Korea – Ascended Master Answers

Population decline in Korea

Question: South Korea is currently experiencing one of the world’s most severe declines in population. There are probably many reasons for this, but the main one is that the younger generation is reluctant to get married and have children. Is there a spiritual reason for the population decline in South Korea other than the surface reasons? What is the desirable direction for population growth? If this population decline in South Korea is abnormal, what are some practical ways to improve the situation?

Answer from the Ascended Master Mother Mary through Kim Michaels. This answer was given during the 2023 Korean Conference.

It depends on what you mean with normal because you will see a similar tendency in most of the democratic nations that have reached a higher state of affluence for the general population. You will see many of the less developed countries where people want to have a number of children so that there are enough children to support them when they get older. And when that dynamic is no longer there in a more affluent country with better social safety nets and pensions, then people will not want to have as many children. This goes for virtually all of the modern democracies. From that perspective it could be said to be normal.

It is, of course, not constructive because there needs to be at least a certain population growth. If there is not a high enough birth rate in the native population, then the only option to keep the economic growth going is immigration. And you will see that some of the nations in Europe and United States have gone through quite, or have experienced quite, a large influx of people from less developed nations. And there could come a point where if the birth rate in South Korea does not go up, you will be faced with the same necessity of importing workers.

In terms of a spiritual reason, well, again, there is no reason in the spiritual realm, but there is a psychological spiritual reason. And that is that in South Korea, as in certain other nations, there is such a complex culture around marriage and family and raising children that it is so overwhelming to raise children that many young people look at this and look at how it was for their parents. And they can see what kind of demands will be put on them if they decide to have children that they simply do not want to take part in this. They do not want to get married. They do not want to have children. And therefore, they simply choose not to. You will see that in previous generations, people surrendered to this pressure, the social pressure, to start a family and have children. But the younger generation now are not so willing to surrender to this, which is why many of them decide not to have children. This will not change until the culture around marriage and child raising changes and becomes more relaxed and less stressful, less ritualized, less, we might say, stereotyped, especially so that women gain a greater freedom because, as the culture is now, the biggest burden is upon the woman in a relationship.

You can look to some of the other modern democracies, and you can see how the culture has changed there over the past couple of generations so that there is much less pressure on young people, which is why some of the modern nations do not have as steep of a population decline or even have a slight increase in population.

These are simply changes that need to be made. Obviously, they are not going to be made the easy way because the culture is so ingrained. But there will come a point where society will be forced to do something about this and debate this and re-educate the people so that you can take the pressure away from young people and actually make it enjoyable and fulfilling to have children. Right now, it is, for many people, just an overwhelming pressure to even contemplate having children. And that is why they choose not to because they know that they are not strong enough to resist the pressure once they have children. But they know they are strong enough to resist the pressure to have children. There will, of course, come the next generation which will be better at resisting the pressure. Therefore, they might provide an increase in the birth rate. But still, it is necessary to do something about the culture and open this up so that people can change their attitude to this.

South Korea–China relations

Question: Dear Ascended Master Confucius, do you think it is possible for Korea and China to have a mutually beneficial and very constructive relationship with each other, and could you please explain the direction and the ways to move towards such a relationship?

Answer from the Ascended Master Saint Germain through Kim Michaels. This answer was given during the 2023 Korean Conference.

It is, of course, possible but not very likely with the current Chinese government because the Chinese government, as I said, believes that democracy is fundamentally weak. They even have some belief that democracy will eventually be replaced by dictatorships which is, of course, contrary to the reality and my vision for the golden age. Nevertheless, as long as they have this belief, it is difficult to have a ‘mutually beneficial relationship’ because a mutually beneficial relationship functions best among equals.

If one nation sees itself as superior due to its size or due to its political system, then it is difficult to have a mutually beneficial relationship. This has always been difficult for China because China has always considered itself the center of the universe, thinking that all other nations are barbarians and that they need to adapt to the way of the Chinese. That is why it would actually be easier for South Korea to establish a mutually beneficial relationship with Japan than with China. I know this will be shocking because of these old animosities, but truly it is time to leave the past behind and forge a new relationship with Japan. This is certainly part of my vision for the golden age.

China’s potential invasion of Taiwan and its impact on South Korea

Question: Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine there is speculation that China will invade Taiwan. Against this backdrop the United States has expressed its willingness to work with South Korea to resolve the Taiwan issue. South Korea’s previous leadership chose a balanced approach to both the United States and China focusing on improving relations with North Korea. However, after the war in Ukraine, South Korea’s current leadership changed its diplomatic course to strengthen the U.S.-South Korea alliance and improve relations between South Korea and Japan. Views on this change are divided among political parties and the public. Why would China want to invade Taiwan and what is the probability of a Chinese invasion? If China invades Taiwan, what is the likelihood of U.S. intervention? What are the options for South Korea where U.S. troops are stationed? How will China try to influence North Korea in this case and how will South Korea’s choices in this situation affect the future reunification of North and South Korea? I’d like to know what inner cross South Korean students need to let go of in order to have a neutral perspective in this international situation.

Answer from the Ascended Master Saint Germain through Kim Michaels. This answer was given during the 2023 Korean Conference.

Well, as I have said in the previous answer, there is no guarantee, of course, that China will take this step because there are actually many, many people in the Chinese government who do not agree with Xi Jinping and his stance on Taiwan. There is deep division in China about taking a step that would be very dramatic given China’s history. And there are those who, even though they think that Taiwan should be a part of China, are saying that going to war would be far too dangerous and really an un-Chinese step to take. It is by no means a given that Xi Jinping and those who support his policy will actually be able to take the nation to this very drastic step.

Naturally if they were to attempt an invasion, I am not saying they would invade, I am saying they would attempt to invade, then the current United States administration would feel obligated to somehow come to the aid of Taiwan, even militarily. This could change with a different administration such as a Republican administration that might take a more isolationist U.S. policy.

I am not saying that this is what I would like to see happen, I am just stating the possibilities. I agree that it is best for South Korea to remain as neutral as possible. And it is most likely that the United States would not require South Korea to be pulled into any hostilities and that they would be very careful using bases in South Korea, partly because this would, of course, make South Korea vulnerable to an attack by the North who might take advantage of a Chinese invasion to do something against South Korea. The Chinese might even encourage this in order to distract U.S. attention from helping Taiwan. It is naturally best to remain neutral and to seek diplomatic means. But you have to be realistic and realize that if the leaders in China who want to take aggressive action against Taiwan are successful in pulling the nation into this, then there is no diplomatic solution, as there was no diplomatic solution that could have prevented Putin from invading Ukraine.

