JOY ELLEN YOON — Finding Peace in a Conflicted World

In the midst of rising international conflicts, how can we find peace in a conflicted world? Devastation in Gaza wages on as Israeli troops position themselves in Rafah for a full-scale incursion. Fierce fighting continues as Russia advances into Ukraine, capturing five more villages in the Donetsk region. Fire has destroyed and damaged 72 villages in Sudan as fire is used indiscriminately as a weapon of war.

What is the root issue causing all of this destruction and death? Besides the struggle over territory and power, perhaps the very fundamental issue comes from the inability to accept others.

Miroslav Volf in Exclusion & Embrace explains that cultural conflicts go in cycles of resurgence and remission because they are grounded primarily in greater problems of identity and otherness. History continues to repeat itself as hatred and division climb the ranks in society and produce cycles of violence.

Volf’s book is backdropped against three on-going struggles. At the time he wrote, Rodney King had just been brutalized by white policemen in Los Angeles. Protestors in huge gangs looted entire blocks, laying waste throughout the city. Neo-Nazi skinheads marched through Berlin shouting, “Foreigners out!” in an attempt to purify their city. And in Sarajevo, intense blood-baths ensued between the Croats and the Serbs as Croatia claimed its independence from Yugoslavia.

Unfortunately, today is no different. The specific conflicts may be different and in new locations around the world, but the root issue is the same.

This question of accepting the other is ultimately left for each of us to answer. Are we wanting or even willing to live in a world without people different from ourselves? Do we choose to exclude them? Or are we willing, dare I say even wanting, to embrace the other?

After World War II on October 24, 1945, the United Nations was founded to promote international peace and prevent another catastrophic world war. The United Nations’ charter was ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. and by a majority of other signatories. However, now almost 80 years later, the U.N. is still struggling to maintain international peace and security, give humanitarian assistance to those in need, and uphold international law.

In light of the current Israel-Hamas War, the U.N. Security Council voted on a resolution to recommend Palestine’s membership to the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA). This resolution acknowledged the right for Palestinians to co-exist alongside Israelis. However, membership to the UNGA was vetoed by the United States despite an overwhelming majority support of the resolution with 143 nations voting for Palestine to join, 9 voting against, and 25 abstaining from the vote.

U.N. Vote on Resolution Calling for Palestinian Membership

Both North and South Korea were among those nations who voted in favor of the resolution. ROK Ambassador to the U.N. Joonkook Hwang stated that, “renewed efforts are needed to revitalize a path to the two-State solution.” This statement is intriguing as South Korea has predominately been opposed to a two-State solution on the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea has proposed a dual-governmental system to unify the Korean Peninsula for decades. However, this is no longer the case. On December 31st, Chairman Kim declared that North and South Korea are no longer to be considered the same ethnic, homogenous people, and thus reunification would no longer be pursued. Despite extreme hostile remarks made by the North, in one way this could be a positive step forward. Both North and South Korea need to recognize each other as separate entities and different states before peace and reconciliation can be strived for and achieved.

Discovering Joy: Ten Years in North Korea explains that the conflict on the Korean Peninsula is a complicated matter. “North Korea is traumatized by the Korean War and the United States’ bombing and destruction of the nation. South Korea is equally traumatized by North Korea’s military advancements and assaults” (pg. 167).

As a result, both North and South Korea have yet to fully recognize the other. They are still referring to the other with their own names. “South Korea refers to North Korea as “Buk Han” or “North Han”. Whereas, North Korea refers to South Korea as “Nam Chosun” or “South Chosun” (pg. 167-68). If the two countries cannot even recognize each other’s names, how are they going to cooperate in working towards a sustainable peace treaty? Ironically, as part of Chairman Kim’s 2024’s New Year Speech, North Korea recently used the official Korean name for the South, indicating a window opening for positive progress.

Authors John Huckins and Jer Swigart remark in their book Mending the Divides that we need to “understand diversity not as a problem to solve but a beautiful reality to embrace” (pg. 33). Embracing diversity could lead to peaceful resolutions not just for the Korean Peninsula but also for many other global conflicts currently inflicting our world.

What would it look like if we allowed co-existence of different people groups and instead of persecuting the other celebrated diversity? To find peace in our conflicted world and mend the divide between many peoples and nations, the first step forward is to acknowledge and embrace the other.