THE KUKMIN DAILY

Korean and international Christian leaders welcomed the news of the upcoming North-South summit meeting, the first in 11 years. And they highlighted the need to sustain the momentum toward peace on the Korean peninsula that has been developing since the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

On March 7, leaders of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) and other world Christian organizations issued a statement titled “Cultivating Peace, Proclaiming Hope.” The event was the “International Conference in Celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the 88 Declaration” (photo), held by the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) from March 8 at Ramada Seoul Dongdaemun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul.

“The special envoys’ visit to North Korea has produced agreement for a North-South summit,” they said. “We greatly welcome the new steps toward dialogue between North (DPRK) and South (ROK)…We fervently hope that the momentum for peace will continue…”

“Peaceful resolution to the crisis on the Korean peninsula can only come through authentic dialogue at the table to which the ROK and DPRK have now returned,” they continued. “We call on the United States of America to join them at the table of dialogue so that hope for peace may be strengthened. We also call on China, Russia and Japan to work together with them for peace on the Korean peninsula, in order to bring a new era of peace, stability and prosperity to the Northeast Asian region and beyond.”

They also announced an “action plan” with the goal of actualizing a sustainable peace system on the Korean peninsula by 2025, which will be the 80th year of the Korean division.

Along with this, the WCC is inviting North and South Korean church leaders to attend the event celebrating its 70th founding anniversary this June in Geneva, Switzerland. The purpose is to host a meeting of the North’s Korean Christian Federation (KCF) and the NCCK, both of which belong to the “Ecumenical Forum for Peace, Reunification and Development Cooperation on the Korean Peninsula (EFK).” The EFK meeting is expected to discuss such matters as humanitarian support for North Korea. NCCK general secretary Lee Hong-Jeong said, “To my knowledge, KCF has not yet responded to the WCC invitation…I hope the efforts of the world church for peace on the Korean peninsula will bear fruits such as the holding of North-South church meetings.”

Meanwhile, WCC and WCRC leaders will be going to North Korea in early May at the invitation of KCF (as reported in Kukmin Daily on March 1, p. 21). The two organizations expect to visit the North just prior to the WCRC executive committee meeting, opening on May 9 in Seoul.

Reporter Yang Minkyeong (grieg@kmib.co.kr), with Marion Kim (marionkkim@icloud.com)
Photo by intern reporter Shin Hyeon Ga


Original Article in Korean:
세계교회 지도자들 “남북 정상회담 개최 환영”: 88선언 30주년 국제협의회 참석한 WCC·WCRC 등 ‘평화를 심고 희망을…’ 성명