A Citizen-Led Unification Culture Platform Beyond Politics and Ideology
Festival to Be Held at Ttukseom Hangang Park on August 15
To mark the 80th anniversary of Liberation, the "2025 Korean Dream Hangang Grand Festival" will be held on August 15 at the Ttukseom Hangang Park area. The Korean Dream Hangang Grand Festival Organizing Committee (Chairman Chung Unchan, Co-Chairs Chung Wootaek and Lee Jongkul) held a press conference at the Korea Press Center on June 13, announcing that a large-scale citizen participation festival will be held under the theme "Beyond the Miracle of the Han River, Toward National Unity and Korean Peninsula Unification."
The 2025 Korean Dream Hangang Grand Festival is designed as a citizen-led unification movement, aiming to realize a "Unified Korea Contributing to World Peace" through culture and participation rather than politics or ideology. Especially in this historic year, which marks both the 80th year of division and the 80th year of liberation, the festival seeks to highlight the true meaning of liberation completed through unification, and to present a vision for national unity and a sustainable future unified nation as a symbolic event.
The Organizing Committee has appointed former Prime Minister Chung Unchan as Chairman, with former National Assembly Vice Speaker Chung Wootaek and former Democratic Party Floor Leader Lee Jongkul as Co-Chairs. It operates as a non-partisan, pan-citizen unification movement platform, with participation from defectors from North Korea, youth, and civil society activists from various backgrounds.
At the press conference, the overall structure and main programs of the festival were unveiled. The 2025 Korean Dream Hangang Grand Festival will be a large-scale event with around 10,000 citizens participating to express their hopes for unification, and will include: ▲ a citizen commemoration ceremony for the 80th anniversary of Liberation ▲ a grand unification choir featuring around 1,000 volunteer citizens ▲ the release of a 10th anniversary commemorative song for the "New Era Unification Song Campaign" ▲ a large-scale drone art show, among other programs.
The highlight of this year's festival will be a massive drone art show on the Han River, featuring more than 1,200 drones. Under the theme "Share and Launch Your Own Unification Drone," the committee has been collecting citizen donations since March to produce the drones, and thousands of citizens have already joined the effort. This participatory performance is intended to send each citizen's wish for unification into the sky.
At the press conference, the seventh new song for the 10th anniversary of the New Era Unification Song Campaign, titled <Korean Dream, Shine the Light of Glory!>, produced by music director Hong Daesung?who worked on films such as "The Handmaiden" and "A Taxi Driver"?was also unveiled for the first time. The New Era Unification Song Campaign has been a cultural unification movement since 2015, featuring hundreds of stars including BTS Jungkook, EXO Baekhyun, Peabo Bryson, and Insooni. The 2015 release "One Dream One Korea" gained significant attention as the farewell song for the 2018 inter-Korean summit and was also included in middle school music textbooks.
This year, marking the 10th anniversary, the new song was completed with performances by the four female vocalists from Voice Korea?Son Seungyeon, Lee Yejun, Ji Sehee, and Yoo Sungeun?and the Seoul Grand Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Seo Hoon. It will be officially presented on stage with citizens at the festival site on August 15.
Additionally, at the press conference, the committee revealed the results of a survey on unification awareness and the new government's unification policy, conducted with 600 civil society members active in the field of unification, in honor of the 80th anniversary of Liberation. According to the survey, 53% of respondents said they believe unification is possible within 10 years, while 21.7% said it is possible within 20 years, indicating an optimistic outlook for unification. Furthermore, 90.9% of all respondents expressed strong agreement on the necessity of unification.
Chairman Chung Unchan stated, "Over the past 80 years, we have written a miraculous history by overcoming the pain of Japanese colonial rule and achieving both industrialization and democratization. Now, it is time to move toward national unity, sustainable co-prosperity, and peaceful unification," adding, "The upcoming grand festival will be a place of hope and harmony, bringing together these aspirations of our era."
Executive Committee Chairman Seo Intek commented, "This Korean Dream Hangang Grand Festival is a grassroots unification movement planned and led by civil society, not by political circles or the government," and added, "Based on the vision of the Korean Dream?realizing a unified Korea contributing to world peace?it will be a festival of peace created together with people around the world."
Co-Chairman Chung Wootaek said in his greeting, "The 80th anniversary of Liberation is an important turning point for preparing for the future of peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula," and added, "The 2025 Korean Dream Hangang Grand Festival will be a historic site presenting the vision of national unity and unification."
Co-Chairman Lee Jongkul stated, "We have overcome countless challenges and crises over the 36 years of Japanese colonial rule and the 80 years since," and added, "Through the 2025 Korean Dream Hangang Grand Festival, I hope we can move beyond the pain of division and together create the peaceful future everyone dreams of."
Meanwhile, the Organizing Committee continues to recruit participants for the citizen choir and drone show through the official Korean Dream Ten Million Campaign website and social media. Detailed information about the 2025 Korean Dream Hangang Grand Festival can be found on the official website.
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