of God’s dream, the dream of building one family under God. Somehow, it had not been lost or forgotten because isn’t that the true way to peace, first going back to God? Going back to the dream that he had for humanity?

Not our dream for humanity but God’s dream for humanity. God stands in the position of our eternal parent and a parent does not have favorites. The parent looks to the family that the parent is the steward of.

Well we have a Divine Heavenly Parent My father realized that if we can some how bring this message of One Family Under God to this human family and allow the conscience to speak to their hearts, then, maybe the process of restoration, of touching the conscience and the soul of that individual, or that family, or that nation, could bring about the foundation for eternal peace as that dream becomes owned by that individual, by that family, by that nation, and eventually the world.

The work of the Universal Peace Federation is to realize that fundamental dream of building one family under God beyond our religious traditions, beyond our nationality, beyond our ethnic differences or our racial differences; to bring the human family back to the origin of building one family under God.

Today, we gather the illustrious leaders of the axis powered nations -- this is not a gathering to bring back all the crimes and horrors that were perpetuated by these nations during the 20th century. It is not a time of judgment and it is not a time for forceful redemption. It is a time in which we can liberate the history of these nations by bringing to light the mistakes that these nations made.

When we look at World War II, the horrible crimes that came about during this world conflict was rooted in a national identity. Where the nation surpassed the dream of God or religion, where the nation surpassed the dream of humanity or sense of global justice, it was an egocentric vision.

The difference today is, if we learn from the past and we come out of our egocentric perspectives and somehow align ourselves to a higher calling, a higher vision, that goes beyond nationality, that goes beyond race, that goes beyond religion, then, potentially, we have the ability to touch on a truth that can liberate us and that can bring the human family together.

My father believes that the human family, if it was able to realize the dream that God had since the beginning of time in the family of Adam and Eve, if that dream was realized in that original family, that we would not be inheritors of this world in which we live; the world of conflict and war. Yet what is that original family built on? That original family is built on the culture of heart. True love, a culture that is rooted in true love; true love, which is a divine love of living for the sake of others.

There is one illustrious panel member here who talked about a love that can embrace ones enemy. I believe that if we go back to our religious roots and study the teachings of our founders, may it be Jesus or Mohammed or Moses, the fundamental truth of true love, of living for the sake of others, even loving thine enemy is the true path to everlasting love and peace.

It is the true path in which one can find redemption, one can find forgiveness, one can find the strength to bring the human family together. Also, within that vision, the creation of God centered families, I believe that all the panel members here all talked about the importance of families, of building traditional God centered families.

Well, my father has always believed that the way to peace, to learn about true love, can only happen in God centered families. Because is it not in the family that we learn about true love and become the owners of that love?

As we own the love of a parent loving a child, as we own the love of a husband or a wife loving their spouse, as we own the love of a son or a daughter loving his or her parent, as we own the love, the true love of a family member living for the sake of that family, as we own it then take that love that we’ve learned, that we own, to the broader community, to the broader nation and to the world, could we not build a foundation for everlasting peace?

That has been the dream that my father had since the beginning. Although he had faced tremendous persecution he has stayed faithful to that dream because he realized the fundamental root of the problem of war and conflict happened in that original family. And in order to build a world of everlasting peace we first need to restore the family.

I can say that as a member of my family -- all fourteen brothers and sisters, as I look upon each of my siblings, there is not one who is like me. Each one of us is unique and special. Yet because we are members of this family, we are able to go beyond our differences and come together with the knowledge and the identity of being part of the Moon family.

Now what happens if the human family was able to look beyond the differences of being a German, a Japanese, an Italian, an American, a Jew, a Christian, a black, a white, an Asian, look beyond those differences and see each other as members of that God centered human family?

Could we not then build within our hearts the ability to empathize and to love that brother? That sister? That father? That mother? That son or that daughter? Of even our enemy nations? It is a quest to build a culture of heart rooted in true love that allows us, on an individual level and eventually on the level of the family to look at humanity as our extended family, as our brothers and sisters, as our fathers and mothers, our sons and our daughters, under the eternal God.

We have to get out of our boxes. Too long have we relied on economic and political solutions as a pathway to peace, while UPF is offering an alternative, in which we go back to our spiritual center and our root because we are essentially human beings, we are essentially spiritual beings. That is where we find our moral compass and our sense of right and wrong, and that is where God is able to speak to us, in our conscience, in our hearts.

We believe that there has to be a great spiritual awakening that allows us to recognize that dream of God’s as not being just God’s dream but the dream of every single human being -- 6.5 billion people around the world. If we can do that, then we can plant the seed of peace that can bring eternal peace in our lifetime and set the legacy of peace in this 21st century.

We want you, as Ambassadors for Peace and members of this conference to open your hearts and minds to this dream, to this vision of building one family under God. Because this is not just the dream of one man, or one woman, or one family; it should be the dream of humanity. For it is the path way to peace that allows us to open up our hearts to our neighbors, to our brothers and sisters, to our parents, to our children, in building a community, a world, of everlasting peace.

I know, that from my background, a diverse background -- I do wear many hats, so many times, the discussions that come up when we talk about world peace touches on the peripheral issues and not the root issue.

I’ve been in that situation over and over again and I can’t tell you how refreshing it is, centered upon these ILC conferences, that we are able to bring people who are looking out of the box and looking to new pathways to peace and are inheriting this vision of building one family under God because they recognize that there must be another alternative to peace and that alternative is rooted in more root causes; causes that stem from violence and conflict of that first original family. In order to deal with this first cause we need to restore the family and the original relationships within the family.

So with that said, I commend you for your participation and I hope that you will enjoy this conference series. I can say on behalf of myself and the Moon family that we are grateful that you have come to participant in these conferences. I hope that you will have a truly fulfilling time here in Korea.