The International Peace Youth Group?s (IPYG) mandate is to facilitate the creation of sustainable and practical solutions to conflict in the community of international youth. As the youth division of Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) founded by Mr. Man Hee Lee, Korean war veteran and renowned world peace activist, IPYG played an integral role in the recent signing of the peace agreement between the Catholic and Muslim communities of Mindanao island in the Philippines, a region well-known for suffering the longest civil war in modern Asian history. Following the hopeful progress made in Mindanao thanks to HWPL, IPYG and the youth of the Philippines, IPYG has its sights set on even greater goals.
As the world is gearing up for the 2014 World Cup to held in Brazil, IPYG will host the 4th Victory Cup tournament. The tournament will last two weeks. During this period, IPYG headquarters in Seoul, and all its branches in South Korea will host matches and events under the theme of reunification of Korea, world peace, and reconciliation. Various teams made up of expats living in South Korea will compete against one another, including teams comprised of young people who have left North Korea.
IPYG’s branch in the Gangwon province will host the Victory Cup on?Sunday, 6 April, at the Suanbo Sports Complex in North Chungcheon province. Seven teams, consisting of 100 players from Syria, Jordan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Brunei, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan will participate in the matches.
The purpose of the tournament is not only to content for the position of victor, but also for the players, staff, and spectators to demonstrate through their mutual love of sport – in particular, soccer – that unity and peace is possible. Each match and event is a demonstration of the ability of humanity to overcome the boundaries of culture, nationality, race, religion, and language – a living example of how sustainable peace can be made possible in our world.
Besides the soccer match, there will be performances of K-Pop dances, traditional Korean drum performances, and a special performance for peace. All the participants on the day – players and spectators – will be a part of the Victory Dance of Peace, a fun new project of IPYG to be launched internationally soon after the Victory Cup tournament.
Korean traditional game zones, and a World Peace zone. At the World Peace zone, participants and spectators will have the chance to participate in the creation of a puzzle commemorating the life of South Africa?s former president and renowned international peace advocate, Nelson Mandela.
