wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Church leaders to deliberate on peaceful, united,

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8537 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

04468
October 19, 2004

Church leaders to deliberate on peaceful, united, nuclear-free Korea

by Michael Mettason
Ecumenical News International

BANGKOK - Church representatives from North and South Korea have joined other
groups at a meeting in Japan to promote peace and reunification on the Korean
Peninsula and stem the threat of nuclear proliferation.

	They are meeting in an Oct. 17-21 consultation taking place in
Tozanso, near Tokyo, to mark anniversary of a similar gathering at the same
place 20
years ago.

	"The meeting also aims at strengthening the churches' commitment to
peaceful reunification by improving their mutual communication and opening
possibilities of joint prayer, reflection and action," said the Geneva-based
World Council of Churches, which is organizing the meeting with the Christian
Conference of Asia.

	In 1984, the two church groupings first organized an ecumenical
gathering in Tozanso, in Shizuoka prefecture, to defuse tensions and work for
a united Korea.

	"Korean Peninsula - a flashpoint in North East Asia" is the theme of
the meeting that will review and analyze present developments in the Korean
Peninsula, and is expected to produce a common peace plan, the WCC said in a
statement released on Oct. 13.

	Participants will grapple with the risk of nuclear proliferation as
well as prospects for stalled six-party talks between North and South Korea,
Russia, Japan, China and the United States that restarted in 2003.

	Former U.S. ambassador to South Korea James Laney is scheduled to
offer an assessment of the six-party talks and the possibilities of an
amicable settlement.

	In August, the WCC executive committee appealed to the international
community to help lift sanctions against North Korea and to restore
humanitarian aid to defeat hunger and malnutrition in the country.

	"The grave humanitarian crisis of hunger, chronic malnutrition and
related disease facing the North Korean people are a challenge not only to
the churches, but also to the conscience of the entire international
community," said the committee after completing its Aug. 24-27 meeting in the
South Korean capital of Seoul.

	The most recent WCC executive committee statement on Korea is
available on the Web site: www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/press_corner/korea-korea.html

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