wfn.org | WCC gen. sec. to visit Korea

[Sheila MESA <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
13 April 1999

WCC GENERAL SECRETARY TO VISIT NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA

For the first time in its history North Korea will receive a visit from a
general secretary of the World Council of Churches. On 17 April, WCC
general secretary, Dr Rev. Konrad Raiser, accompanied by an
ecumenical delegation, will arrive in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital,
for a three-day visit. He will meet with North Korean head of state Kim
Jong-Il and with representatives of the Korean Christian Federation,
among others. On 20 April Raiser will travel on to South Korea.

This visit is taking place, according to Dr Raiser, "in the context of more
than ten years of WCC efforts to promote a process of reconciliation
between the North and the South of this divided country, and to further
the attempts to bring about reunification in the long term... In this context,
the visit, which is being treated as a 'virtual state visit' by both North and
South Korea, could again bring to mind the honourable role of the WCC
and the churches affiliated with it as brokers in the peace process," the
WCC general secretary said.

In view of North Korea's food shortages, Dr Raiser will also emphasize
the readiness of ecumenical partner organizations to continue
humanitarian aid. His schedule includes participating in the presentation
of an aid shipment coordinated by "Action by Churches Together" (ACT).

Reconciliation issues will also be central in the meeting with South
Korean president Kim Dae-Jung.

At the political level, the WCC general secretary would like to "deepen
our relationships with the new government and president" and to
"express our joy that the many years of struggle for human rights and
for getting beyond authoritarian structures in South Korea have borne
fruit".

In addition, in view of the Asian financial crisis and the economic
tensions in South Korea, Raiser hopes to find out "how the South Korean
government and churches are adjusting to the changed situation, and
how traditional economic structures are being adapted to the new
conditions".

Another high point of the three-day visit to Seoul will be the 75-year
jubilee of the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK). Dr Raiser
will take part in a jubilee symposium.

The NCCK, says Dr Raiser, has been making great efforts in recent
decades to broaden its constituency, which now includes Pentecostal
and evangelical churches. In the meeting with NCCK representatives, Dr
Raiser hopes for a sharing of ideas on the extent to which this
"broadening of the ecumenical constituency could be usefully pursued
by the WCC as well".

The members of the ecumenical delegation accompanying WCC general
secretary Dr Rev. Konrad Raiser are: WCC Asia secretary Park Kyung
Seo, WCC secretary for international affairs Clement John, and WCC
audiovisual media coordinator Peter Williams. ACT coordinator Miriam
Lutz and Hannelore Hensle of the Evangelical Church in Germany's
Diaconal Service will join the delegation during its visit to North Korea.

Contact:  Karin Achtelstetter, Media Relations Officer           

**********
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 338, in
more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions.  The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but
works cooperatively with the WCC.  The highest governing body is the
Assembly, which meets approximately every seven years.  The WCC
was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Its staff is
headed by general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church
in Germany.

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