THE KUKMIN DAILY

“I think the Korean churches’ relief activities and mission work for North Korea contribute in various ways to improving South-North relations and to elevating the sense of oneness as a people. These activities will be a great help in advancing peaceful reunification.”

This is the view of Prof. Oh Joon (62, photo) of Kyung Hee University’s Graduate Institute of Peace. In 2014 when he was serving as Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations, he drew attention with his comment in a speech to the UN Security Council: “For the South Korean people, the people of North Korea are not just anybody.” These words led to widespread awareness about North Korea’s human rights problems among young people, who up to then had showed little interest in the North.

Back home in Korea after 38 years of life as a diplomat, Oh devotes himself to civil society activities related to differently abled persons and to the North Korea human rights movement. On November 13, I met him at the headquarters of The Snail of Love in Jung-gu, Seoul. The Snail of Love is an organization where Prof. Oh works in support of hearing-impaired persons.

How can the Korean churches contribute to reunification? Oh named two ways: first, recover Koreans’ identity as one people through North Korea mission, and second, support and assist the North.

“As one of the regions of our country where Christianity had greatest strength, North Korea produced many famous pastors,” he said. “I believe the North Korea mission will be a big help in overcoming ideological differences and increasing the feeling of sameness between South and North.”

“To help the weak and the poor, following Jesus’ words, is Christianity’s right and proper work…In this dimension, if we carry out relief activities for the suffering residents of North Korea, not only will South-North relations improve but these efforts can help move us closer to reunification,” Oh said.

Prof. Oh predicted that South-North relations, turned chilly since the North’s sixth nuclear test in September, will soon feel a warm wind blowing. That is, having achieved complete nuclear capability, the North now has plenty of leeway to pursue its next goal, which is economic development. But because this goal is impossible to reach under the current situation of stringent sanctions, Oh’s view is that it will take some time for the North to come to the dialogue and negotiations table.

Meantime, he said, until North Korea returns to the process of denuclearization, and cooperative relationships are formed, the Korean churches’ assistance also must be limited in terms of humanitarian support. That is because of worry that the efforts for peaceful solution of the North Korea problem could be obstructed, thus opening the path to military action. “In order to solve the North Korea problem peacefully and optimize the effectiveness of the pressure, we are obliged to limit the scope of support,” he said.

Prof. Oh’s concern for the North Korea issue was influenced by his mother, whose hometown was in the North. She was born in Kaesong, and many other relatives also came South, so while Oh was growing up he naturally became familiar with the North Korean dialect. This was the background giving rise to his comment, “North Korean people are not just anybodies.”

Prof. Oh, who in 2015 published the book “For Mica, Who Contemplates Life,” plans to publish a children’s book with contents that explore life and death, truth and the Absolute. “I’m a Christian who is very interested in Jesus’ life and who enjoys reading and exploring the New Testament,” he said. “I hope that young people, especially Christian young people, will be open-minded in their attitude, thinking and exploring in various fields including faith.”

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


Original Article in Korean:
오준 前 유엔 대사 “한국교회 대북 구호활동, 평화통일에 큰 도움”: 장애인·북한 인권운동 펴는 오준 前 유엔 대사 인터뷰