Liferoad 2022-06-25 Munich

1. Progress

ㅡStory of the pilgrimage from 2017 to the present

Q) What is LIFEROAD (New Silk Road for Life & No-Nukes)?

A) Under the slogans of 1) cherishing life and 2) nuclear power phase-out, this is a campaign-type event that aims to meet major religious people by pilgrimage to the global village on foot. The pilgrimage leader, Professor Wonyoung Lee of Suwon University, left Seoul in May 2017, when he was dismissed, and walked 5,000 kilometers in 10 countries to meet the His Holiness Dalai Lama. After that, then crossed the desert country by train to see the Orthodox World Patriarch Bartholomew I in Istanbul, After that, it has arrived in Munich, Germany as of February 2022, via Eastern European countries from Athens, Greece. So far, I have walked over 7,000 kilometers in 23 countries. This summer I will walk 1,200 km across the Alps to reach the Vatican.

Q) What’s the purpose?

A) As we can see in the Chernobyl and Fukushima cases, the removal of nuclear power plants are useless in just one country. For example, even if Korea continues in the direction of nuclear phase-out, if only accident occurss in 100 of China’s nuclear power plants, neighboring countries and the entire global community will be in danger. I wanted to launch a big campaign because I thought there was a need for a big transformation at the human level.

Q) Please explain the course and distance you have walked so far.

A) Departing on Buddha’s Birthday on May 7, 2017, after walking 550 km from Seoul to Busan, about 430 km from Hiroshima to Nagasaki, Japan, and 350 km from Taipei to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, after walking south from Hanoi, Vietnam, through Hong Kong, the border I walked about 1,200km to Vientiane, Laos, and Bangkok, Thailand, and then walked about 2,000km from Calcutta to Dharamsala, passing through Malaysia and passing through all eight sacred places of Buddhism in India. While walking, it was decided to return to work in early 2018, and since then, I have been walking using vacations ever since.

So, after walking 5,000 km, I met the His Holiness Dalai Lama in February 2019, and in the summer of that year, Middle Eastern countries traveled by train and met His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew in Istanbul in August. After that, for two months in early 2020, I started walking from Athens, Greece, and walked about 1,000 km to North Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Serbia, and then stopped for two years due to COVID-19. After that, for two months in early 2022 this year, I walked about 1,000km to Munich, Germany, through Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Austria.

ㅡStory of “The 2018 Seoul Draft of The Charter on Earth-Life”

Q) Is there any specific plan for the transition to safety?

A) Although international regulations and management are inevitable not only for nuclear weapons but also for nuclear power plants, existing international organizations have limitations in risk management. To overcome the limitations of the United Nations, the world needs a new system of power to assist the United Nations. Just as there are fathers and mothers in the home, the global community needs such a rescue. The people’s energy to realize the hope of the global community is now in the religious world. They have a much stronger bond than individual countries. They also saw the need to play a certain role in the safety of the global community. We need another U.N. to act as a mother.

To convey this meaning, we made The Seoul Draft of The World Charter on Life (2017) through the Life Forum before departure, and after arriving in Bangkok, we went through an international seminar, and then went through the final seminar in Seoul and confirmed The 2018 Seoul Draft of The Charter on Earth-Life as follows.

Related Articles
http://www.mediatoday.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=136401

Charter of Korean Literature
https://cafe.daum.net/earthlifesilkroad/hmob/141

Charter of English
https://cafe.daum.net/earthlifesilkroad/hmob/143

Q) Who walked with you? And how did the people of the country react while walking?

A) Many people walked together in Korea and Japan. The 100-member committee who sponsored the pilgrimage also walked intermittently. Wherever people from each country went, they often shouted “I Love Korea!” and cheered.

Q) Were there any difficulties while walking?

A) I had a hard time walking in the hot country during the hot weather.

Q) Which country was impressive while walking?

A) There are cultural differences in each country, but there are many things to learn from almost every country. I felt a lot of intimacy not only in advanced countries, but also in countries with excellent natural scenery and pure children.

Q) How did you finance?

