wfn.org | Peace in Korea a Focus of Lutheran Peace Prize Forum

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 2, 2002

PEACE IN KOREA A FOCUS OF LUTHERAN PEACE PRIZE FORUM
02-68-MR

     SIOUX FALLS, S.D.  (ELCA) -- It is the responsibility of every
person to work for peace, according to Sung Chul Yang, the Republic
of Korea's 18th ambassador to the United States.  Yang spoke to more
than 300 students attending the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize Forum here
March 8-9 at Augustana College, one of 28 colleges and universities
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
     The forum's theme, "Striving for Peace: Who is Responsible?"
focused on personal obligations toward peacemaking and on the
possibility of peace and reunification of the Korean peninsula.  Yang
represented Kim Dae-jung, president of South Korea and recipient of
the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize.
     "Throughout their lives Kim Dae-jung and his wife, First Lady
Lee Hee Ho, have surmounted treacherous trials and tribulations
beyond anyone's comprehension," Yang said in a keynote presentation.
     "Kim Dae-jung has braved the severest tests a human being can
endure," Yang said.  Dae-jung survived assassination attempts, an
abduction, six years in prison, exile and house arrest.  He was also
"falsely accused of being a communist and insurrectionist," Yang
said.
     In 1997 Dae-jung was elected president of South Korea.  He
stabilized a volatile economy, became a leading spokesperson for
democracy and instituted the "Sunshine Policy" to improve relations
with North Korea, Yang said.
     "Korea is now the world's 12th largest economy with a gross
domestic product of $457 billion," Yang said.  "Last year, amid a
worldwide economic recession, Korea's economy managed to grow around
three percent with the fifth largest foreign reserves in the world.
For the first time, Korea has become a creditor nation with financial
and monetary stability.  Noteworthy also is the fact that Korea is
now one of the world's leaders in information technology," he said.
     Although dialogue between North and South Korea is stalled at
the moment, Yang said "one lesson that South Korea has learned from
more than 50 years of dealing with North Korea is that temporary
setbacks and stalemates are not uncommon.  Dealing with the North has
taught us that only patience and perseverance will prevail in the
end."
     "After years of mutual hostility and confrontations, the
Sunshine Policy engages the North through dialogue and diplomacy
firmly based on deterrence and is the most practical approach to
removing the last vestiges of the Cold War from the Korean
peninsula," Yang told the students.
     The Republic of Korea "supports the U.S.-led war against
terrorism and against weapons of mass destruction," Yang said.  "The
events of Sept. 11 were unprecedented in American history.  Perhaps
they were more horrific than the Pearl Harbor attack and even more
seismic than the fall of the Berlin Wall.  The American psyche that
the United States is invulnerable and impregnable has been visibly
and invisibly shaken."
     In addition to his keynote presentation, Yang served as a
panelist when forum organizers convened an "impromptu" discussion on
the forum's theme between students and diplomats March 8.  Bad
weather and canceled flights prevented David Halberstam, a journalist
and social and political commentator, to address the forum that day.
The panel discussion featured the Honorable Robert Flaten, former
Ambassador to Rwanda and chair of the Peace Prize Forum committee;
Olav Njolstad, research director on government, Georgetown
University, Washington, D.C.; the Rev. Mark N. Swanson, an ELCA
pastor and associate professor of Islamic studies and director of the
Islamic studies program at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.; and
Derek J. Mitchell, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies, Washington, D.C.
     Craig Kielburger, founder of Free the Children, addressed the
forum March 9.  In an interview, Kielburger said Lutheran students
can "live the faith through action.  There are so many challenges we
[learn] about in the gospel."
     He said young people "have so much power" through their "words
and actions."  Students can initiate letter-writing campaigns and
petitions and volunteer their time.  "No matter what action students
choose, it is important to stand up and realize we have an important
role to play in fighting injustice and poverty."
     At the age of 12, Kielburger became a spokesperson for
children's rights after he read about the murder of a boy from
Pakistan, who was sold into bondage as a carpet weaver and murdered
for speaking out about child labor.  Now at 17, Kielburger has
traveled to more than 30 countries visiting street and working
children and speaking out in defense of children's rights.  His book
"Free the Children" outlines his journey from the suburbs of Toronto
through the slums and sweatshops of South Asia.  The book has been
translated into seven languages.
      Another highlight of the forum was a videotaped message from
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.).  "Who is
responsible for peace?  That question is never more important in our
lifetimes than today," Daschle said.  He praised Dae-jung, who "shows
what is possible when one brave individual makes peace and justice
his responsibility."
     In addition to addresses, the Peace Prize Forum featured 30
one-hour workshops on a variety of topics designed to address the
conference theme.  Other highlights of the forum included a town hall
meeting on terrorism in America, a peace fair with exhibits by
peacemaking organizations from around the world, and conversation
sessions with the forum's keynote speakers.
     The site of the forum rotates annually among five Midwestern
colleges of the ELCA with Norwegian heritage: Augsburg College,
Minneapolis; Augustana; Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn.; Luther
College, Decorah, Iowa; and St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn.
     Held in cooperation with the Norwegian Nobel Institute, this
series of forums was created to offer an opportunity for Nobel Peace
Prize laureates, diplomats, scholars, young people and the general
public to come together in expression of their personal commitment to
peace.
 _ _ _
An audio news story is available at
http://media.elca.org/ramgen/audionews/020328.rm on the ELCA's Web
site.

For information contact:
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