There is a limit to what democracy can do and what diplomacy can do when it comes from a democratic nation towards a dictatorial nation because the dictatorships by definition see democracy as a weaker form of government than their own government. You will see this as being universally true. Hitler saw the democratic nations as being weaker than himself. The Soviet Union saw the democratic nations as being weaker. Kim Jong-un sees South Korea as being a weaker form of government than his own. China sees democracy as weaker. It is universal around the globe. There is a limit to what diplomacy can achieve because the dictators do not think they need diplomacy because they think they have strength and aggression on their side.

But of course, there can be things achieved by diplomacy, but only if you come from a position of strength. That is why I do encourage South Korea to strengthen its ties with Japan—to put aside, as we have said before, the old animosities and realize that South Korea and Japan have common interests in many areas, both towards North Korea but certainly towards China and also Russia. And of course, this also entails strengthening ties with the United States because currently it would be difficult for South Korea and Japan to defend themselves from Chinese aggression. Whereas with an alliance with the United States, well the situation is different. You have to walk a very delicate balance of not directly threatening China, but on the other hand demonstrating strength so that China does not feel like they can get away with anything they want. I know this is a delicate balance, but it is a possible balance to walk.

Korea’s reaction to China’s potential invasion of Taiwan

Question: If China were to invade Taiwan, what stance would South Korea have to take? If China were to invade Taiwan, is it likely that South Korea would be directly or indirectly involved in the war? Do the people of China and Taiwan need to learn lessons from the war as the people of Ukraine and Russia do, or will there be a slow shift in consciousness? In what way should South Korea take a neutral stance in the case of a Chinese threat of war or an actual invasion of Taiwan? How should South Korea ascended- master students view this situation and how can they connect it to their growth in awareness?

Answer from the Ascended Master Saint Germain through Kim Michaels. This answer was given during the 2023 Korean Conference.

Well, it is, of course, possible that as Russia had to invade Ukraine, China will have to take some aggressive measures, well some more aggressive measures towards Taiwan than they have done so far. It is possible. It is by no means a given and it can, of course, be replaced by a gradual raising of the collective consciousness in China. In terms of South Korea, well it depends on the exact scenario of how this plays out. It depends on whether China would focus on Taiwan or would attempt to attack other nations at the same time in order to neutralize what they perceive as a threat.

There may be a situation where South Korea could not remain neutral because it would have to defend itself, but otherwise it would be the best that South Korea attempted to be as neutral as possible. Naturally the United States cannot remain neutral, at least not with the current president, and I, of course, do not want the United States to be neutral if such a situation should occur. And therefore, it is possible that South Korea could be somewhat contributing to helping the United States in their efforts to assist Taiwan, but it would not be necessary in most scenarios that South Korea would be directly involved in fighting the Chinese.

In terms of ascended-master students, well if you feel a strong prompting from within, you can, of course, give invocations and decrees on this. But you, of course, have the situation with a divided Korea that is your primary priority. And so naturally you can raise your consciousness, but in South Korea you will primarily have an impact on raising the consciousness of Korea including North Korea, and it is up to the people of China to see what they will do with the collective consciousness there.

Naturally I would much prefer that there were no open hostilities. And there is still a high probability that this can be avoided, but it cannot be ruled out that China would have to make that move and experience the consequences which I can assure you would be very severe for China in order to move beyond this dictatorial stage that China is in right now.

The question is again: What does it take for these nations that are still in this autocratic dictatorial mindset to make the transition to become functioning democracies? And this is not only a question for China and Russia, but of course, for many other nations around the world. It is clear that the world is moving towards a state where the dictatorships and the autocracies will disappear and will be replaced by democratic forms of government. The question is: How long will it take and what bumps in the road will there have to be for people to awaken? But I will give you a timeline that within two to three decades dictatorships will have faded away to the point where they are not a major threat or will not have a major impact on the world.

The story of an avatar: Yu Gwan-sun and the March 1st Movement

Question: I have a question about Yu Gwan-sun, a Korean girl and an independence protester. The March 1st Movement of 1919 was a movement that had a profound impact on South Korea’s independence as Koreans under Japanese occupation began a non-violent rally in protest of Japanese rule. Raised in a Christian-influenced family, Yu Gwan-sun was arrested by Japanese detectives for leading the March 1st Movement and is said to have been tortured to death while in prison and martyred at the tender age of seventeen. When I read the story of Yu Gwan-sun, I am reminded of Joan of Arc of France and I wonder if she is an avatar. What kind of spiritual being was Yu Gwan-sun? What did she go through in prison that led to her death? Did she have access to an ascended master at that time? What impact did she and the March 1st Movement have on Korea and where and who did she reincarnate into?

Answer from the Ascended Master Jesus Christ through Kim Michaels. This answer was given during the 2023 Korean Conference.

Yu Gwan-sun was an avatar (“Wow” in the background). Well, you do not need to say: “Wow”, since most of you are avatars as well. But certainly, before that embodiment she had reached a fairly high level of consciousness above the 96th level and, therefore, she was very connected to, especially, Mother Mary and myself. That is why she grew up in a Christian family.

She has not reincarnated in Korea. She has reincarnated because even though she could have made her ascension, she decided to be part of bringing in Saint Germain’s Golden Age. She has reincarnated but not in Korea and it is not important for you to know where. What is important for you is to realize that she was not above the level of consciousness of some of you nor above the level of consciousness that most of you can attain in this lifetime.

It does not mean that you have to have the same dramatic life as she did. It does not mean that you have to be imprisoned or tortured. But you can certainly have an impact on your nation. You need to always be very careful when you look at people who had a big impact in a historical setting. You realize that there are many events in the past where there was a certain dramatic configuration of circumstances and therefore there was one person who became a front figure, a symbol for bringing change. But as we move into the modern age, especially in democratic nations, there is not the same need for drama. Hopefully, again, South Korea will never be occupied by a foreign power. So there will not be the same need for this, but there will still, of course, be a need for people who become exponents for change. It just will not be the same dramatic circumstances, but it can still have a profound impact on a nation.

