Prof Michael Dukakis, president of the Boston Global Forum, and Professors from Harvard and MIT on the 2017 Reconciliation Day

Perhaps this is why the World Reconciliation Concert and the World Reconciliation Day initiated by VietNamNet in 2010 has been applauded all over the world and has attracted the participation of famous political, cultural and social activists, and leading professors.

The initiative became a cultural event in Boston in 2011 and since 2017, the Global Citizenship Education Program has officially recognized and co-organized the World Reconciliation Concert and the World Reconciliation Day in many large cities in the world.

In Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (South Korea) and Boston (US), the concert was organized with the participation of famous artists namely Tamas Varga of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and Japanese pianist Rika Miyatani, winner of the Chopin Prize.

In Hanoi, the Reconciliation Concert began at the Viet Nam Cheo Theatre on September 1 with cheo (popular opera) Quan Am Thi Kinh (Goddess of Mercy), the classical work of the Vietnamese original opera art imbued with the great human spirit.

In his opening remarks, Professor Carlos Torres, President of the Global Citizenship Education Program, after introducing the values and goals of the Global Citizenship Education Program, gave prominence to human values, reconciliation and love of Vietnamese culture, the values that the Global Citizen Education Program itself also considers as the essence and pursues.

He emphasized that throughout the thousands of years of history, Vietnamese people suffered and lost a great deal caused by foreign invaders. But they, on one hand, were resilient to carry out the fight for sovereignty and the right of existence, and on the other hand, upheld justice with the spirit of tolerance, reconciliation and altruism. They were willing to eliminate hatred to build new good new relationships among nations, between people and people.

The high value of the Vietnamese spirit of reconciliation and tolerance not only lies in the minds of great men but also exists in all people throughout the millennia of history. That value has prominent significance in approaching and addressing the hot issues of today's harsh world of conflict.

The World Reconciliation Day was also organized solemnly in Tokyo and Boston. In Tokyo, the event attracted prestigious scholars and diplomats including Ambassadors Ichiro Fujisaki and Shinji Yanai, the candidate of the 2016 Nobel Prize Prof Hiroshi Maeda, Japanese Ambassador to North Korea Masatoshi Muto, German Vice Ambassador to Japan Dr.Stephan Grabherr, Prof Fumio Ota, Scholar Tsuneo Watanabe and Prof Yasuyo Sakata.

The event which took place on September 9 gathered the world’s leading figures, including Michael Dukakis, the US representative of the US Democratic Party in the US presidency election in 1988, Professor Joseph Nye, the father of the soft power theory from Harvard University, and Professor Nazli Choucri from MIT.

One of the key themes of the 2017 World Reconciliation Day is to find solutions to the burning problem in the Korean Peninsula. Following the presentations by Prof Joseph Nye and Prof Sung-yoon Lee, under the chairmanship of President Michael Dukakis, Professors Nazli Choucri, Ezra Vogel, Thomas Patterson, David Silbersweig, John Savage and others discussed frankly and energetically, offering constructive and deep ideas for the Peace Initiative for Korea.

Professors Thomas Patterson, John Savage, and Michael Dukakis showed their big interests in Vietnamese reconciliation experiences and the position of Vietnam. 

Scholars believe that with these advantages Vietnam could play a more positive mediating role in the Korean issue to find an acceptable solution that comes in line with fundamental interests and national dignity, while ensuring security and peace in the region and throughout the world.

PV