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[NCCK English newsletter Dec, 2015] EFK Forum in Pyongyang
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EFK Forum in Pyongyang
The Ecumenical Forum for Peace, Reunification and Development Cooperation on the Korean Peninsula (EFK) hosted a visit to Pyongyang, North Korea at the end of October which the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) joined. The World Council of Churches (WCC) participated as mediator of the delegation. The delegation was hosted by the Korean Christian Federation (KCF) and spent the first days visiting a number of historic sites around Pyongyang and other locations of importance to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. This was the first time an international ecumenical forum of this nature, including the WCC, was held on Korean soil. They visited locations including Kim Il Sung’s native home, Juche Tower, a dolphin show, as well as important spots around the DMZ on the north side like the Kaesung Industrial Complex. They also worshipped together at Bongsu Church and visited Chilgol Church in Pyongyang, a house church, and Jangchung Catholic Church.
The EFK also drafted a statement known as the Pyongyang Appeal along with the KCF delegates focusing on a push for a peace treaty to resolve the conflict on the Korean peninsula. Throughout the trip, the members of the KCF emphasized to the EFK delegates the utmost importance of a peace treaty, along with other issues such as ending US-South Korea joint military exercises, resisting the misuse of the human rights issue, and patient respectful dialogue between nations. The EFK delegation left with a clear sense that a message of reconciliation must overcome the rhetoric of retaliation on the part of both sides.
Rev. Dr Chang Sang, WCC president for Asia and former prime minister of the Republic of Korea, headed the EFK delegation. Chang is a former senior advisor to the Reunification Committee of the Republic of Korea government. She stated, “The key concern of the members of our delegation in visiting the DPRK and in issuing this appeal was to encourage dialogue and mutual exchange in order to reduce tensions and antagonism, and to seek the realization of human rights through the promotion of peace and reconciliation.”
The visit ended with a trip to Mt. Myohang and Hansan and the International Friendship Exhibition House. On the return to Pyongyang the delegation attended a sporting exchange between the North and South as labor unions from the North and South fielded teams for the match. This was a resumption of football exchanges that had been suspended for the past 8 years.
Sandy Sneddon, a member of the Church of Scotland who participated as a WCC delegate, reflected on his experience visiting the North and helping to write the Pyongyang Appeal, “The NCCK has faced criticism from the authorities in South Korea for participating in the visit and agreeing to the Pyongyang Appeal, which was initially misreported in the South Korean press[???NK Press]. This illustrates that the Gospel imperative for peace is still radical and challenging to many who gain from the status quo of conflict and division. I look forward to the Church of Scotland playing an active part and fulfilling the commitments of the Pyongyang Appeal.”
The NCCK has also just participated in a consultation in Germany with the WCC at the beginning of December, however the KCF was not able to attend because of the timing of visa applications.
Discussing the hope for next steps Peter Prove, director of WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, responded, “I believe we should encourage and promote dialogue and people-to-people encounter through the church and ecumenical structures in the region, including the Korean Christian Federation (KCF) in North Korea, and the National Council of Churches (NCCK) and the churches of South Korea. We can also promote such dialogue internationally as a means of reducing “enemy images”, and de-escalating tensions that risk sliding toward conflict. Provocation does not offer a path to peace. Encounter, dialogue and negotiation offer a much safer and more promising route forward.”
