Washington, DC, May 06, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Universal Peace Federation (UPF) Peace Summit 2023

World Leaders Meet to Discuss Building a Global Culture of Peace

‘Countries that are interconnected don’t go to war’ 

World leaders attending the Peace Summit 2023 in South Korea this week passionately decried the human suffering and conflicts they see in or around their nations, but they also insisted that with greater determination, cooperation, and shared values, they can bring new levels of peace.

It’s time for “continental movements of peace to counter the aggressive movements of war,” said Dr. Nevers Sekwila Mumba, former Zambia vice president and founder of the National Christian Coalition, one of the nearly 700 dignitaries from 70 nations who attended the May 3 Peace Summit 2023 Opening Plenary, hosted by the Universal Peace Federation (UPF). 

The world is “at a turning point,” with people going in the direction of “freedom, peace, and democracy on one hand, and invasion, war, and autocracy on the other,” said Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti. He and many speakers spoke about “hotspots” such as Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine, North Korea’s firing of missiles, and China’s aggressive behavior around Taiwan and the South China Sea.

“How do we get to the objective…to deliver peace on terms that God would love and appreciate in a way that is decent and good,” former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during the Sixth Think Tank 2022 panel discussion. Co-hosted by The Washington Times and Segye Ilbo, the panel featured author and China expert Dr. Michael Pillsbury and focused on the situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific.

Peace in Korea may look elusive, “but we cannot give up on the dream” to end the 70-plus year division, said Dr. Yun Young-ho, Co-Chair of the Peace Summit 2023 Organizing Committee.

The Summit included reports about international peacebuilding in political, academic, media, business and…