The National Assembly (NA) shared Cambodia’s experiences in achieving comprehensive peace with a delegation from the South Korea-based Universal Peace Federation (UPF), with both calling for the world to continue to maintain and build the foundations for global peace.

A delegation of the UPF – an international and interreligious civil society organisation founded in 2005 by members of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church with a mission to promote religious freedom and world peace – was on a visit led by Ek Nath Dhakal and met with Khuon Sodary, the NA’s Second Vice-President and chair of the Asian Cultural Council, on July 5.

Sodary said peace is invaluable and the first thing necessary for development and democracy in Cambodia and elsewhere, and without it, the promotion of democracy, human rights and prosperity would not succeed.

She added that in Cambodia, peace is considered the main priority in the nation-building process.

“The primary wish of the Cambodian people is to live in peace with prosperity and freedom. With this vision, we need to maintain peace and stability to develop our human resources capacity and continue to strengthen governance reforms and interconnection by integrating Cambodia into the international system,” she said.

Sodary likened the suffering of the Cambodian people during the Khmer Rouge genocidal regime of 47 years ago to the same suffering as during the Korean War, which divided Korea in two even up until the present day and caused many Korean families to be torn apart from each other.

“Therefore, the experience of the Cambodian peace process shows that we all must pay close attention to peace, as we must continue to maintain and build the foundations of peace. Peace is not only a state without war, it is also enhancing people’s livelihoods, preserving their cultural heritage and protecting the environment,” she added.

She recalled that the UPF has a long history of good relations with the NA and the Cambodian government and that the organisation believes in the importance of Cambodia’s participation in building and strengthening regional and global peace.

In February, Prime Minister Hun Sen visited South Korea to co-chair the 2022 World Peace Summit sponsored by the UPF and gave a speech with recommendations and proposals for peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula.

Sodary said Hun Sen’s visit was “incredibly fruitful” and that those proposals were reflected in the statement on reunification made by South Korea later in 2022.

At the 2022 World Peace Summit, Hun Sen proposed a “Two States towards One Nationality, One Peninsula, One People, One Culture” initiative for the negotiators from both sides to work with towards finding peace and achieving national unity on the Korean peninsula.

A statement issued by the NA on July 5 quoted Ek Nath Dhakal as saying that despite issues on the Korean peninsula being complicated by political ideology and differences in leadership, all nations wished to have peace and unity in order to further enhance their development.

Earlier this year, UPF representatives also visited the Kingdom in the role of neutral international observers of Cambodia’s June 5 commune council elections.