Overview of the event site at Eastwood Park, Sydney (Photo: Ministry of Unification)
South Korea’s Ministry of Unification held the 2026 Peace and Unification Cultural Event for Overseas Koreans under the theme “When We Connect: We Harmonize” on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Eastwood Park in Sydney, Australia.
Following July’s event in Vancouver, this gathering took place alongside the 2026 Korea Day Festival Sydney, sharing the value and future vision of peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula with more overseas Koreans.
Telling the story of peace through K-culture programs, the event conveyed that connecting the two Koreas leads to peaceful coexistence. It was designed so participants could experience that “connection” through culture and resonate with the meaning and importance of peace.
At “Hangul Typefaces,” visitors compared and combined the differing words and typefaces of South and North Korea. “Thread of Peace” offered a participatory exhibit linking participants’ peace-related keywords with thread. Meanwhile, “Peace Table” allowed visitors to select ingredient-shaped parts of South and North Korean dishes to assemble keychains, imagining new combined meals for dinner tables once the two Koreas connect.
Other programs included an exhibition on the necessity of peace on the Korean Peninsula, the “DMZ VR Experience,” the “Line Tracer” Eurasian train simulation (inter-Korean railway connection), and the interactive “AI Unification Art Challenge” exhibition. All were designed for visitors to directly feel the peaceful coexistence of different things coming together as the two Koreas connect.
At the “Declaration of Peace, We Harmonize Concert” on the main stage, overseas Korean artist Ally Minju presented “PEACE,” a performance expressing hope for peace on the Korean Peninsula. She wrote the song herself, weaving in “Pureun Haneul,” “Baekdusan,” and “Arirang,” melodies both Koreas know, as a sound of peace. Some audience members responded warmly, saying they were moved by “Pureun Haneul” and “Baekdusan.”
Visitors shared diverse impressions. At “Hangul Typefaces,” one visitor who compared South and North Korea’s words and typefaces said, “I was surprised at how different the South’s and North’s words and typefaces are.”
Another participant at the “AI Unification Art Challenge” exhibition said, “Looking at the AI-generated images of the two Koreas connected, I truly hope this becomes reality,” adding, “Culture holds incredible power, and I look forward to the future that cultural connection will build.”
The Ministry hopes the event provided overseas Koreans and Sydney residents a chance to naturally experience and resonate with the value of peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula. It plans to broaden the international community’s understanding of it through diverse cultural exchange and communication.
