The World Peace Prize was established in 1989 by

Robert L. Leggett Robert Louis Leggett (July 26, 1926 – August 13, 1997) was an American lawyer and politician who served eight terms as a U.S. Representative from California from 1963 to 1979. Early life Born in Richmond, California, Leggett attended the pu ...

, Suzi Leggett, and Dr. Han Min Su., and was registered the same year in Washington D.C. as the "World Peace Corps Mission, World Peace Corp Academy and World Peace Prize Awarding Council, Inc.," a non-profit

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

organization. The organization operates under the principles of inter-religious collaboration, and in the spirit of altruism and

world peace World peace, or peace on Earth, is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Planet Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would ...

History

Robert L. Leggett was a nine-term

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

man. While visiting

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

in 1961, he met Dr. Han Min Su who was an elder clergyman of the Korean Christian churches. He was also an ex-

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

officer of

Pacific Air Forces Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) is a Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force and is also the air component command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). PACAF is headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam (f ...

, and the author of ''Goodbye John''. The two men became friends, and Congressman Leggett continued to be inspired by the faithful Christians in Korea. Inspired by the success of the

United States Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...

initiated by U.S. President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

, the two co-founded the World Peace Corp Mission as a civilian organization emulating the spirit of that program.

Prize

Two awards are given - the Main Prize and the Top Honor Prize. The first Top Honor Prize was awarded to former U.S. President Ronald Reagan for "Winning the star wars against the Russia and the UAS National stability". The prize is not awarded every year; the next prizes were not issued until 1995. The Top Honor Prize has been issued posthumously to

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

in 2003. The prize has the stated intention to promote world peace and inter-religious understanding, and is awarded periodically to individuals considered to have contributed to the causes of world peace by preventing regional conflicts or world war; by settling the disputes of political, diplomatic and economic matters; or by developing new inventions to minimize threats and confusions within mankind. The prize's stated core spirit is to advance peace and justice and inter-religious collaborations.

Controversy

In 1997, the award was presented to

Taufa'ahau Tupou IV George Tupou I (4 December 1797 – 18 February 1893), originally known as Tāufaʻāhau I, was the first king of modern Tonga. He adopted the name Siaosi (originally Jiaoji), the Tongan equivalent of ''George'', after King George III of the U ...

, King of Tonga. The group who presented the prize also said that they were going to provide Tonga with the world's first plant that would turn sea water into natural gas, which did not materialize. The Tongan government later said that they had been scammed, and the '' New York Daily News'' expressing mystification at the "elaborate and, so far as anyone can see, totally pointless hoax". According to R.G. Crocombe, the Korean government made the Peace Corps issue an apology to Tonga. After Taiwanese Vice-President

Annette Lu Annette Lu Hsiu-lien (; born 7 June 1944) is a Taiwanese politician. A feminist active in the tangwai movement, she joined the Democratic Progressive Party in 1990, and was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1992. Subsequently, she served as Ta ...

accepted the award in 2001, there was controversy about the World Peace Prize in the Taiwanese press. A spokesman for Lu denied that the prize was a hoax. Congressman Lester Wolff, the Chief Judge of World Peace Prize Award Council, held a press conference in Taipei where he showed what he said was a letter from the Prime Minister of Tonga apologizing for inaccuracies reported in the Tongan press. Wolff received the Top Honor Prize in 2011.

Laureates

* Ronald Reagan, former President of the United States *

, pacifist and leader of the Indian independence movement *

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until h ...

, former Prime Minister of Israel *

Fidel Valdez Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (, ; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR and Eddie Ramos, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military ...

, former President of the Philippines * Yakubu Gowan, former President of the Republic of Nigeria * Syngman Rhee, former (first) President of South Korea *

Abdurrahman Wahid Abdurrahman Wahid ( ; born Abdurrahman ad-Dakhil; 7 September 1940 – 30 December 2009), though more colloquially known as Gus Dur (), was an Indonesian politician and Islamic religious leader who served as the 4th president of Indonesia, fr ...

, former President of Indonesia *

Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat ( mn, Пунсалмаагийн Очирбат; born 23 January 1942) is a Mongolian political figure and a current member of the Constitutional Court of Mongolia. He served as a president of Mongolia from 1990 to 1997 fir ...

, former President of Mongolia *

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in ...

, former President of Egypt * Kuniwo Nakamura, former President of Palau *

Meles Zenawi Meles Zenawi Asres (Tigrinya and ; , born Legesse Zenawi Asres; 9 May 1955 – 20 August 2012) was an Ethiopian soldier and politician who served as President of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1995 and then Prime Minister of Ethiopia from 1995 until his ...

, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Ethiopia * Ben Gilman, former U.S. Representative * H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, Buddhist religious leader *

Hun Sen Hun Sen (; km, ហ៊ុន សែន, ; born 5 August 1952) is a Cambodian politician and former military commander who has served as the prime minister of Cambodia since 1985. He is the longest-serving head of government of Cambodia, and ...

, Prime Minister of Cambodia

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Official website of the World Peace Prize Awarding Council
Peace awards Christian missionary societies