A) 100 Committee was created and sponsored. Many intellectuals including priests and monks, religious figures and academics are participating.
https://liferoad.org/committee/
https://cafe.daum.net/earthlifesilkroad/i6jx/6

The general public can also donate.
The official sponsor account is
Shinhan Bank 110-310-889298 Lee Won-young

ㅡMeeting His Holiness Dalai Lama / Meeting His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Orthodox Church

Q) What did the His Holiness Dalai Lama say?

A) I have uploaded a scroll of <The 2018 Seoul Draft of The Charter on Earth-Life> prepared in Korea and posted the message. He said,

“After the Fukushima accident, I went to the local area to comfort the victims. When I visited Japan, I met people who were working to phase out nuclear power. We are well aware of the dangers of nuclear power. Do what we do to get us out of the dangers of nuclear power. Let Korea and Japan work together.”

Q) What did Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I say?

A) I had an audience in Constantinople (Istanbul) in August 2019. He has long been at the forefront of ecology and the environment. The Ecumenical Patriarch said, “I visited Korea for the fourth time in the fall of 2018. I prayed for inter-Korean peace at Panmunjom. I am always praying. Thank you for your pilgrim’s love for the environment. I am glad to meet you. I hope it continues.”

ㅡIntroduction of European press reports

Austrian regional TV interview
https://www.noen.at/neulengbach/seit-2017-unterwegs-won-young-lee-im-sommer-will-er-beim-papst-sein-neulengbach-won-young-lee-print-312338861

Austrian Radio News
https://cafe.daum.net/earthlifesilkroad/jGAv/133

German local newspaper
https://www.traunsteiner-tagblatt.de/region/landkreis-traunstein_artikel,-fuer-eine-welt-ohne-atomkraft-um-den-globus-_arid,683596.html

German Bavaria regional TV
https://cafe.daum.net/earthlifesilkroad/jGAv/134

2. Future plans

1) From Munich to the Vatican

Q) Can you explain the journey across the Alps to the Vatican?

A) All are 1,200 kilometers. On June 25th, we depart from Marienplatz in Munich and walk for about ten days to arrive in Switzerland and cross the Alps. It is an approximately 2,200m high pass. It is similar to the course that Martin Luther walked when he went to Rome 500 years ago. I walk 20~25km a day every day, and I plan to walk 15~19km a day on the uphill course. However, since it is summer, I am thinking of walking to avoid midday.

2) After arrival

Q) Are you planning to visit Pope Francis after arriving at the Vatican? Do you have any preparations for that time?

A) If the pilgrimage goes smoothly and will arrive in Rome around August 23rd, on the 25th, we will go to St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican on foot along with the 100 members of LIFEROAD who came to Rome as shown in the picture below.

It would be a great honor to have an audience with the Pope at this time. However, the Pope are very busy, and I think it will not be easy as there are many variables depending on health condition. As shown in the picture file, in early May, I sent the pilgrimage materials to the Holy See in a letter. I’m just praying.

If I do get an audience, I would like to present <The 2018 Seoul Draft of The Charter on Earth-Life> that I gave to the Dalai Lama. This is the English file attached to the front.

3) Future plans after returning home

Q) What will you do after the pilgrimage?

A) There are many things that I have been doing for about 7 years including the preparation period. Many things happened during the pilgrimage. The daily journal written while walking is included on the Korean and English website.

Daum Cafe 생명탈핵실크로드(New Silk Road for Life & No-Nukes)
https://cafe.daum.net/earthlifesilkroad/

English website
http://liferoad.org

Based on this record, we plan to create a white paper for the LIFEROAD pilgrimage.

And my retirement age is next February. In the meantime, KSNP(Korea Society for Nuclear Phaseout) and PRCDN(Public Reporting Center for the Dangers of Nuclear Power Plants) have been established and operated. In the future, we would like to help these organizations make more substantial contributions to society. And after the pilgrimage and after retirement, the original purpose of the pilgrimage was to organize an international organization related to nuclear denuclearization.

A pilgrimage costs a lot of money. We hope that many people will support this pilgrimage so that it can reap the beauty of the species.

Official Support Account: New Silk Road for Life & No-Nukes
Shinhan Bank 110-310-889298 LEE WONYOUNG

Categories: Event, Newsletter