On September 19, about 400 Koreans in Boston joined the USA Hope Concert Tour, led by Bubryul monk andaformer congressman of South Korea, Kim Hong-shin. The Bubryul monk is famously known as a mentor of AhnCheol-su, who recently decided to run for the upcoming election; however, against the expectations of the audience, the monk did not mention anything about AhnCheol-su, aside from the fact that candidateAhn was one of the reasons to start the youth concert.

During the Hope Concert, held at the Harvard University Science Center on September 16, the Bubryul monk and Kim Hong-shin delivered speeches and also held Q&A time. The concert was part of the monk’s plan to visit 12 cities in North America, starting from Seattle, WA, on September 6th through 18th. The Peace Foundation, the JungTo Society, and the Harvard Students’ Association supervised the event that was held in Boston.

Most of the audience were students, and itcame out that the younger generation of Koreans are more interested in AhnCheol-su, the Bubryul monk and Kim Hong-shin than the older generation, who comprised only about 20% of the participants at the concert.

There are specific reasons for the Bubryul monk to start the concert tour. He decided to give lectures all around the United States to encourage students who are studying abroad, to comfort Korean immigrants, and lastly to lead Korean Americans to participate in overseas voting.

According to the monk, this year is a very important year, since it is expected that the summit has been or will be changed among South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and others around the Korean Peninsula. It is time to prepare the basis for a peace settlement and further improvement of the country. Also, he mentioned that“the standard of judgment depends on which country, South Korea or the United States, will allow peace in the Korean Peninsula.”

Kim Hong-shin, who was selected the best congressman when he was a member of the National Assembly, gave a speech about how to enjoy life and to change inferiority to dignity. He said, “It is illegal to not live your life fabulously. There are no correct answersto life. Only clever answers exist.” He also explained that the happiest life is made when putting all effort into your life. Kim, a popular lecturer, captivated the audience’s interest during the concert by giving humorous and witty speech.

Lastly, during the Q&A session that most of the audience hoped for, the Bubryul monk asked reporters for the session to be off the record. The first question was about Korean reunification, asked by Professor Baker of Harvard Korean Studies Research Center. The session lasted for about 2 hours, and the questions were mainly abouthow to enjoy life based on sharing happiness, agony and suffering of youth.

Nevertheless, some Koreans were disappointed that theBubryul monk never mentioned AhnCheol-su’s plan to run for election. Many Koreans expected to hear some information about the candidate Ahn form the monk. The Hope Concert lasted for 5 hours from 4pm to 9pm. After the concert, the Bubryul monk signed autographs. Due to his quite long speech, someaudience members left in the middle of the concert.

ⓒ 보스톤코리아(http://www.bostonkorea.com), 무단전재 및 재배포 금지