Mission life: THE KUKMIN DAILY

Korea welcomes the 10th Assembly of the WCC

2013-10-28 14:34


“Eoseo Oshibshio, 어서 오십시오” This is Korean for “Welcome with pleasure.” It is literally say­ing “come quickly,” which shows the utmost hospitable and wel­coming heart of Koreans when hosting guests. With this heart, we welcome every one of you who comes to Busan for the 10th As­sembly of the World Council of Churches.

I hope that you had a pleasant and safe journey to Korea. Busan is a city where contact between Korea and the rest of the world has been taking place. It was through Busan that missionaries came to Korea in 19th century. Bu­san is also a historic city in terms of the political development of Korean society. During the Korean War (1950-1953), the South Korean government momentarily took refuge in Busan, and in 1960 and 1979 students and people in Busan sparked democratization move­ments against dictatorships.

The Korean churches who are involved in the Korean Host Com­mittee have been preparing to host the WCC Assembly with the utmost hospitable and coopera­tive spirit. Both the Korea govern­ment and City of Busan have been so cooperative in supporting the process of the Assembly. Numer­ous people have been working over the last four years and now the time has come to celebrate to­gether. It is our prayer and strong hope that the Busan Assembly would be a historic and significant assembly, proclaiming a message of life, justice, peace, and hope to the world including churches in this time of history.

I hope that during your stay in Busan and Korea you enjoy the comfort, the Korean culture, and in particular, the Korean food which is regarded as a slow and healthy food. Generally speaking, Koreans are kind and friendly to foreign guests, therefore, I also en­courage you to enjoy fellowship and friendship with the Koreans you might meet during your stay.

Once again, from bottom of my heart, I welcome you to Busan. Eoseo Oshibshio!

Rev. Dr. Kim Sam-whan (Moderator of the Korean Host Committee for WCC 10th Assembly)

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