Written by Dr. Hyun Jin P. Moon, “The Korean Dream: Vision for a Unified Korea,” brings into focus one of the most urgent international security and human rights crises of the twenty-first century. His book provides a new framework that has repositioned the discussion on Korea from largely dominated by process, to one of consensus and vision building.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the geopolitical realities of the Cold War era that led to the division of the Korean peninsula have changed dramatically. Unification is increasingly being examined, not as a distant dream for future generations, but as a realistic and a strategic approach to promoting regional stability, economic growth, and denuclearization of the peninsula.

Startling opportunities for peaceful change on the Korean peninsula have recently arisen, with unprecedented summits between North Korea’s Chairman Kim Jong-un, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump, and commitments from both North and South to step back from confrontation and the threat of armed conflict. Prospects of fulfilling the long-held aspiration of Koreans for a unified, free and independent nation are closer now than ever before. But moving beyond the frustrated hopes of the past will require both visionary statesmanship and the united resolution of the Korean people.

Beyond political questions of process or the challenges of integrating two divergent societies is the issue of the character of the nation a unified Korea can aspire to. The “Korean Dream” expresses the enduring aspiration of the Korean people to create a nation united, independent and free, grounded in the ancient ideal of Hongik Ingan, or “living for the greater benefit of humanity,” and honoring God-given human rights.

Over centuries, Hongik Ingan has been embedded in the Korean psyche, forged through the experience of a suffering history and the culture of the extended family, yet has not been sufficiently recognized as an essential foundation for peaceful reunification.

The Korean Dream is not merely a blueprint for reunification of the Korean peninsula but is a vision that reaches out from the nation to the world.