You should avoid going into this idolatry with the outer mind that this person was so special that I cannot achieve anything similar. You should also avoid going into this temptation in the outer mind that you desire to have the same kind of dramatic impact on the world as these people that you saw. You should instead strive to follow the teachings, overcome the separate selves, become more and more aware of what is your Divine plan, what is your contribution that you can make, and not even evaluate it based on: Is it more important or less important? Is it more dramatic or less dramatic? You all have an important contribution to make. Most of you will not be recognized by history, but this does not mean that your contribution is any less important, for all contributions are important in bringing the world and specific nations forward. While it can be good to have examples, you have to realize that you are who you are and you have your unique contribution to make, and it does not really matter whether this is recognized by history or not.

We are aware, of course, that ascended master students have always had this desire and it is natural. It is understandable that you have a desire to make an important contribution to Saint Germain’s Golden Age and to changing the world towards making it a natural planet.
It is very understandable, but as I said, you will not all have these dramatic circumstances and you will not all be remembered by history.

I can tell you that it was not a guarantee that I would be remembered by history. My mission could have easily faded away and gradually been forgotten. In fact, one might say that it is one of the ironies of history that the main reason that my mission did not fade away and become forgotten by history was that the fallen beings decided to make it the state religion of the Roman Empire. Of course, thereby they thought they could destroy my mission and prevent my example from being taken up by people. But had it not been for that, it could very well be that the Christian movement would gradually have faded or would have just been seen as one other among many Gnostic movements of the time. You can see that even what the fallen beings do can backfire and have unintended consequences. This is not to say that I approve of what they did with the Catholic Church, but I am just pointing out to you that it is possible to be in embodiment, to fulfill your mission, but you are not remembered by history.

And, as ascended master students, it is better to have that attitude that your primary role here on this planet is not really to bring specific outer changes or to be remembered by history. Your primary role is to transcend your own consciousness so you can ascend, but then also thereby pull up on the collective. Even this messenger had in the beginning some hope that the books and the websites would reach more people and therefore have a greater impact. But he has also had to look at these selves and overcome these selves where he can say: “Well come what may. The work has been done, it has been put into the physical octave where people can find it and whatever happens, happens.” And you can be at peace with it. You can be at peace with realizing that you have fulfilled your Divine plan, you have done the best you could. The reaction from society or from people is up to their free will and this is something that you need not be concerned with. When you know you have done what you specified in your Divine plan, you can feel the fulfillment of having done it regardless of the outer result.

The Seoul Itaewon disaster

Question: The question is about the Seoul Itaewon disaster caused by the Halloween crush in South Korea. A total of 158 people—132 Koreans and 26 foreigners —were crushed to death, and more than 100 were injured as a crowd gathered in a narrow alleyway in Itaewon, Seoul on that night. Most of the victims were young people from teens to thirties, and many of them visited there for the Halloween festival.

The government has not sincerely apologized to the victims’ families and people from this disaster, even though the police and the Seoul city have not taken appropriate measures to prevent disasters in advance. It seems to focus on drug control and the security of the new president rather than on people’s safety.

The disaster was a big shock to the Korean people like the ferry Sewol disaster in which 304 people died in 2014. What do you think of the disaster in Seoul on Halloween?

Answer from the Ascended Master Mother Mary through Kim Michaels. This answer was given during the 2023 New Year’s webinar – Being a spiritual person in a chaotic world.

Well, we have commented on the ferry disaster, and what we said there also applies to this. What you see, even in the question and in people’s reaction, is that the Korean people have not quite stepped up as they need to do in a democratic nation. You need to realize here that in a democratic nation the government must give people certain freedoms. Surely the government should take precautions but you cannot control everything. People have to have the freedom to assemble in crowds, and the police cannot be everywhere to control every aspect of this. I am not thereby saying that they could not potentially have foreseen the disaster and taken other measures. But there is a limit to what you can expect the authorities to do. What you need to recognize here is that the Korean people need to step up and take more responsibility for their own situation instead of expecting the government to take care of them and blaming the government when something goes wrong.

What really happened here was a typical example of what can happen when people are overpowered by a collective group mind. And this happens especially for people who do not have a strong enough sense of individuality. If you are a spiritual student you would want to avoid crowds like this under any circumstance because you know that a crowd is inherently unpredictable and things can happen that you cannot control and you cannot get away. You have seen many other examples around the world of how a crowd suddenly panics. You have seen many other examples of people who were trampled to death because panic went through a crowd and they suddenly started moving trying to get away, and in the process, trampling down other people.

This especially happens in countries that do not have a high enough level of individuality. And, therefore, there are still many people in the country who are influenced by the mass mind, and therefore the crowd now reacts as one. And the minds of most people in the crowd are taken over by this panic, and they all move in the same direction regardless of the consequences.

And the fact that you take such a situation and say, “Oh, this was not the people’s fault, it was the authorities that should have prevented this,” also demonstrates this lack of individuality and sense of individual responsibility. Again, the authorities could have done something. But there is a limit to what a democratic government can do before the people start blaming the government for restricting their freedoms.

South Korea after Presidential Election in 2022

Question: Dear Saint Germain, this question is for Korea.There was Presidential Election in March 2022 and local election in June 2022. Through these two elections, the power of leadership in Korea was changed to the conservative party, People Power Party from the progressive party, the Democratic Party of Korea. The power of National assembly still remains to the Democratic Party of Korea. Yoon Suk-yeol elected president of S. Korea. Yoon Suk-yeol, a former chief prosecutor and political neophyte, was elected the next leader of South Korea on March 9, 2022 in one of the closest presidential elections in the country’s history. After a tight race, Yoon took the win by a fine margin. Yoon and his party gained 48.56% the vote, 0.73% higher than the ruling party candidate Lee Jae-myeong, who received 47.83%. Even though we put some efforts for not power elite, seems that the collective consciousness of Korea wanted to change from the existing leadership. Many issues for the candidates were outcome during the election. My observation is that old generation (over 60 and 70 years) voted to the conservative party overwhelmingly (about 65 to 70%) from their limited news. However, we much worry about for new president leadership like somewhat dictatorship through the power of prosecutors and the relationship with North Korea. North Korea is trying to go their own way with launching missiles continuously and nuclear test plan.

