World Council of Churches - News Release
Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org For immediate release - 15/02/2007 03:17:00 PM
WCC GENERAL SECRETARY WELCOMES NORTH KOREA NUCLEAR DEAL
The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia has welcomed as "a major breakthrough" the 13 February agreement at the Six Party Talks in Beijing, under which the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) committed itself to take initial steps towards denuclearisation in return for energy and economic aid.
The agreement "is a major breakthrough in efforts to restore peace and normalcy in the region", says Kobia in a statement issued on 15 February. The agreement "vindicates the WCC longstanding policy of engagement and dialogue to resolve tension and conflict in North East Asia", he adds.
The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea, a member of the WCC fellowship, has also welcomed the agreement and urged that the Six Party states "develop a concrete road map for the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula" as well as for the normalisation of diplomatic relations between the DPRK and the United States and Japan.
The full text of the statement is available at: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?id=3151
Additional information: Juan Michel, +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
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The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 348 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
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