WCC NEWS: Korea: Ecumenical steps towards peaceful reunification

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World Council of Churches - News

ECUMENICAL STEPS TOWARDS THE PEACEFUL REUNIFICATION OF THE KOREAN
PENINSULA

For immediate release: 22 May 2011

Realizing a peaceful reunification of Korea would not only be a gift for
the Korean people but also for the people of Asia and the world as a
whole. For the church, both in and outside Korea, realizing a unified
Korea will also mean the church being unified in their efforts.

With this background the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK)
organized a workshop for the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation
(IEPC) being held in Kingston, Jamaica 17-25 May. The workshop was held
Thursday, 19 May.

Titled “War or Peace? – Ecumenical Cooperation on the Korean
peninsula” the workshop was intended to raise awareness about the need
for a peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula and the role the
church has played in this process.

“The NCCK has been cooperating closely with the Christian Conference of
Asia (CCA) and the World Council of Churches (WCC) to contribute to the
peaceful reunification in the Korean peninsula since the 1984 Tozanso
consultation in particular,” said the moderator of the workshop, Dr
Samuel Lee, vice-chairperson of the NCCK Committee of Reconciliation and
Reunification.

The 1984 Tozanso consultation, which was held in Japan, was an ecumenical
consultation initiating lines of communication between Christians in North
and South Korea. Another step in the ecumenical journey for peaceful
reunification in Korea took place last year when a declaration from the
South Korean churches was adopted.

The declaration called for the peaceful reunification of the Korean
peninsula and came at the point of the 100th anniversary of the annexation
of Korea by Japan, the 60th anniversary of the Korean War, and the 10th
anniversary of the 15 June 2000 declaration of the Inter-Korean Summit,
according to Lee.

The declaration also recognized earlier efforts from the Korean churches,
such as the 1988 Declaration of Korean Christian Churches on the National
Reunification and Peace, nearly two decades of cooperation with the Korea
Christian Federation of the North and various weeks of prayer for
reunification and peace.

The WCC has remained involved with the issue for several decades including
the visit of two general secretaries to North Korea, first the Rev. Dr
Konrad Raiser in 1999 and then the Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia in 2009.

Bishop Dr Martin Schindehütte, of the Evangelical Church in Germany, said,
“According to our experience, peaceful reunification in Korea is
possible. We would like to share our experience with Korean churches and
we are willing to cooperate with the Korean churches.” The two
Germany’s formally reunited in 1990.

“We are also ready to cooperate with Korean churches for the peaceful
reunification in Korea” added Vakhtang V. Kipshidze, Russian Orthodox
Church.

During the meeting, Rev. Hiroko Ueda, acting general secretary of the
National Christian Council of Japan, said: “As with the 1984 Tozanso
consultation in Japan, Japanese churches wish to contribute towards the
reunification in Korea. I think it is our obligation, since we occupied
Korea in the past.”

Participants in the workshop thus recommended that WCC should contribute
continuously to the establishment of peace on the Korean peninsula. They
expressed the wish that the 2013 WCC Assembly scheduled to be held in
Busan, Korea, should be a historical turning point for achieving the
peaceful reunification of Korea.

For live video streaming of the event visit the IEPC website:
www.overcomingviolence.org (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=fe79036b8f5d2904ff76 )

WCC member churches in Korea (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=b1c1037bc274aca7d24c )

WCC press release about March 2011 visit of the WCC general secretary to
South Korea (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=909afbc31c359b74fe21
)

IEPC photo galleries (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=4e2e5f0579827bf5fb38 )

IEPC videos (Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=efef21f06c729dffd3eb
)

High resolution photos of the event may be requested free of charge via
photos.oikoumene.org (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=e668831f819d22e9182b )


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 349 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 Olav Fykse Tveit, 
from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.



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