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Humanitarian Action
Welcoming America inspired my public service Op-ed article in USA Today
22 August 2012
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s Secretary-General of the United Nations, I have more stamps in my passport than I can count, but there is none that I treasure as much as the first one. “United States of America,” it said. The date: August 1962. I was a wideeyed eighteen-year-old from a rural village in war-shattered Korea. The American Red Cross had invited me to join 112 teenagers from forty-two countries to travel across the United States visiting Red Cross chapters, meet each other and learn the value of service. It was an incredible privilege. As soon as I stepped off the plane, I was overwhelmed by the warmth of the people. The wealth and plenty was a cultural shock to a very poor boy from devastated Korea. But what moved me most was the spirit of helping others I witnessed from small-town America to the capital. We met President John F. Kennedy in the Rose Garden. He noted that we came from countries where the governments may not get along, but people do. He said he placed great hopes in us. It was at that moment that I resolved to embark on a life of public service. That journey, which began fifty years ago, continues to this day at the United Nations. Half a century later, the importance of reaching out across boundaries to help others is more critical than ever. In this digital age, where people can connect with a click, everyone has the potential to make a difference. Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to meet Beyoncé Knowles. She is well-known as a singer, actress and all-around superstar, but I met a global humanitarian lending her spotlight to the work of the United Nations. Her song, “I Was Here,” is dedicated to World Humanitarian Day, an occasion to pay tribute to those who have given their lives for the cause and to support those who carry out vital life-saving work around the world. This year, we launched a campaign for people to take action. Across generations and continents, they replied with initiatives to help those in need. Thanks to the immense power of social media, these acts of service were shared globally, inspiring countless others to carry out their own good deeds. It was a clear reminder of the lesson I first learned fifty years ago and still live by today: engaging in the