How do you see the current situation in Korea? And what can Korean students do?

Answer from the ascended master Saint Germain through Kim Michaels. This answer was given during the 2022 Webinar – Democracy and Christhood.

You will see that in many democratic nations, there has for some time been this tendency for the formation of two political parties that often are in opposition to each other. You see that there is often this tendency where one political party is elected and comes to power and then in the next election they lose power and the other political party takes over. There is this going back and forth, and this is actually because these nations are at a point where they are ready to step up to a higher level, but they have not done it yet. They are still stuck in the old approach to politics that creates these polarizations into two sides or two blocs, even if there are more political parties, there can still be two blocs. What you actually see is that the nation has not made a decisive shift yet and that is why they go back and forth.

This is not something that as ascended master students you need to worry too much about. It is not an epic difference, whether it is this party or that party that is elected in most countries. What you need to do as students in South Korea is simply continue to do the good work that you have been doing, giving the invocations and the decrees, having your activities, having your meetings, and you will slowly raise the collective consciousness until there can be a shift. You will realize, of course, that we have given you certain goals in Korea, possibly the reunification of Korea as well, but this of course is not something that necessarily will happen in the short term. It could, potentially, but it is more likely to take some time.

You need to take more of a long view, and not be overly concerned about whether it is this party or that party that is ruling or this person or that person who is president. Even if you have a relatively inexperienced person as president, it is still an opportunity for the people to see, does this actually work? What kind of leadership do we want?

You need to recognize that you have a large group of students in Korea, you have built a very good momentum and it is having an impact, it may not have the outer impact that you would like to see in the short term, but it is having an impact, it is shifting the collective consciousness and you simply need to be happy with the efforts you are giving and continue to do so without being too concerned about whether this or that outer result manifests.

The same, of course, applies to students in other nations. You need to take a long view and realize that there is some distance between where the world is at now and where it will be in the golden age. There will be somewhat of a process, there will also of necessity be certain shifts that are more dramatic, but you are looking at the long-term perspective and you are working, in an ideal situation, to have a gradual evolution that gradually brings a nation forward without too many dramatic revolutionary events. Sometimes it is necessary with more of a revolutionary leap, but this is not something you are attached to, whether it happens or not.

Korea – Japan relations

Question: What kind of efforts can Korea and Japan make to have a desirable relationship with each other?

Answer from the Ascended Master Saint Germain through Kim Michaels. This answer was given during the 2021 Webinar – Being the Open Door for Planet Earth.

Well, if you look neutrally at the two nations, you need to ask yourself: ”Which of the two nations is the most likely to be able and willing to change the equation of the relationship?” And quite frankly, when I look at the two nations, it is clear to me that Japan is far more stuck in a certain mindset than South Korea is. It is clear that the nation that has the greatest potential to change the equation is Korea.

In order to do this, Korea as a nation and Koreans in general need to completely and unconditionally forgive the Japanese nation and the Japanese people for anything that happened in the past. You can see that the whole issue of comfort women and the other events during the Second World War is still a very big issue and even some older issues are still there. But I am simply telling you that if the relationship is to change, Korea needs to forgive Japan. Also, if Korea will forgive Japan, it will set Korea free from this attachment to the past and it will help the progress of Korea, even if nothing changes in Japan.

A relationship is, of course, always a two-sided process. It is possible that Korea could completely forgive Japan and Japan still would not be willing to change and therefore the relationship would not change. But there would still be positive effects of this forgiveness in Korea itself and it will also improve the relationship between Korea and other nations. It will especially enable Korea to have a tighter relationship with some of the more modern democracies who have to a large degree forgiven those who have wronged them in the past.

Urban–rural divide

Question: In Korea, the gap between urban and rural areas, between metropolitan areas and regions is widening and a polarization of wealth has become more serious. As a result, people are reluctant to raise their children and the birth rate is rapidly decreasing. What are some ways to solve Korea’s low birth rate? And at this point, what are some ways to reduce the polarization of wealth in Korea. And for this what kind of calls should the Korean students make?

Answer from the Ascended Master Mother Mary through Kim Michaels. This answer was given during the 2021 Webinar – Being the Open Door for Planet Earth.

Well, in the short term, you can of course use the invocations we have already given. You can also have some people make up specific invocations for Korea focusing on various issues. You do not need to always have the messenger do invocations, because you are the ones who know the situation in Korea better. You have the matrix for how invocations are made, and you can certainly make them yourselves.

It is clear that the situations you are describing are not unique to Korea, you can see the same in most of the modern nations, the birth rate is falling partly because of better living conditions. People do not need to have many children in order to secure their retirement. And, of course, you see the polarization between urban and rural populations, in almost all nations.

The solution to this is, again, to look at what other nations have done. There is not any nation that has truly solved this issue. And there really is not an easy solution to it, because it is clear that as nations become more industrialized, and less dependent on agricultural production, most of the jobs will be created in industry, which is primarily in urban areas.

It is a trend that you cannot realistically expect to reverse. You simply have to try and make the best of it. Make sure that as a nation, you see the value of having your own agricultural production, so you are not dependent on food imports from abroad, and therefore give the people who work in agriculture and fishing and so forth, better working conditions and better pay, so that they will want to stay in those areas.

But at the same time, you need to recognize that modern nations will become increasingly centralized around the cities for the time being. There will come a point of course, where the trend will start to reverse because you will have better communication technologies so people do not have to come to a centralized workplace, but can work from home, as has already started happening during the corona pandemic.

But you will also have better transportation technology within a few decades, which will make it much more feasible to have a decentralized production. And there will of course, then be advantages of this because you avoid the traffic jams that today tie up a lot of time and resources. It is not necessarily that countries will forever continue to become more and more centralized. But for the time being, this is the realistic outcome.

2022 South Korean presidential election

Question: The Korean presidential election is six months away. In my opinion, Korea’s political system is dominated by two huge parties. And those big parties are already subject to a power elite, and work for the elite. They are seen as forces trying to deceive the people decoying them as if they are working for the people. As a breakthrough in this situation, is there any possibility that a third political force will be formed instead of them. Regarding the presidential election next year, which has an important meaning for the future of Korea, how can the people choose a leader who serves the people, who is not linked to the dark forces or the power elite?

