Megawati Calls For End Of War At Jeju Forum

DOC/5th President of the Republic of Indonesia Megawati Soekarnoputri while giving a speech at the "Welcoming Dinner" Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity in South Korea, Wednesday (14/9/2022). ANTARA/HO-Humas PDI-P.

JAKARTA - The 5th President of the Republic of Indonesia Megawati Soekarnoputri called for an end to war and world tensions when she was a keynote speaker at the Jeju Forum in South Korea.

"Through the Jeju Forum, we and I call together, please stop war. War will only cause human suffering. Jeju's message of peace must be echoed," Megawati said in a written statement quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, September 16.

Megawati was a keynote speaker at the 2022 Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity in Jeju, South Korea, Thursday, with former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and the US Governor of Maryland Larry Hogan.

Megawati emphasized that world peace is so urgent in the midst of various geopolitical problems at this time.

She said the Russo-Ukrainian war was not over yet, now new tensions arose in the Taiwan Strait. Likewise the problems in the Middle East region, tensions in the South China Sea to the memory of the consequences of the nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as efforts to bring about peace on the Earth Peninsula.

According to Megawati, major wars have colored the history of world civilization. For example, world wars I and II are examples of modern-day warfare. The two wars are said to have resulted in prolonged misery and suffering.

Megawati assessed that the war had blinded humanity because of the many victims caused by the war. The effects of war are called terrible.

"Imagine the number of victims, in World War I as many as 10 million died and 21 million were injured. World War II with 62.5 million victims from about 50 countries involved. The impact of war of course must be remembered as very terrible. Not to mention the history of war in the past," she emphasized.

Because of that, Megawati asked all the Jeju Forum participants, is the world still blinded by ambition or desire to build the hegemony of a country with no end in sight?

"Then where is the sense of humanity and where is the wisdom of the world leaders so that peace is difficult to realize," added Megawati with a questioning tone.

Megawati said the world felt the impact of war because we all live on one earth. All are interconnected, interdependent, and need each other.

"From there we learned that war in one corner of the world brings very serious problems in other parts of the world. Therefore, once again stop war," said Megawati.