RECONCILIATION AND REUNIFICATION WORK
 
 

The results of WCC 10th General Assembly are filtering down to the Korean Churches

 through the activities of NCCK in the next few months, as NCCK committees

communicate the decisions and statements of the WCC Assembly to the churches.  

On Jan.27, the Reconciliation and Reunification Committee hosted a symposium

to discuss and clarify the important issues raised by the adopted Document 02.3,

Statement on Peace and Reunification on the Korean Peninsula.
 

The symposium started with sharing the story of the Peace Train experience by Rev. Sung

Myung Ok, the former General Secretary of PCK Women Ministers Association.  

4 speakers spoke about aspects of Document 02.3 – the addressing of the partition

of the Korean Peninsula at the 10th Assembly (Rev. Cho Hun Jung), the contents

of the statement (Prof. Noh Jeong Son), proposals for Reunification

(Dr. Kim Young Bok and Father Lee Jae Jeong), and then the meeting opened

for discussion by participants.
 

Following are portions of the Document Statement on Peace and Reunification

on the Korean Peninsula, adopted at Busan, WCC 10th General Assembly

- Changing geopolitical dynamics among the four major powers could stifle the aspirations

and hopes of the Korean people for peace and reunification. Increasing arms build-ups

in several Asian countries make this one of the fastest-growing regions

for military spending in the world, including nuclear arms and high-tech weapons

of mass destruction.
 

The peace we envision is a condition of justice embracing the whole of life

 and restoring harmony among neighbours. We are convinced that it is the right time

to begin a new process towards a comprehensive peace treaty that will replace

the 1953 Armistice Agreement.
 

As delegates representing 345 churches and some 560 million Christians around the world,

we are prepared to renew our support for peace and reconciliation, and to encourage

and assist the national and international leaders whose efforts are indispensable.
 

We also discern signs of hope and a framework that would enable the Korean peninsula

to embrace peace with justice and fullness of life. On the Korean peninsula,

shared human security and human rights must become a greater priority

than divisive, competitive and militarized national security.
 

Recommendations:

a) Embody the spirit of the Tozanso process including courage, caring, communication, confession,
conciliation and commitment
 

b) Pray with the peoples and churches of Korea by designating the Sunday before 15 August as the
“Sunday of Prayer for the Peaceful Reunification of the Korean Peninsula”
 

c) Provide a wide ecumenical platform for young generations both in North and South Korea to meet together
in order to envision a desirable future of the Korean Peninsula
 

d) Organize solidarity visits to churches in North and South Korea that can serve as peacemakers
and bridge builders. A first visit can be organized as early as 2014, commemorating the 30th anniversary
of the historic Tozanso International Consultation; and
 

e) Continue accompanying the churches of Korea by providing common platforms for churches
and Christians from both North and South to meet together in order to advance towards reconciliation
and peace. We recognize that a historically symbolic moment for such initiatives could be found in 2015,
the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Korea.
 
 

Commitment to take actions to: 

a) Work with our governments to mandate the United Nations Security Council to initiate new efforts
for peace-building across the Korean Peninsula and to lift the existing economic and financial sanctions
imposed on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; 
 

b) Embark upon a universal campaign for a Peace Treaty to replace the Armistice Agreement of 1953,
bringing an end to the state of war; 
 

c) Call upon all foreign powers in the region to participate in a creative process for building peace
on the Korean peninsula by halting all military exercises on the Korean peninsula, by ceasing their interventions
 and reducing military expenditures; 
 

d) Ensure the complete, verifiable and irreversible elimination of all nuclear weapons and power plants
in -North East Asia, by taking steps to establish a Nuclear-Free World and simultaneously
joining the emerging international consensus for a humanitarian ban on nuclear weapons in all regions
of the world, so that life is no longer threatened by nuclear dangers anywhere on earth; 
 

e) Urge the governments in both North and South Korea to restore human community with justice
and human dignity by overcoming injustice and confrontation, and to heal human community
by urgently addressing the humanitarian issue of separated families, by establishing a sustainable process
allowing confirmation of the whereabouts of family members and free exchanges of letters and visits,
and by offering the support of international agencies where necessary; 
 

f) Work with the governments of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Republic of Korea
in providing international cooperation to maintain a truly Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and transform it
into a zone of peace.