The World Council of Churches has invited “all people of good will” to join in a Sunday of Prayer for the Peaceful Reunification of the Korean Peninsula on 11th August.
The day is held annually on the Sunday before 15th August – a date, celebrated as Liberation Day in South and North Korea, which commemorates the day in 1945 when Korea won independence from Japan after 36 years of colonisation but also the day when the Korean Peninsula was divided into two.
On the Sunday, Christians are invited to join in a prayer for peace and reunification of the peninsula. Specially prepared by the National Council of Churches in Korea and the Korean Christian Federation, this year’s prayer reflects on the Korean Peninsula’s past history and calls for the establishment of a “permanent and peaceful regime that no foreign powers can avail” and that the North and South will “live leaning on each other”.
“We pray that if the South is in need, then the North can provide, and if the North is in need, then the South can provide, so that we may live helping each other,” it reads. “The South and the North, the North and South, want to build a happy and prosperous world.”
It also specifically calls for the reopening of the Kaesong Industrial Complex – a special administrative industrial region in North Korea which closed in 2016, and the ability of all Koreans to visit Mt Kumgang, which is located on North Korea’s east coast in an area renowned for its scenic beauty.
“May the people of the North and South/South and North meet each other with a smile, and may North Korea and the US establish a peace treaty by ending the hostilities,” it adds. “Peace is what the South and North/North and South wish to share in accordance with our own will.”
The National Council of Churches in Korea will hold a joint worship service at the Seoul Bogum Church on the Sunday, as well as regional services in Suwon, Daejon, Busan, Jeonju, and other places. In addition, music festivals and exhibitions will be held.
On Liberation Day (15th August), the National Council of Churches in Korea will hold a joint event with a civilian organisation the 6.15 Committee in which people will gather at Kwanwamoon Square to make “a peace chain” that will encircle the US and Japan embassies nearby.
