More than a hundred years ago, Korean independence activist Ahn Jung-geun began writing Theory of Oriental Peace, a vision of peace in East Asia that remained unfinished. Ahn, who assassinated Ito Hirobumi in Harbin in 1910, wrote the incomplete book from prison in March 1910.
Through Theory of Oriental Peace, Ahn imagined organizing an East Asian Peace Conference among Korea, China, and Japan, establishing a joint bank, and issuing common currency to foster lasting peace in Northeast Asia. His goal was to transform Asia through this visionary plan. Ahn’s dream predated the European Union, which began in 1951, by fifty years, marking him as a hero who envisioned a war-free Asia long before his time.
In early 2021, VANK’s young researchers took up the challenge of completing Ahn Jung-geun’s century-old vision for the 21st century. They aimed to build a digital diplomatic platform for Asia to carry forward his unfinished work.
The newly launched platform, Bridge Asia (http://www.bridgeasia.net), was created to fulfill the motto: “Solve Asia’s problems with the power of Asians!”
The purpose of this Asian digital diplomacy platform is clear: to enable Asians to take the lead in solving their own problems. For too long, global attention to Asian issues has been filtered through American and European media. Bridge Asia seeks to prevent Asia’s issues from being framed solely by Western platforms, while gathering the voices of Asians to address these issues directly.
The platform is designed to allow Koreans to lead in collecting the opinions of Asians, creating a space where Asian problems can be solved by Asians themselves.
Prior to the creation of this platform, from September 2019 to November 2021, VANK used the U.S.-based petition site Change.org, which has over 400 million members, to raise international awareness about historical distortions by Japan and China, as well as anti-Asian bias and discrimination in the West. Through 63 global petitions, VANK mobilized 320,000 participants worldwide.
Building on this success, VANK now aims to create a platform where Koreans can gather Asian public opinion and share it with the world. Bridge Asia allows anyone to join for free in a mobile-friendly environment.
The platform is structured around three main activities:
- Bridging Issues – Collecting global support for solving Asian issues.
- Bringing Cultures – Allowing teachers and students across Asian countries to learn history and culture in a fun, quiz-based format.
- Bridging Languages – Enabling young people from different Asian countries to learn each other’s languages.
Through Bridge Asia, young Asians can learn about cultural and historical differences, respect each other, make friends, and solve regional problems together. The platform envisions a generation of young leaders who can change the world by addressing Asia’s challenges with Asian power.
VANK hopes that, through this effort, Ahn Jung-geun’s unfinished Theory of Oriental Peace will be realized in the 21st century. Korean youth are encouraged to unite the hearts of 4 billion Asians and take the lead in solving global challenges.
The platform plans to launch various global campaigns, aiming to gather one million Asian participants by 2022.
Korea, as the only country to successfully overcome imperialist invasions while achieving both democracy and economic development, is now emerging as a cultural powerhouse through the Korean Wave.
Through the Asian digital diplomacy platform, VANK aims to help 21st-century Korea go beyond cultural leadership, empowering Koreans to take an active role in solving the challenges facing 4 billion Asians.