Kyung Hee University Successfully Hosts the 42nd World Peace Day 'Peace BAR Festival'

On the 21st, Kyung Hee Academy hosted the 42nd United Nations World Peace Day Peace BAR Festival (PBF). The event's theme was "Peace or Collapse: Planetary Society at an Inflection Point," featuring ▲a World Peace Day commemorative ceremony ▲a keynote lecture ▲a commemorative panel discussion ▲and a roundtable meeting. Held in the lobby of Kyung Hee University's Hall of Peace, the PBF gathered futurists, international political scientists, and practitioners including Dr. Jo In-won, Chairman of Kyung Hee Academy; Professor Nick Bostrom of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Oxford, UK; Professor John Ikenberry, Princeton University Chair and Kyung Hee University Eminent Scholar; and Liberato Bautista, Chair of the United Nations NGO Committee (CoNGO). They shared insights on addressing existential threats facing the planetary society such as climate change, artificial intelligence, and nuclear issues.

Keynote speaker Professor Nick Bostrom discussed "The Path to an AI Utopia and Its Challenges," addressing the responsibilities humanity faces alongside scientific and technological advancements. He stated, "During the Cold War, the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union did not escalate into nuclear war because it was understood that using nuclear weapons would lead to humanity's self-destruction. Now, existential threats to humanity are not limited to nuclear weapons. They could be climate change or superintelligent AI surpassing human intelligence. The clear fact is that current existential threats are self-inflicted by humanity," urging humanity to awaken.

Kyung Hee University Foundation held the "42nd World Peace Day Commemoration, Peace BAR Festival." At the event themed "Peace or Collapse, The Global Society at a Turning Point," world-renowned scholars and practitioners gathered to diagnose the crises facing humanity and seek solutions. The photo shows a roundtable meeting.
[Image source: Kyung Hee University]

◆Planetary Society at an Inflection Point: Seeking New Paradigms of Consciousness and Politics to Transform Civilization= The commemorative panel discussion, themed "Peace or Collapse: Consciousness and Politics at an Inflection Point," featured Dr. Jo In-won, Professor Nick Bostrom, and Professor John Ikenberry as panelists, with Professor Kim Sang-jun of Kyung Hee University's Graduate School of Public Affairs serving as moderator. They discussed what consciousness and politics should be to transcend the existing civilizational paradigm threatening humanity's existence and to create a new framework for historical civilization.

Chairman Jo In-won stated, "'Evolution or Extinction' has expanded beyond the realm of civilizational studies to the international community. UN Secretary-General Ant?nio Guterres said, 'The choice given to humanity is collective action or collective suicide,' and the Vatican warns that referring to a 'Doomsday' for the planet is no longer a logical leap." He pointed to catastrophic climate and environmental changes on the planet, the possibility of nuclear war, rapid spread of destructive scientific technologies, and widespread unstable fractures in real-world politics as the main background of the crisis.

Professor John Ikenberry emphasized, "At the Security Council meeting held on the 20th (local time) at the UN Headquarters in New York, only U.S. President Joe Biden attended among the leaders of the five permanent members: the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and France. Russia even initiated a war. Complex crises such as geopolitical tensions, climate crisis, and hegemonic competition due to advanced technological development are piling up, yet multilateral organizations including the UN are not functioning properly. Reflecting on the history of the UN's founding, countries around the world must rebuild cooperation and solidarity."

There was also a call to broaden the horizon of consciousness to respond to complex crises. Chairman Jo In-won said, "Facing the imminent possibility of global catastrophe, we must open a future of wholeness where we can grow as 'planetary citizens' and 'cosmic beings.' It is time to seek universal values of humanity across time, coexistence and mutual prosperity of all beings on the planet, and new paths to peace. The proposition 'The whole is one. Everything is connected,' which is central to the holistic worldview (Jeonil-sagwan), will be the first step to overcoming the errors of atomized thinking, boundaries and reductionism, exclusion, and hegemony produced by modern society and civilization."

In the same vein, Professor Nick Bostrom questioned, "Humanity does not see the big picture. We hope our efforts are valuable and build something wonderful, but do we really know what we are creating?" He stressed, "We must respond from a macro perspective." He proposed building international governance that checks and cooperates with each other to prevent humanity from heading toward collapse.

