wfn.org | Christians on Korea Reunification

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3503 notes).

Note 3503 by UMNS on March 20, 1997 at 15:45 Eastern (3169 characters).

Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT:  Linda Bloom                      149(10-21-35-71B){3503}
          New York (212) 870-3803                   March 20, 1997

EDITORS NOTE: This story is a sidebar to UMNS #148 {3502}  

Over years, Christians support
Koreans' desire for reunification

     NEW YORK (UMNS) -- Eleven years ago, Patricia Patterson was
among a 10-member National Council of Churches (NCC) delegation
sent to North and South Korea.
     "Along with Christians from other parts of the world, we
aimed to support the desire of the Korean people on both sides of
the 38th parallel in their hopes for openness, reunion and
reunification," she told a March 17-19 consultation here on "The
Role of the Churches in U.S.-Korea Relations."
     Patterson, a United Methodist, noted that the resulting NCC
policy statement -- adopted Nov. 6, 1986 -- "began with a
confession of our responsibility as a nation in the division of
Korea." It also called upon the U.S. government and its citizens
to support reunification and peace responsibly; recognized the
unity of the church; and dealt with the threat of a divided Korea
to world peace.
     Since then, churches have supported the statement actively in
a number of ways. But the task, particularly of education, is
incomplete, according to Patterson.
     "The Cold War is not over with regard to Korea; and false
charges and media manipulation continue to be used against people
who work for reconciliation, including within our churches," she
said. "It is hard to break down decades of hostility and
ideological hardness of heart."
     The Rev. Paul Kim, a United Methodist who served as executive
director of the Korea Church Coalition for Peace and Reunification
from 1991-96, told the consultation that U.S churches have had
considerable contact with North Korea.
     Besides their various delegations to that country, the Korean
Christians Association of North Korea sent its first delegation to
the United States in 1989. Since then, the association has visited
six other times, including the current consultation.
     The exchanges helped develop awareness and sensitivity among
Christians in all three countries, according to Kim, and "served
as one of the few available channels whereby a relatively
consistent dialogue took place between North Koreans and Americans
and between the North and the South."
     Churches also have advocated for policy changes by the U.S.,
North and South Korean governments toward reunification.
     "Our engagement with American policymakers, especially in the
State Department, has been genuine and productive," Kim said.
Three different Korea Church Coalition-sponsored conferences in
Washington "brought together progressive U.S. academic thinkers
and peace activists as well as South Korean church thinkers as
well as U.S. government personnel. Through these, we continued to
call on the U.S. government to become a fair broker of peace in
Korea."
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