Christians were among the more than 500,000 people who formed a human peace chain along the 500 kilometre Demilitarized Zone between South and North Korea.
The World Council of Churches reports that the event was held last Friday (27th April) to mark the first anniversary of Panmunjom Declaration – which saw North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in commit to promoting reunification through a range of measures in April, 2018 – and commemorate the centennial of the March 1st Movement for Korean independence.
PICTURE: Courtesy of the National Council of Churches in Korea
In a call to action, those who participated in the movement said that through 70 years of separation between North and South Korea, “we learned that peace is the responsibility of our people”.
They called for an end to division on the peninsula.
“Therefore, break down the barrier that separates the nation and make this land free,” the call read. “In the 70 years, people in the North and South have lived in different systems, but the future of the Korean people converges creatively, and the world will unfold the peace of the land.”
Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, has endorsed the call for the reunification of Korea.
“As a Christian fellowship, the WCC will continue to stand with our brothers and sisters in Korea and invite all Christians to pray for the Korean peninsula and that God’s will, for justice and peace, be done,” he wrote in a message delivered on the day.
More than 1,000 people attended a prayer and worship event held at World Peace Bell Park in Hwachun. It had been organised by the National Council of Churches in Korea which had earlier issued a statement calling for change.
“We cannot go back to the old days when conflict and antagonism dominated,” the statement said. “This is because peace on the Korean Peninsula is an irreversible national historical imperative and an historical task for the world.”
It added: “True peace will not come from any of the great powers surrounding the Korean Peninsula, but we believe that our salvation, God, will listen to our prayers and make a new history of peace through us,” reads the text. “Let us, the children of God, reach out with the hand of peace first.”
