THE KUKMIN DAILY

A single window for exchanges with North Korea is being formed by the South Korean churches.

On August 30, more than 100 persons from the six member denominations of the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) including Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK Tonghap), Methodist Church of Korea (KMC) and Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK), as well as other church-related organizations, met at the Christian Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, and held a worship service and ceremony to inaugurate the “Inter-Korea Exchange Group of South Korean Churches” (photo).

The Inter-Korea Exchange Group has been established to carry out exchanges and other projects related to North Korea in an atmosphere of communication and cooperation. The object is to communicate systematically in cooperation with the Korean Christian Federation (KCF), which serves as the northern dialogue window, and to provide a framework within which to share information and dialogue for South-North exchanges. The group plans to request participation by major Korean church denominations also, making it a “single window” in both name and reality.

Korean Red Cross President Park Kyung-seo, who oversaw the successful holding of divided family reunions at Geumgangsan last week, delivered a commemorative lecture titled “The Way to North-South Life Together and the Churches’ Role.” “The core of the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration was the agreement to create a no-war, non-nuclear Korean peninsula” he said. “The Bible, too, says that true peace does not come through violence.” He proposed, “It will be good if we can present several clear themes, for example, a movement to become apostles of peace, or a movement by churches to take the lead in putting the Panmunjom Declaration into practice.”

The Inter-Korea Exchange Group is planning a discussion meeting by its executive committee this October, and an international ecumenical conference in December on the theme “The Way to North-South Life Together.” The Exchange Group’s co-representatives are Na Haek-jip, who chairs the NCCK Reconciliation and Reunification Committee, and Ji Hyeong-eun, who heads the board of the Korean Sharing Movement.

Reporter DongWoo Kim (love@kmib.co.kr), with Marion Kim (marionkkim@icloud.com)
Photo by senior reporter Kang Min Seok

Original Article in Korean:
교계, 대북 교류 창구 하나로 통일한다: NCCK 회원 교단·교계 단체 ‘한국교회 남북교류 협력단’ 발족