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Kyung Hee University System hosts festival of peace envisioning ‘planetary society’

Published: 18 Sep. 2025, 16:52 Updated: 19 Sep. 2025, 16:11

Kyung Hee University System hosts panels for Peace BAR Festival 2024 in celebration of the 43rd United Nations International Day of Peace [KYUNG HEE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM]

Kyung Hee University System will host the 44th Peace BAR Festival, commemorating the United Nations International Day of Peace on Friday and Saturday.

Under the theme of “The Moment of Chaos, The Quest for Planetary Politics,” this year’s conference will delve into today’s challenges, such as the climate crisis, the threat of nuclear war and uncertainties in science and technology, while exploring new pathways for the future. The concept of “planetary consciousness” refers to a system of thought rooted in humanity’s collective awareness that transcends borders and cultures.

The Kyung Hee University System has held the festival to mark the International Day of Peace and the International Year of Peace, as proposed by the late Dr. Cho Young-sik, the system’s founder, who proposed that the UN introduce the observations at the 6th International Association of University Presidents in Costa Rica in 1981.

The association conveyed this proposal to the UN, and on Nov. 30 of that year, the 36th UN General Assembly unanimously proclaimed the Day and Year of World Peace. The UN designated the third Tuesday of September each year as the International Day of Peace, and proclaimed 1986 the International Year of Peace.

On Friday, the Commemoration for the Day of International Peace, the Special Dialogue, the Roundtable Conference and the Havel Dialogue will be held at the school’s Peace Hall. The ceremony serves as an occasion to seek new paths to peace and coexistence beyond an era of chaos. The program will cover the International Day of Peace Report on the Process of Enactment, opening remarks by Choue In-won, chairman of the Kyung Hee Educational Foundation, and a keynote Speech by Prof. Naomi Oreskes of Harvard University.

Prof. Oreskes’s address, titled “Global Society to Planetary Society: Finding New Ways for the Future Generation,” will outline new pathways for a planetary transformation to overcome today’s challenges through.

The special dialogue will be held under the theme “The Moment of Chaos: The Future of Planetary Politics.” The panel will feature Choue In-won, chair of the Kyung Hee University Foundation, Prof. Oreskes and Prof. John Ikenberry of Princeton University, who is a Global Eminence Scholar at Kyung Hee University.

Building upon the theme of “The Age of Urgency,” which they discussed together at the Peace BAR Festival 2020 dialogue, the three panelists will revisit, five years later, the structural reality of urgency that has become normalized in human society. They will seek pathways toward future politics and civic consciousness capable of overcoming the chaos of civilization and explore the initial steps for fundamentally transforming the paradigm of civilization.

In the afternoon, the Havel Dialogue and a Roundtable Conference will follow. The Havel Dialogue serves as a symbol of Czech democratization and provides an opportunity to revisit the thought and spirit of Vaclav Havel, the first president of the Czech Republic, who opposed totalitarianism through ethical practices, under the theme of “Revisiting the Havel Spirit for Civic Values and Engagement.”

The theme of the roundtable is “Breakthrough or Breakdown: The Future of Planetary Consciousness and Politics.” The panel includes Sandrine Dixson-Declève, the former co-president of the Club of Rome; Alistair Fernie, chief executive of The Elders and the recipient of the first Miwon Peace Prize; Gyorgy Szabo, former director of the Laszlo Institute; Tomas Sedlacek, director of the Havel Library; Atsufumi Yokoi, vice president of Okayama University and Unesco chairholder in research and education for sustainable development; Maher Nasser, UN assistant secretary general; Zhiming Chen, vice president of Fudan University; and Mirian Vilela, executive director of Earth Charter International.

At this critical crossroads of civilizational transition, the roundtable raises the question of where humanity must begin anew and marks the first step in envisioning a new global solidarity.

On Saturday, Sept. 20, a colloquium will be held at the Peace Hall under the theme “Climate Justice, Intergenerational Justice: The Path to Planetary Citizenship.” Participants will include Jae-Young Seo, director of the Seongcheol Thought Research Institute; Woo-Kyun Lee, chair of the Korea Network for Solutions to Sustainable Development; Myung-Hyun Lee, representative of the science bookstore Galda; Choong-Sik Shin, deputy director of the Institute for Reconstructing Human Society at Kyung Hee University; and two student representatives. Together, they will explore the vision of a “Planetary Society,” a concept distinguished from globalization, which is grounded in the recognition that humanity shares one planet and must develop new notions of planetary responsibility and planetary citizenship.

Through the colloquium, experts in religion, science, civil society, and sustainable development, along with the younger generation, will engage in substantive discussions toward envisioning a new citizenship, a new community, and a new society.

From 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, a civic society and student commemoration ceremony will be held under the theme of “Actions for World Peace: Redefining Peace in the Era of Global Warming and Redesigning our Future.” The event provides an opportunity to explore paths for Korea’s sustainable development and to promote global civic consciousness through intergenerational dialogue.

From 2:20 p.m. to 5:40 p.m. on Saturday, a Youth Peace Forum will take place with a focus on “Climate Justice and Intergenerational Justice: Is the State Fulfilling Its Obligations in Climate Action?”

The forum is organized by UNAI ASPIRE Kyung Hee, UNAI ASPIRE Korea, the Korean Organizing Committee for the UN International Day of Peace, the United Nations Student Association and the Korea Unesco Student Association. Soo-yeon Park, senior specialist of the environmental education team at the Ministry of Environment, will deliver a lecture and engage in discussion with the participants.

The Kyung Hee Educational Foundation has designated Monday to Saturday “World Peace Week,” holding a variety of events both on and off campus. Kyung Hee Girls’ Middle School, Kyung Hee Middle School, Kyung Hee Girls’ High School and Kyung Hee High School, which are affiliated with the Kyung Hee Educational Foundation, are hosting the 2nd Digital Short-form Contest for Future Generations. The contest reflects Kyung Hee’s journey of peace movements and sheds light on the significance of the establishment of the Miwon Peace Prize from the perspective of future generations.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Global Citizenship Booth will operate at Cheongun-gwan on Kyung Hee University’s Seoul Campus under “The Path to Becoming a Planetary Citizen.” A variety of organizations, including the Korea Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Good Neighbors Seoul Northern Branch, Medipeace, the Organization for Future Hope, Wonders International, Kyung Hee University Medical Center and Kyung Hee Christian Dental Volunteer Corps, the Humanitas College Student Committee and UNAI ASPIRE Kyung Hee, will run booths to engage with the public. Kyung Hee University’s Humanitas College will also host the “11th Humanitas Writing Day” essay contest in celebration of the International Day of Peace.

Programs will also be held to reflect on the significance of the International Day of Peace and the legacy of Havel, including Peace BAR Cinema Week featuring a documentary screening on the former Czech president, and a photo exhibition on him as well as the Kyung Hee Peace Movement. Kyung Hee Cyber University will also hold the “Digital Data Clean Up Campaign.”

BY JANG HAYOON [[email protected]]

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