wfn.org | United Methodists welcome Korea accord

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

June 21, 2000 News media contact: Linda Bloom·(212)870-3803·New York
10-35-71B{291}

By Rebecca C. Asedillo
United Methodist News Service*

The recent historic summit between the leaders of North and South Korea was
a cause for excitement and optimism, according to several United Methodists.

The June 13-15 meeting between South Korea's President Kim Dae Jung and
North Korea's President Kim Jong II led to an accord, and opened the way for
economic and cultural exchanges and the reunion of families separated since
the Korean War (1950-1953). 

"I'm very delighted and excited about the meeting of the two heads of
state," said United Methodist Bishop Hae-Jong Kim of Rochester, N.Y. "It's
been 50 years since the Korean War. I feel like we're celebrating a Jubilee
now that peace and reconciliation is finally coming.

"In the short run, there will be cooperation between North and South Korea,"
he added. "In the long run, there are hopeful signs of a possible
reunification of the Korean peninsula."

The Rev. S. Michael Hahm, an executive with the United Methodist Board of
Global Ministries, believes the meeting of the two leaders was a tremendous
emotional lift for many Koreans.

In 1950, as a young man, Hahm left his home in North Korea to join the South
Korean marines. He was separated from his family for 37 years. 

"Just like the rest of the separated families, for so many years I didn't
know if they were living or dead," he noted. "Then, in 1987, North Korea
started opening its door. I went back to North Korea as a part of an NCC
(National Council of Churches) delegation. There I met my sister. She's 14
years younger than I am, with six children and a husband. We all got
together and had a family reunion."

Hahm said he was very fortunate. "There are many people who have not had
that opportunity," he added. 

Unfortunately, his father passed away before he could return to North Korea.
His mother died when he was still a teen-ager living with his family. 

Hahm hailed the meeting of the Korean leaders as a uniting of efforts toward
self-determination. 

"In all these years, Korea was controlled by the superpowers: the Soviet
Union and the United States. It seems to me that for the first time the two
Korean leaders (are able) to get together to try to direct their energy to
creating self-determination," he said. 

Beyond the political implications of the historic meeting, Hahm stressed the
immense impact on Koreans of finally being able to come together. 

"We Koreans have a strong affinity for each other," he explained. "We are
just discovering again and again that when North and South Koreans get
together, we have a spontaneous, positive response to each other."
 
As the accord ushers in an era of reconciliation, Reuters news service
reported the switching-off of loudspeakers that for years blasted insults
and propaganda across the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on the border between
North and South Korea. 

On June 19, the United States eased economic sanctions against North Korea.
This will allow North Korea to export raw materials and goods to the United
States, and open both air and shipping lanes between the two countries. On
the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly offered diplomatic
help to South Korean President Kim Dae Jung. Red Cross organizations in both

North and South Korea are discussing the reuniting of separated families
around Aug. 15, when both countries celebrate the end of Japan's occupation
of the Korean peninsula at the close of World War II. 

"It is indeed a day of new beginnings," said Jane Hull Harvey, a former
short-term missionary to South Korea, quoting from a hymn in the United
Methodist Hymnal.

Harvey, an executive with the United Methodist Board of Church and Society,
said she and her husband, the Rev. Pharis Harvey, sent a congratulatory
letter to President Kim Dae Jung and his wife, Lee Hee Ho, who are their
personal friends. Lee Hee Ho is a 1958 graduate, with Jane Hull Harvey, of
the former Scarritt College in Nashville, Tenn. 

The 2000 United Methodist General Conference, the denomination's top
legislative body, passed a resolution in May called, "Peace, Justice and
Reunification of Korea," which says in part: "All members of the body of
Christ, but especially Christians in the United States, have a special
responsibility to support the Korean people in their attempts to build
democracy, reduce tension, create trust on the Korean peninsula, heal the
divisions and reunite their country." 

# # #

*Asedillo writes frequently for the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries. Her original article appeared on the board's Web site.

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United Methodist News Service
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