A joint ecumenical peace message to mark the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean War was delivered on 22 June 2020 during a live-streamed event, which you can watch again above. It described the Korean War as an ‘appallingly destructive conflict’ after which no peace treaty was ever concluded.
It was co-sponsored by churches and councils of churches around the world, especially from countries that participated in the Korean War. Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) was one of the co-sponsors.
‘Seven decades after this war began, it is time to acknowledge that it ended long ago… New challenges to peace and stability in the region have arisen in the meantime, but we do not believe that the resolution of those challenges will be facilitated by keeping that 70-year-old conflict open’, read the message.
It includes a call for the suspension and cancellation of any further military exercises in the region:
‘We appeal for the fulfilment of the letter and spirit of all the agreements that had given so much hope of progress towards peace on the Korean Peninsula – in particular the Panmunjom Declaration of April 2018, the Pyongyang Joint Declaration of September 2018, and the Singapore Joint Statement of June 2018.
‘We pray for the realisation of the vision of the Korean Peninsula as a nuclear-free zone, and a world completely free from the threat of nuclear weapons.’
You can read the full statement on the WCC website.
The Light of Peace: The Churches and the Korean Peninsula
A booklet highlighting the ongoing participation of the ecumenical movement toward peace on the Korean Peninsula has been published by the WCC. It is the ‘first iteration of a multiphase publication project’. In September 2020 a more comprehensive book of the same name will be published, and a multimedia publication will follow later.
The booklet introduces the project and provides a preview of what can be expected in the rest of the series. It emphasises the importance of a spiritual response: every chapter starts with a spiritual reflection, followed by a text and ends with a prayer.
Download (from WCC)
The Light of Peace: The Churches and the Korean Peninsula (PDF)
