Significant steps towards peace were made last week as an international consultation took place in Hong Kong. The World Council of Churches supported consultation focused on reconciliation and reunification on the Korean Peninsula and brought together church leaders and participants from North and South Korea.
Some 137 church leaders from across the globe also participated including representatives from China, Cambodia, India, USA, Great Britain, Russia and Australia. Rev Gregor Henderson (former Uniting Church President) and Rev Kisoo Jang (Secretary Korean Commission in NSW) attended as representatives of the Uniting Church in Australia.
At the conclusion of the consultation a statement known as the Tsuen Wan Communique was released. It called for the lifting of all sanctions against North Korea and promoted reunification as “a process”. It also recommended progressive steps for peaceful co-existence, further economic co-operation, the formation of an inter-Korean confederation that would then complete reunification.
The communiqué also called for the establishment of immediate bilateral negotiations between North Korea and the USA, the normalizing of relations between North Korea and Japan while urging the USA to withdraw hostile policies towards North Korea and to cease all multinational military exercises in the region.
In a meaningful act, the Rev Kang Yong Sop (Chair of the Korea Christian Federation of North Korea) and the Rev Tae Jin Bae (National Council of Churches in South Korea) shared in the celebration of Holy Communion.
Please see below copies of press releases, reports and a copy of the Tsuen Wan Communiqué.
Tags: North Korea, South Korea
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