Ahead of the 35th anniversary of democratization,
South Korea’s fifty million voices confront the future.
The fifty million “voices” of South Korea today are not uniform. They are each utterly distinct, reflecting in their collective diversity the wider, infinitely varied world. At a time of growing appreciation for such diversity, closer attention is being paid to the voices among us that once went unheard, or that we simply ignored for being too unfamiliar. Against this backdrop, and in the face of transformative changes that have brought the future much closer than we could have anticipated, SDF 2021 asks Korea’s political leaders an important question: “Who, and what, do you represent?”
THE AWARENESS TO LEAD A SELF-DETERMINED LIFE
Living in control of our own lives can only be done when we are aware enough to do so. To be aware is to understand the future not as something that happens to us but as a possibility that we can choose and foster into fruition. Those who have this awareness do not shrink from facing uncertainty but rather choose the chance to grow. They speak like conductors, not of music but of life, calling on us to imagine bigger, to connect with each other more deeply, and to take bolder action.
WHAT KIND OF FUTURE DO YOU WISH TO LIVE IN?
In the context of the major social and ecological changes we are currently undergoing, SDF 2021 seeks to find ways for us to live together while still preserving the unique colors of our individual voices. Our journey will take us deep into the heart of what it means to be the kind of leader who can help create harmony between different voices, and how individuals, corporations, government, civil society, and the international community can bring their respective voices together in a meaningful discourse about our future. We now begin a bold exploration to find some answers.