◆The World After SDGs: Emphasizing the Role of Citizens in Paradigm Shift= The roundtable meeting titled "The Path to Planetary Society: Toward Post-SDGs" reviewed the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and shared various practical measures for humanity's sustainability. Participants emphasized active participation of civil society and global citizenship education using the SDGs as a platform. Presenters included Liberato Bautista, Chair of CoNGO; Yatsufumi Yokoi, Vice President of Okayama University, Japan; and Yao Yao, Director of the Soft Power Center at Communication University of China. Discussants included Jo Dae-sik, Secretary-General of the Korea NGO Council for Overseas Development Cooperation; Lee Woo-kyun, Co-chair of the Korea Sustainable Development Solutions Network; and Choi Dong-joo, President of the Korean Association for UN Studies. Professor Song Se-ryun of Kyung Hee University Law School moderated. They discussed the role of NGOs, community participation, and education in the SDGs framework established by the UN to prevent human extinction. They conducted a mid-term review of SDGs progress and stressed the need for more radical action, civil society participation, and global citizenship education.

In particular, they focused on the role of SDGs as a platform for transitioning to a peace paradigm and ensuring humanity's sustainability, and the role of NGOs as civil society actors. Chair Liberato Bautista said, "Peace should be humanity's greatest aspiration, and peace must be built in the human heart. Until now, we have set peace as software and war as hardware, investing only in hardware. Now, peace must be established as hardware, and support for peace should not be spared. We must acknowledge that war is a failure of human imagination," proposing the NGO community's role as a driving force for this shift in awareness and the practical measure of 'glocal citizenship education.'

Director Yao Yao mentioned communication through culture and mutually beneficial relationships to resolve national issues, arguing, "Leaders of each country must form alliances for global think tanks." Vice President Yatsufumi Yokoi introduced SDGs-related activities at Okayama University, presenting the slogan "Cooperation, not Competition." He suggested, "Universities aim for internationalization by attracting students of various nationalities, but real dialogue requires universities to cross their own boundaries. This should lead to community and global engagement."

Secretary-General Jo Dae-sik expressed regret over insufficient SDGs implementation but offered a "cautiously optimistic outlook." He said, "There is still a source of hope. SDGs serve as a guiding lighthouse. Although individual countries appear more fragmented than the global community, civil society must lead policymakers' actions. The new generation is the greatest source of hope." President Choi Dong-joo viewed the issue from a development cooperation perspective. He said, "Governance must be designed based on local community needs. International solutions should not overwhelm local solutions. Ways for everyone to participate must be established, requiring continuous citizen participation based on autonomy and openness." Co-chair Lee Woo-kyun spoke about food security and peace, emphasizing the need for stable energy supply, food security, and climate change response to achieve ultimate peace. He highlighted Korea's comprehensive and compressed growth experience as necessary for developing countries and proposed, "We will share Korea's development experience for peace."

◆Various Events Commemorating 'World Peace Day' on Both Campuses Reflect on the Meaning of Peace= Kyung Hee Academy designated June 16 to 23 as "World Peace Week," holding various events on both the Seoul and Global campuses of Kyung Hee University. On the 16th, Room B117 of Cheongwoon Hall hosted the "42nd UN World Peace Day Commemorative Event," organized by the UN World Peace Day Korea Organizing Committee, UN Korea Student Association, Korean UNESCO Student Association, and UN Academic Impact Aspire. On the 21st and 22nd, a "Planetary Citizen Booth" was set up in front of Cheongwoon Hall, encouraging participants to pledge to become active citizens through global citizenship activities. On the same day, the central road of the Seoul campus held the "Kyung Hee Peace Movement Photo Exhibition," highlighting the significance of PBF through photos documenting Kyung Hee's peace movement journey.

On the 21st, Multimedia Hall Room 112 at the Global Campus hosted the "Eco Cinema Talk Concert." Under the theme "Questioning the Coexistence of Nature, Humans, and Civilization," it reflected on the destructive consequences modern civilization centered on development and growth has inflicted on nature and discussed ways for humans and civilization to coexist with nature. On the 22nd, the Global Campus held the "World Peace Card News Contest." On the 23rd, Room B117 of Cheongwoon Hall at the Seoul Campus hosted the "UNAI ASPIRE Kyung Hee Peace Forum," where university students gathered to share practical alternatives for peace under the theme "Resolving Crises through Cooperation: Climate Crisis and Deglobalization." In November, the 9th Humanitas Writing Day contest commemorating World Peace Day is scheduled.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.