Korean church leaders have welcomed news of a planned summit between officials from the US and North Korea, and US President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un by May.
Rev Haekjib Ra, chair of the National Council of Churches of Korea’s Reconciliation and Reunification Committee, said in comments published by the World Council of Churches, that the NCCK remains convinced that dialogue is the only way to resolve military conflict on the Korean Peninsula peacefully.
“Therefore, we request that the two countries, US and North Korea, use this summit meeting to find the correct path to reconciliation and peace,” Rev Ra said. “Furthermore, we truly hope that the two sides will build trust with each other without threat of invasion and that this might become an opportunity to conclude a peace treaty that guarantees mutual peaceful coexistence.”
Earlier, the World Council of Churches had welcomed news of the summit which was announced following meetings between a South Korean delegation and the North Korean leadership in Pyongyang earlier this month.
In a statement on 7th March, the World Council of Churches said the “reported outcomes of those meetings are powerful signs of hope compared to dangerously escalating tensions and military confrontation of the recent past, and provide major encouragement to President Moon Jae-in’s diplomatic engagement with the North”.
News of the proposed meetings came last week as representatives of Korean churches and international partners including the WCC were attending a conference organised by NCCK in Seoul on the 30th anniversary of the NCCK’s 1988 Declaration of the Churches of Korea on National Reunification and Peace.
