I am very worried about the deteriorating situation on the Korean peninsula. Since the Korean war, the confrontation and tension of South and North Korea has been of serious significance. No one cannot predict how the situation will progress, and my prayerful hope is that the instability of the Korean peninsula should be resolved so that the close relationship between South and North Korea may be recovered. This sombre situation of the two Koreas needs to be understood by Christians and all people in the world, for the body of Christ is one and each one of us is a part of it. “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it”. (1 Corinthians 12:26, NIV). The National Council of Churches held an emergency prayer for peace and discussion related to the urgent crisis on the Korean peninsula on April 5 and also released ‘The urgent statement for peace of the Korean peninsula’. Please kindly find attached the Friday statement of the NCCK. In terms of the threatened confrontations, it is of vital importance to direct our prayers to God, since He is the only One with absolute authority over all situations. It is a great and comforting thought that the leader’s heart is in God's hand, as asserted by the writer of Proverbs: “In the Lord’s hand is the king’s heart.” (Proverbs 21:1.) Therefore, the NCCK is asking you to show solidarity joining as a whole Christian family in prayer for Korea’s peaceful reconciliation and reunification. Your cooperation and solidarity are needed to stabilize the fractured Korean peninsula.
Sincerely Rev. Dr. Kim Young-Ju General Secretary, The National Council of Churches in Korea
The petition:
Urgent Petition for peace on the Korean Peninsula
Praying for the peace of God and in the name of the Lord:
The South-Korean/U.S.
American military exercises are aggravating the situation and thus the conflict
is rapidly approaching the next stage of danger of a confrontation between
South and North Korean military forces. North Korea’s third nuclear test, the
UN’s violent propagandistic sanctions towards North Korea and the American
high-tech weapons being used in the large scale Korean-American joint military
exercises, etc. escalate the crisis on the Korean Peninsula. In these
circumstances, the irresponsible, alarming and offensive statements of both
South and North Korean authorities’ are driving the citizens of both countries
into fear. The National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK), which for a long
time has desired the nation’s reconciliation, and longs for peace and
reunification, opposes the movement toward this catastrophic situation and
cannot suppress a severe anxiety. In the following petition we express the
earnest prayers of Korean Christians for peace on the Korean Peninsula and
humbly ask for your participation.
1. We pray for the normalization of the situation at Gaesung Industrial ComplexEven though there may be the possibility of a hostile confrontation between South and North, the agreement from the North-South Summit about the work of Gaesung Industrial Complex has to be maintained. The South-North Korea Summit established Gaesung Industrial Complex to make peace and efforts to damage this work should be stopped.
2. We pray for the termination of the Korea-U.S. military exercises It should be noted that the large scale Korean-American military exercises on the Korean peninsula are to simulate ‘emergency incidents’ and as a result are a showcase to advertise US military weapons. In contrast to being labeled a ‘regular annual military exercise’, the present exercise has succeeded in presenting to the public state-of-the-art bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons, like the B-2 and B-52. Thus it not merely the North Korean military threats, but also the excessive proclamation of war to our citizens, is further promoting the crisis.
3. We pray that both South and North Korea proceed with dialogue immediately We must remember that through the dialogue that took place in the meetings between Kim Il sung and Moon Ik Hwan or Jimmy Carter, in the past we had the experience of changing the complicated situation between South and North and the state of being at the brink of war. Now it is strongly required that dialogue for peace on the Korean Peninsula take place by sending an emissary to intervene or another way.4. We pray for the resolution of the roots of military confrontation. The actual crisis results from the fact that during the five years of the last government the inter-Korean relations were ruptured, and the military confrontation has to be blamed on the former government. Peace on the Korean peninsula and the solution to the North Korean-American hostile relations will be secured when, instead of the competitive purchase of weapons and military threats, the agreements to provide the light-water reactor etc. are honoured. The NCCK believes this will completely resolve the North Korean nuclear issues.
5. We request a new will and the prayer of all Christians for the situation Korean Christians have been influential in facilitating the re-opening of the interrupted inter-Korean relations and contributing to make peace. We now once again join in our faith and prayer to approach the Lord’s peace on the Korean peninsula, and we sincerely ask for your participation. It is now time to overcome a false peace under the shadow of military forces and achieve a true peace overflowing with the Lord’s justice. Let us walk together with hope. Let us all stand together and pray to jubilate the 1995 proclamation of genuine peace on the Korean peninsula, restoring the history of the Korean Christians and a Korean brotherhood overflowing with eternal joy.
April 5, 2013