Answer from the Ascended Master Saint Germain through Kim Michaels. This answer was given during the 2021 Webinar – Being the Open Door for Planet Earth.

Well, the simple reality in most countries is that you have an established elite who have influence on the political process and the political apparatus, including the existing political parties. It is, in all countries, desirable to have more political diversity in terms of more than two political parties, so that there can be a different voice.

When you have two parties, as you see in many nations, they tend to polarize into two opposing extremes, whether it is liberal or conservative, or whatever you want to call it. It is desirable in all countries that there is more of an openness, and more of a support for different parties that can provide a different voice, often if they are more centrist and seek a greater balance between the ideological extremes.

However, in many cases, you need to accept that this is not realistic in the time span before the election. It is certainly not realistic that a new party would emerge, and that that party would become dominant in Korean politics. You need to simply accept that for the time being, there will be a certain situation, and then you make the calls on this as an ascended master student, or if you feel so inclined, you participate in the political process in some way or another. You need to be very careful that you do not fall into the trap, which we see some of our students go into, of going into these very polarized political positions.

You cannot realistically say that both of the big parties in Korea are completely taken over by the power elite and only work for the power elite and are not working for the interests of the people. There are well meaning and aware people in all aspects of the political process, both in Korea and other nations. And you need to make the calls that these people will be empowered and emboldened to speak out with a more balanced voice. You can also make the calls as we have given invocations for the exposure of the business conglomerates in Korea and their influence. And this can gradually have an effect where more and more people become aware of this and become aware of the need for a new kind of political party. Ultimately, a new kind of political party cannot emerge until there is a critical mass of people who are ready for it. It is again, a matter of raising the collective consciousness gradually.

Many times we see our students take our teachings, and reason that now they see what is wrong, and here is the ideal of what should happen. And in many cases, this ideal that these students create in their minds, is very, very far above the current situation. And therefore, perhaps it could never be realized, or perhaps it will take a very long time for it to be realized. We encourage you instead, to do what you can do in the current situation: make the calls you can make, take part in the process at whatever level it is at.

You realize that there are many students, throughout the different dispensations we have given, who have taken our teachings about dark forces and fallen beings and then reason that the entire political system is so corrupt, that there is no point in going into it and trying to do anything to improve it. But this is exactly what the fallen beings want you to do. Because if you withdraw from the process, then there certainly is not anything that can be done, whereas you cannot know what could have been done, if you took part in the process. Where you can say that is that if nobody takes part in the process, then only the power elite is left to rule. And you can certainly see many examples where people have had an influence on the political process, have managed to make government change their course. And that is why when you have a democracy, you need to accept that you have a democracy and use whatever means are available even if they are not ideal to make improvements.

The universal basic income in Korea

Question: The first question is about universal basic income in Korea. The next presidential election in Korea will be in March 2022. Major parties are in the process of the election of their representative candidates for the next president in Korea. The presidential service period in Korea is five years with just one time or one period. One of the hardest issues with pros and cons during the process is universal basic income for Korea. Mr Lee Jae-myung, Governor, pledges to distribute universal basic income to all citizens if he is elected. He is one of the major candidates for the next president. He wants to practice this universal basic income with a small amount during the five presidential years. US 250 dollars yearly proposed in 2003 and up to 1000 dollars per person in 2026, up to 2000 yearly for young persons and 6000 yearly per person for a long-term plan for the future. Can you comment on this universal basic income plan for Korea?

Answer from the Ascended Master Saint Germain through Kim Michaels. This answer was given during the 2021 Webinar – Moving Toward Golden Age Relationships.

Well, as we have said before, it is part of the steps towards the golden age that some of the modern democracies begin to experiment with this universal basic income. There are many reasons for this. First of all, as we have said, that it frees up some people to pursue their spiritual goals or pursue personal healing. But also, it will actually improve the economy, contrary to what some people believe.

Naturally, each nation needs to do this based on their culture, their tradition, the mindset in the nation and also based on the economic situation, what can they afford to do. This is something that the plan that is put forth right now is not likely to be the final plan for Korea. There needs to be input from different sides and there needs to be a more careful consideration. But the plan that is there now is a good first step. It is a good foundation for debate and then gradually you can arrive at a more practical realistic proposal.

We encourage, of course, the debates and we are happy to say that there are indeed quite a number of people in Korea who have at least some openness to the golden age ideas that I am seeking to bring forth. This does not mean that the way these things are implemented in Korea should be implemented in the same way in other nations, because as I said, it is individual for each nation. But as long as there are people who are open to these ideas then I will, of course, work with them and how it can be implemented in their specific situation.

Naturally, you need to have some practical, very down-to-earth considerations about what does it actually take to live a very modest lifestyle in our country? How much money does a person need to have per year in order to survive at a minimum income level? And is it economically feasible with our current economy to pay that amount out to all people?

You also, of course, need to take into consideration the impact that this will have on the economy. How will it grow the economy that all people have a certain income and therefore, at least in some cases, will have more money to spend than they have right now where they have no income or are dependent on family members for their sustenance.

You can see here that if you look at this historically, you will see that there are many of the more developed nations in the world who today provide a pension, a public pension for older people, for people over a certain age. This, as we talked about, is so they are no longer dependent on their children for their survival and so that the children do not have that burden of taking care of their parents.

If you go back historically, you will see that there was a time where some nation started debating this universal pension and there were naysayers who immediately started saying: “Oh, we cannot afford this, there is no way the economy can sustain this.” But you can see that the economy has been able to sustain it. It has actually grown from it because when people have more money to spend, businesses make more money. People who work pay more taxes, businesses pay more taxes and the entire economy grows – both the private economy and the public economy grows. The same in some nations with public health care, with unemployment benefits, with sick leave and even social benefits or social welfare programs. It simply grows the economy and when the economy grows, there is money to provide these services.

The situation in Korea 2,5 year after the presidential election

Question: This is a question for Korea. Is Korea on track for moving to the Golden Age after impeachment of the president Park in March 2017, the new president Moon was selected from the people. After two and a half years later with the new president, there has been good progress for some areas, but it has not progressed, or it has not been proceeding well for some areas, especially the legal system. Lately, Korea is under a big struggle between two groups of people for reforming the Public Prosecutions office and installation of the Senior Corruption Investigation unit. Many Koreans believe that the public prosecution office has too much power having both the investigation and prosecution of crimes. Lately, about two months, millions of people in the streets have been demonstrated peacefully like three years ago in Korea. In the meantime, similar numbers of opposite groups oppose these things very strongly and they have been demonstrating also. How do the ascended masters see the current situation in Korea? What can ascended masters students do this time? And Korea students are planning to follow up with the invocations for direct democracy and the legal system of golden age with the new book accepting Saint Germain’s Golden Age.

