Developing market economies, establishing peace and fighting poverty are tasks that require social responsibility and a sense of mission on the part of businesses as well as the efforts of governments. The East Asia Foundation is only a small start by a business to make a social contribution, but I hope that one day it will play a significant role in bringing peace and prosperity to the Korean Peninsula and East Asia.
Without trust, the development of market economies and businesses is impossible. As the Chairman and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors Corporation, I have always thought of automobiles as messengers of trust between people, between hearts and between cultures. I am convinced that the construction of our Alabama factory in the United States in 2005 served to strengthen the half-century of trust and cooperation between Korea and the Untied States through the messenger of automobiles. My purpose in serving as the Chairman of the East Asia Foundation is the same: to advance peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and East Asia by promoting trust through human and knowledge networks.
The East Asia Foundation will carry out programs in networking, research, grants, fellowship, conferences, etc. The Council on East Asian Affairs will serve as a human and knowledge network to realize this goal. Furthermore, the journal Global Asia will become a window of dialogue to peer out at the world from the perspective of East Asia and ultimately to embrace it.
The East Asia Foundation will provide an arena where world leaders and scholars can gather to build trust and draw out wisdom together for the benefit of humanity. I believe that the trust and wisdom we create here together will one day become the catalyst for dissolving the suspicions and confrontations that arise due to political and military reasons. Please give us your active support and cooperation.
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