wfn.org | North, South Korean women discuss unification, other issues

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Oct. 4, 2001       News media contact: Linda Bloom7(212) 870-38037New York
10-35-71B{450}

By United Methodist News Service

In a historical meeting, women from North and South Korea joined with their
U.S. and Canadian sisters to talk about peace and reunification for the
Korean peninsula.

The 28 participants at a Sept. 23-29 conference near Toronto included four
women from North Korea and seven from South Korea. During their time
together, they created a list of 15 recommendations about proceeding toward
reunification, according to Mia Adjali, a United Methodist and chairperson
of the Partnership with Korean Women Task Force of Church World Service,
U.S. National Council of Churches.

In June 2000, President Kim Dae-jung of the Republic of Korea and Kim
Jong-il, National Defense Commission chairman of the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea, held the first summit talks since the division of Korea.
Both countries agreed to work to resolve the question of reunification.

Because women often have been left out of the decision-making around
reunification, "we felt we had a unique perspective that needed to be
heard," Adjali explained.

The idea for such a meeting was conceived more than a decade ago, when the
Council of Churches of Korea hosted a 1988 women's gathering aimed at
planning a conference that would bring church women from the two Koreas
together.

In Toronto, Adjali said, "we were able to bring about the meeting that was
hoped for then." The conference was sponsored by the Partnership with Korean
Women Task Force and supported by the United Church of Canada.

Participants listened to each other's stories of division and separation,
learned about their various roles and resources, reviewed their history as
women involved in Korean historical struggles since the 1970s and affirmed
the steps being taken toward reunification, she said. The gathering was
celebrated with the planting of an oak tree at Victoria University.

Among their recommendations, conference participants:

7	Urged continuing support of the steps toward reunification by the
U.S., Canadian and other governments.
7	Requested that the U.S. government reopen high-level talks with the
North Koreans.
7	Encouraged the formation of women's solidarity groups, including
women inside and outside the church, that are committed to Korean peace and
reunification.
7	Requested that various ecumenical groups and their member
denominations continue to consider Korean reunification as an active
priority.
7	Expressed profound concern to the Japanese government for its
failure to extend an apology and reparations to Korean women used as sexual
slaves or "comfort women" by the Japanese military during World War II.

Other United Methodists participating in the conference through the
partnership task force included Peggy Billings, Patricia Patterson and
Jungrea Chung. 

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United Methodist News Service
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