1. The Foreign Ministry hosted a “Peace Concert with the Diplomatic Choir” at Imjingak Peace Park in Paju, Gyeonggi-do (province), north of Seoul, on June 5.

2. The event brought together some 350 people, including Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and other high-level officials of the Foreign Ministry; Ambassador from the Holy See and acting Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in the Republic of Korea Osvaldo Padilla and other resident or acting Ambassadors from 70-odd countries and their spouses; delegates from international organizations and their spouses; Representative Hwang Jin-ha of Paju who also serves as Chairman of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee; the Vice Mayor of Paju; and Korean honorary consuls for foreign countries and their spouses.

3. In his welcoming remarks, Foreign Minister Yun, calling music a universal language with power to go beyond the limits of time infinitely, commented that it has functioned as a tool for peace among all age and religious groups as well as a tool for understanding and solidarity that helps surmount cultural barriers. He went on to note that such spirit of music is in tune with trustpolitik, one of the foreign policy priorities of the ROK government, which calls for building trust, consolidating peace and promoting regional cooperation. In that vein, he attached special significance to the concert, voicing hope that the ROK people’s aspirations for peace established through reconciliation will resonate in the hearts of the people in North Korea as well as in every other corner of the world.

◦ In his congratulatory remarks, Ambassador Osvaldo Padilla, acting Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in the ROK, called the peace concert a prayer and an expression of hope for peace. The Ambassador, describing singing for peace as a way of praying for sustainable and genuine peace and expressing their devotion to it, voiced hope that the peace concert would help establish peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the rest of the world.

4. At the concert, the Diplomatic Choir, joined by a number of other choruses, sang to the tune of such Korean songs as "A Longing for Mount Geumgang" and "Arirang of Peace" played jointly by several orchestras, expressing in unison heart-felt aspirations for peace on the Korean Peninsula and beyond.

5. In particular, the concert was joined by the Sejong Dream Tree Orchestra composed of youngsters from low-income and multi-cultural families and the Seraphim Chorus comprised of primary, middle and high school students, who sang for peace beyond borders and generations, adding to the significance of the peace concert.


* unofficial translation