Answer from the Ascended Master Saint Germain through Kim Michaels. This answer was given at a conference in Washington, D.C. (USA) in 2019.

Well, you need to recognize here that the golden age is a process, not an end result. There is not a point, as I said before, where we say now we have the golden age and before we didn’t, and now it will remain the same for the next until the end of the 2000-year period. It is a process that will go on throughout the next 2000 years. From that perspective, it’s really not necessary to ask is Korea on track. It would be more constructive to ask is Korea making as much progress as it could be making right now. And the answer to that question is actually a yes, with some hesitation.

Of course, there is resistance to change, as you see in these demonstrations. But that is actually to be expected, because at the current level that the earth is at and that Korea is at, society is still polarized into the dualistic camps and so It’s just what you can expect that there will be some opposition to it. And there will always be those who oppose change because they want to maintain status quo.

Those are the ones who are overpowered by the power elite who want to maintain status quo because they don’t want to lose their power. That is why they didn’t want to let go of the previous president who was the kind of president they wanted, because he was corrupt so they could manipulate him. You see that it’s clear that we want a reform of all areas of society, a gradual reform, and we want to reform of the legal system in Korea and most other nations.

You can do exactly what you are doing, make the calls, use these calls specifically for the legal system. But also, other calls we have given for Korea because they all have an impact on raising the collective consciousness. And what really needs to happen here is not primarily every form of the legal system but a raising of the collective consciousness. In other words, you need to recognize that in order to reform the legal system, you need to raise the collective consciousness so that people can accept the need to reform it and accept a new system. You are very much doing the best you can be doing, given the situation, given your numbers, and I commend you for your efforts.

Question about current administration of the Korean government

Question: This question is about the current administration of the Korean government. The current administration of Korean government began with the impeachment of the former president through the candlelight demonstrations, and it has created some positive changes such as improving the North-South relations. However, seeing that the administration attempted to manipulate the public opinion during the presidential election, or seeing how the government deals with the accounting fraud cases of the conglomerates in such a lukewarm fashion, I believe it is difficult to expect too many positive changes in the future. Would you comment on how we can take a stand on the current administration?

Answer from the Ascended Master Mother Mary through Kim Michaels. This answer was given at a conference in Korea in 2019.

I recommend you take a more long view and realize that by deposing the former president, you have taken a step in the right direction but it will take time before the changes fully take effect. You have to realize that the former president was simply a symbol and expression of the political climate in the nation. And this means that even though much attention was focused on her, she was sort of just a front figure. And behind her was, of course, a certain political apparatus that has a certain attitude, a certain mindset that has been built over time. And so what has happened is that this mindset has been challenged, but it hasn’t been completely abandoned. And you cannot necessarily expect that this will happen very, very quickly.

What you can do as spiritual people is, of course continue to use the invocations we have given because they are designed to promote changes in many ways. And therefore, you could say that you do not need to be overly concerned about the present administration, you need to see it as a step in the process—a stepping stone in the process towards a better political culture and climate in South Korea. And our invocations are designed to promote those changes in the collective conscience that will also bring about changes in the political climate, and of course in a way to government deals with the big business conglomerates.

Feminist movements in Korea

Question: This question is about feminism. Currently the gender conflict is a serious issue in Korean society, especially among the younger generation, and expanding women’s rights and improving their status in the work place, feminism seems to be a movement where both men and women create a balance with their masculinity and femininity, and represent a vision closer to the spiritual kingdom. However, these feminist activists make claims that encourage social conflicts, such as strongly supporting the abolition of abortion laws, and insisting on quotas of women in high ranking offices. When I see this, I think they are connected to the fallen consciousness that encourages gender conflicts. How should we understand feminism in Korea from the spiritual perspective and how is this movement affecting Korean society?

Answer from the Ascended Master Mother Mary through Kim Michaels. This answer was given at a conference in Korea in 2019.

If you look at what has happened in the western democracies in previous decades, you can see that the pattern of what is going on in Korea right now is somewhat similar in the sense that in order to overcome the old patriarchal culture where women were suppressed and only men were counted as worthy or valuable, you have to break up the old patterns to some degree.

And what you see in most western countries is that there was a feminist movement that from a spiritual perspective was clearly unbalanced. It’s clear that there are some of the more extreme feminists who have ties to the fallen beings. They are attempting to use this feminist movement to create division and conflict in society. There are even some fallen beings who instead are wanting to establish equality between the sexes, want to reverse the situation and get superiority for women as has happened in some past civilizations that are not known by current history making.

So there is a certain tendency that the fallen beings will try to use any change in society to either just create chaos and conflict, or to bring society in a different direction that is as unbalanced as it was before.

Nevertheless we have also stated, and Jesus gave some important teachings on this, that there are situations were a situation has been locked for a long time. And because it has been locked for so long, there are powerful demons that have been created that do not want change and there are certain patterns in the collective consciousness that are working against change. So before a change can happen, these old patterns need to be broken up, so that people can be freed from this habitual thinking and start thinking anew. This means that what they are doing is clearly unbalanced. But it still can have the effect in the short run of breaking up the old matrices so that people are free to look at the issue in a new way. And this is what is happening right now with the feminist movement in Korea, as it has happened in Western nations in earlier decades.

And so what you can do as spiritual people is, of course, you can avoid being pulled into some of these more extreme movements. You can, if you feel inclined, work for a more balanced perspective. But you can also very importantly, make the calls for a more balanced approach to the issue. As you see, there is already some balance in Korean society where many people have realized that it is a matter of breaking the old matrix, and establishing true equality between men and women.

But it doesn’t mean that women men and women are the same. It’s clear that men and women are different, and therefore will have different roles. But they can still be seen as having equal value, and equal importance. It’s clear, as we have said before, that it is a biological necessity currently, that children are produced the way they are produced, and that one of the sexes had to give birth to children. And it happened to be the female sex. This doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with this. It doesn’t mean that women should actually rebel against this. Because people need to realize that you are not trapped in a female body forever. You can change bodies in different lifetimes. You can if you so desire, be in a male body in a future lifetime.

