The National Council of Churches in Korea has called on Christians around the world to pray for a successful outcome when representatives of North and South Korea prepare to meet in a summit late this week.
The 27th April summit is the first between the two nations in more than a decade. The NCCK is asking people to pray for peace for one minute at noon each day in the lead-up to the summit. They’re also asking Christians to hold a special prayer service in the lead-up and, on the day of the summit, to dedicate lunch or breakfast as a “fasting prayer”.
Earlier, the World Council of Churches issued a statement welcoming moves to establish “meaningful and constructive dialogue” between the US and North Korea. Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC, said a “new openness to constructive engagement” was a “very positive sign” and an important foundation for the planned US-North Korean summit.
He said the WCC particularly welcomed support given by US President Donald Trump for the two Koreas to discuss an end to the war at the 27th April summit.
“The WCC and its partners in both South and North Korea have repeatedly and consistently called for a peace treaty to replace the Armistice Agreement of 1953, in order to definitively conclude the suspended state of war and to enable the current challenges to peaceful coexistence on the Korean peninsula to be addressed more clearly and pragmatically,” he said.
“We are gratified and encouraged that the possibility and utility of this long-overdue step is finally being recognized by the most important parties to this tragic unresolved conflict, which has poisoned relations in the region for so long.”
