wfn.org | WCC UPDATE: On Korea's reunification, US presidential race

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches - Update
Contact: + 41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org 

For immediate release - 20/10/2004

 CHURCH REPRESENTATIVES DEBATE REUNIFICATION OF NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA

US Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said in the recent
televized debate with George Bush that he favours bilateral talks between
America and North Korea. The president, on the other hand, said that he
favours the Six-Party Talks on the peaceful reunification of a nuclear-free
Korean Peninsula.

But former US ambassador to South Korea Dr James Laney finds President
Bush's statement "amusing" because, he says, Bush prefers not to negotiate
at all with Pyongyang, which Washington has included in the so-called "axis
of evil".

Speaking at a 17-20 October consultation organized by the World Council of
Churches (WCC) and the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) at Gotemba, near
Toyko, Japan, Laney said that "President Bush's branding North Korea part
of the so-called axis of evil has put back the normalization process of the
Korean peninsula several years".

Laney, who is also president emeritus of Emory University in Atlanta, US,
was questioned at the consultation about the prospects of negotiations on
North Korea.
The former ambassador, who was stationed in Seoul from 1993-1997 during the
Clinton era, gave his views on "An assessment of the Six-Party Talks -
possibilities of an amicable settlement".

The multilateral Six-Party Talks, involving North and South Korea, the US,
Japan, China and Russia, began in 2003, with China hosting two rounds. A
working group met in mid-May 2004 to prepare for the third round, to be
held in Beijing, but failed to make a breakthrough.

"The US election next month will be a tight race, but don't discount John
Kerry winning," Laney observed, predicting that if Kerry enters the White
House, US policy towards North Korea will improve. In his view, the Bush
administration's policy towards North Korea is pandering to people's fears
- which is not a Christian virtue.

He suggested that a Democratic administration would pursue bilateral talks
with Pyongyang, although he said it was important for the Six-Party Talks
to run concurrently.

>>> Churches' role

The three-day WCC-CCA consultation in Gotemba focused on the stalled
initiatives towards peace, unification, and a resolution of the conflict on
the Korean Peninsula.

In particular, it sought to encourage and inspire churches in both the
North and South towards greater people-to-people contact, mutual exchange
of ideas and confidence-building, easing regional tensions, and to
facilitate meetings of churches and civil society to run parallel to the
Six-Party Talks of the major political stakeholders.

"We also want to find ways to encourage WCC-CCA member churches in
consultation with churches in Korea to reflect together on and engage in
common prayer to reinforce their advocacy efforts for a just and lasting
peace," noted WCC International Affairs programme executive Clement John.

The October consultation also sought to encourage greater economic and
cultural cooperation for North Korea by extending developmental aid and
lifting sanctions against Pyongyang.

In his welcoming remarks, CCA general-secretary Dr Ahn Jae-Woong said that
a divided Korea is a tragedy and painful reality for people living on both
sides.
"The unification of Korea is neither rhetoric nor a slogan, but a permanent
mandate to be achieved by peaceful means," he said, adding that the Korean
people cannot achieve unification alone but need the help of the global
community.

About 50 delegates from North and South Korea, other parts of Asia, Europe
and North America attended the consultation, which was hosted by the
National Council of Churches of Japan and marked the anniversary of a
similar ecumenical gathering 20 years ago that brought together church
leaders from 20 nations of Asia, Pacific, the Middle East, Latin America,
Eastern and Western Europe and North America.

The final communiqui of the consultation is available on our website
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/tozanso2004.html 

See also our press release of 13 October, 2004
http://www2.wcc-coe.org/pressreleasesen.nsf/index/pr-04-47.html 

The executive committee statement on Korea is available at:
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/press_corner/korea-korea.html 

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153  +41 79 507 6363
	 media@wcc-coe.org 

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 The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 342, in
 more than 120 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 Samuel Kobia from the Methodist church in Kenya.