So you do not need to feel that there is some kind of cosmic injustice that has happened because you have been born in a woman’s body in this lifetime. And therefore you are the one who has to bear the burden of childbirth and so forth. This is what will fade away when societies begin to establish that true equality between the sexes. You can I already see in some of the western nations such as the Scandinavian nations where they have attained a much more balanced approach to the issue and where radical feminism has largely faded away. And the same thing will happen over time in Korea. But it can be helped along by your calls of course.

The air pollution in Korea

Question: This question is about air pollution by particulate matter. In Korea, the air quality has deteriorated recently due to particulate matter, which is threatening people’s health and causing inconvenience in our daily lives. Its main cause is known to be harmful chemical, particularly from any factories, thermal power plants, and waste incinerators in China. However, Korea has not been able to make any official complaints to China or to take effective measures against the problem, even though the Korean government has recently conducted an artificial rainfall experiment, in order to lower the concentration of particulate matter. Would you comment on how we can solve the air pollution, by particulate matter problem and reduce the suffering of people in Korea?

Answer from the Ascended Master Mother Mary through Kim Michaels. This answer was given at a conference in Korea in 2019.

Well, in the short term, you can only take the measures of trying to protect yourself on an individual basis. When we look at the more long term, there is, of course, always a spiritual solution or making calls for this. But in reality, you cannot make calls for the air pollution itself, you need to make calls for the change in the political situation. It’s clear that there needs to be a shift in the Chinese attitude. But it cannot be brought about by Korea alone, it will have to be other nations that are bordering China, and who are also suffering from this pollution. To some degree, it was also a matter of the pollution in China itself becoming so severe that the Chinese people demand changes.

But the reality here is simply that this is an example of how China as a nation is still at a lower level of consciousness, where it is not willing to take responsibility for its actions and how they affect both its own people, and people in neighboring nations. And this is because they are so focused on themselves. And they think that because they are such a large and important nation, and because they have to have such a goal of economic growth, and this and that, (and of course, the communist ideology, that they still drag with them), they do not need to be considerate of other people or even their own people.

So you can make calls for this, you can make calls for the binding of the demons behind this as spiritual people. But you can also make calls for a rising international awareness of the problem so that other nations will join forces with Korea, and there will be a joint effort to actually launch an official complaint over this problem and a demand that China does something to stop the pollution where it originates. This will take some time. But it is important actually that these efforts take place. But because it is part of the process of creating a shift in China, where they become a more aware and more responsible member of the international community.

The current situation of Korea (2018)

Question: This is a question from the Korean team, first of all we want to express many thanks to Kim and the students who have given invocations for Korea for the past several months. Of course thank you to the Ascended Masters. Lately there’s been some good progress between North and South Korea and a good relationship starting between the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the United States Mr. Trump. How do you see the current situation in progress and as ascended master students what should we keep in mind to hold the spiritual balance for the whole of Korea?

Answer from the Ascended Master Mother Mary through Kim Michaels. This answer was given at a conference in Kazakhstan in 2018

Well, my beloved we also wish to express our thanks to the many students both inside and outside of Korea who have given these calls. As we have said before, you can provide that trigger that makes a situation that could go in different directions, go in the most positive direction.

Yet we are only cautiously optimistic because there are of course questions about the current situation and the main question here is how sincere Kim Jong Un is about bringing changes in North Korea.

Another big question is how sincere Donald Trump is or whether he is out to promote himself as a world leader or whether he is really open to producing a result that is right for the Korean people.

A third question of course is how China will react to the situation and whether they will be willing to lose influence in order to give the two Koreas more freedom to work things out. So the basic question to keep in mind as ascended master students and to make calls for, is that Korea does not become a substitute battleground in the competition between the super powers including Russia and to some degree Japan even though it may not be considered a super power.

So the ideal scenario to make calls on is that the future of Korea is decided by the Koreans, not only by the governments but also by the people. Now in a certain sense of course, the future of Korea will be decided by the collective consciousness of both North and South.

But nevertheless we would like to see that not only the leaders but the people are the ones who are responsible for what happens, with as little interference as possible from outside powers.

Translating the teachings into other languages

Question: Korean people are starting two courses after May conference this year. One is the Personal Self-Mastery course and another one is the Master Keys to Personal Christhood Course? By the way, Korean people had a big frustration for the Personal Christhood interpretation of the message for terminology.

We could not reach a mutual understanding between the translator and the coordinator of the course, because they are from different backgrounds. Another issue was how to respect each other even though people have different view and different interpretation. Another one is some people feel some boredom for the following two course at the same time. I know people have to manage by themselves for that. My question is: What can you give us some advice or recommendation to have a successful course for especially Personal Christhood; because there is some issue between translating, for example duality consciousness and they can be interpreted different way into Korean. And there are several cases.

Answer by Ascended Master Jesus through Kim Michaels, given at a conference in Estonia 2017.

You need to recognize, my beloved, that when you undertake something like this, where you as a group are studying the course of Christhood, then the challenges you run into with how you relate to each other, how you actually do the work of the course, that is part of the course. It is part of the initiation.

In terms of how you relate to each other and can respect each other; well, you need to understand here that there has always been a tendency for spiritual students to become attached to a certain interpretation and feel that their way is the right way, or even the only right way. Therefore, others should do it that same way. This is a state of consciousness that you need to overcome if you are to make progress on the path to Christhood. You need to develop that respect for each others free will and allow other people some freedom to follow the course, or to live their lives for that matter, as they see fit with their present level of consciousness.

You cannot be successful running a course like this if you have people who are very attached to their view and their opinion and want to force it upon others. I realize that such people often have good intentions; but nevertheless, this is not the path of Christhood.

In terms of doing two courses at the same time; well, we always have an issue that the most eager students want to do as much as possible in order to make progress as quickly as possible. We understand that there is a phase where you need to do this. You need to strive. You need to make an effort. But we always encourage balance so that you do not take on more than you can handle with respect also for your normal everyday practical life.

For many people it would be too much to follow both of these courses at the same time. Truly, the courses were not really designed to be followed at the same time. It is designed so that you begin with the Path of Self-Mastery and go through the rays there and then after that, you then go on to the path of Christhood.

Now, there are some people who are ready for the path of Christhood; but – and that is why that was given first – but you also need to recognize that you need to be practical. If you do not have time, if you get stressed by following both courses; you choose one over the other. It is up to you which one you choose because that is, again, part of the initiation.

There will always be some people who, if they are completely honest with themselves, are evaluating that the Christhood course is higher than the Path to Self-Mastery and they want to be advanced so they want to choose that course. But that is, of course, not the highest motivation, and it would be more constructive to start with the Path to Self-Mastery.

Korea is the key to Asia

Question: Regarding the ascended master conference to be held in Korea this July, do you have any advice or recommendations for the students who will attend to have the maximum effect of the conference?

This answer was given by the Ascended Master Saint Germain through Kim Michaels at a conference in Holland, 2016.

We have no recommendations for the simple reason that you are doing everything that is necessary, everything that we want to see happening.

I am very grateful to those of you who have been willing to organize this, because as this messenger tuned in and realized the other day, from an ascended master perspective, given the situation that exists in Asia right now, Korea is the key to Asia. Korea is the key to spreading a Golden Age awareness in Asia.

China is too closed, China is too big. Japan is too closed. India is too scattered − too scattered among all the different gurus who are pulling people in all kinds of directions. So Korea is our best opportunity to break through and start bringing more of a Golden Age awareness and also more of an awareness of the ascended masters and our teaching. So therefore we are grateful, we look forward to the conference, and we certainly have many exciting things to release.

Basic income in Korea

Question: What is the minimum cost for people to keep a minimum standard of human life. When the police state the government provide people with a basic income is adopted people would be able to work for self-realisation instead of spending their whole lives working only for money. Through their personal development they can lead to the economic and spiritual balance of the society. What do the ascended masters think of the introduction of the system to give a basic income to the people in Korea.

Answer from the Ascended Master Mother Mary through Kim Michaels. This answer was given at a conference in Seoul, Korea in 2017.

We have previously talked about the concept of a basic income. Saint Germain has given teachings on this and what I want to specifically talk about here is the situation in Korea. We generally believe this is something that should be experimented with, with the more developed countries that have reached a certain level of affluence where they can afford to do this. Whether Korea is at this stage right now is not a clear-cut answer “yes or no” because there are certain decisions that will need to be made in Korean society before you would be ready to do this.

We would like to see that there was a greater awareness of many of the things that we have brought to your attention during our conferences. In other words, there needs to be some awareness that there is an alternative to the traditional way of life. So many people have now been brought up to see their whole lives as having a main purpose being to go to school, to study, to have a career and to work. It would be very difficult for them to make wise use of having the free time they would have if they had a basic income.

It would be better if there was more of a raising of awareness so that more people would be free of these traditional roles and this traditional programming. Instead of simply spending their free time on entertainment, they would be able to spend it on pursuing spiritual growth or some form of charity work or other things that lead to personal development. It is not our highest priority right now to have this implemented in Korea, but in the long run it is clear that both Korea and other affluent nations, primarily in the West, need to experiment with this and see how it actually affects the country.

In many cases it will lead to growth. But I must say that it is not an automatic thing that you can give people a basic income that will lead to a growth in the economy. It actually depends on how they use it. Do they use it to raise their level of consciousness, then there will be a multiplication from the ascended realm that will cause the economy of that country to grow. If they do not use it to raise their consciousness, then we cannot multiply anything and then the system will gradually be bogged down and will actually lead to a decrease in the economy, and the nations will realize that they cannot afford to continue this program.

Be patient about North Korea

Question: There was a big tension for a while between North and South Korea early this year (2013), in March. North Korea has developed a nuclear weapon which can decide South Korea’s destiny, even though North Korea thinks they get weapons from America. What is the ascended masters’ vision for both the North and South Korean people to overcome the duality consciousness?

Answer from Ascended Master MORE through Kim Michaels.

There are many, many people in South Korea who are very dear to our hearts, who are highly evolved spiritually, have pure hearts and pure intentions. There are of course also such people embodied in North Korea, but in far smaller numbers due to the conditions there and the lack of openness. Thus, it can truly be said that the people of South Korea are holding the spiritual balance for the people of North Korea.

There is no doubt that the vision of the ascended masters is for a reunification of the two Koreas so that they are unified as one democratic nation, just as you have seen with Germany. This will of course be a great sacrifice for the people of the South and it will create quite an economic turmoil for some time.

When exactly this will happen I will not prophecy about for it depends on too many variables. What I will say, is this: Most of what is coming out of North Korea is simply empty threats. The North Korean nuclear program is not nearly as sophisticated as even the North Korean leaders believe. It is not as sophisticated as portrayed by the American intelligence services. It is one thing to have developed certain weapons, it is another thing to actually make them work.

Thus, I would counsel patience; the best ally for working towards the vision of a unified Korea at this point in time. There are forces within North Korea who are already moving in a way that the leaders cannot stop towards a breakdown of the system. It is true that many people are dying of starvation. We of the ascended masters have compassion for this. But certainly, if there was an armed confrontation, many more people would die.

Therefore, again, it is sometimes necessary to allow free will to outplay itself. As the North Korean people are not standing up to their leaders to a certain degree, then there is no opening for bringing a swift resolution to the problem.

It is very difficult, of course, for both embodied beings and ascended beings to stand by and watch the continuation of such suffering. But in all honesty, do we not see the same many places around the world? We of the ascended masters even face the situation that we see all human suffering as essentially unnecessary, and thus we many times wonder how long will people continue.

How severe does the suffering have to be before someone comes to the point where they say, as Saint Germain expressed: “It is time to end this.” There must be a certain number of people in North Korea who come to that point of resolution, and dare to speak it to the leaders who will not let go of power.

Give this situation time. Make the calls, give the rosaries, hold the vision, but be patient. Be not in a state of panic. Do not envision that other nations, whether the United States or any others, need not take immediate military action, for this would not be wise at all.

You may also envision that China resolves some of its internal impotence concerning the North Korean issue. Certainly, China could play a role here, but nevertheless it is not China that will solve the problem. We of course do not envision for North Korea becoming a part of China, but becoming part of a unified Korea.