[June 2013] Greetings from the General Secretary

Dear brothers and sisters of the global church,

Warm greetings of peace from Seoul and the members of the NCCK.

Recently I have been doing a great of travelling and talking in different parts of the world

about Korea and its longing for peace and reunification. First of all it was to the

Ecumenical Korea Peace Conference hosted by the United Methodist Church, USA, in

Atlanta, Georgia.

The title of the conference was “Embrace Peace, Pursue It: from Armistice to Just Peace

on the Korean peninsula”. The key speakers included Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori of

the Episcopal Church, Rev. Syngman Rhee of NCCUSA/PCUSA, and Bishop Hee-Soo

Jung of United Methodist Church. We were very pleased to meet other Korean and

American peacemakers through this conference and hope that this Ecumenical coalition

will help lead the next steps towards establishing peace and reconciliation in the Korean

peninsula.

Next was the International Consultation on Asia’s Human Security Challenges: Towards

Peace with Justice and Reconciliation in North East Asia in Hong Kong in early June. This

was organized by the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs and CCA.

We focused on three pathways, as we celebrated Asia, lamented Asia and hoped for Asia.

Let me share with you two sentences from the communiqué issued at the end of the time.

“Christians desiring for peace and justice must be servants of peace and agents of justice

rather than peddlers of death and merchants of empire.” “True national security is peoples'

security that puts first and center the human rights and freedoms of human beings and their

collectivities. It is security that makes possible for everyone to ‘sit under their own vine

and fig tree and no one will make them afraid’ (Micah 4:4).”

While in Hong Kong, the Ecumenical Forum for Korea Steering Committee met. We were

very regretful that Rev. Ri Jong Ro from KCF was not able to attend. It was the first

meeting of the Ecumenical Forum since the death of Rev. Kang Young Sup, longtime

Chairperson of KCF, and it was good to talk about the sad situation taking place in Korea.

Although there are many who long for peace, this year both governments have displayed

great hostility to one another, and although there were high hopes just in recent weeks for

talks leading to a settlement and a new chance for going forward, they were dashed as

the governments drew back at the last second. Our sincere prayers in Hong Kong were for

peace and reunification.

The last international meeting I attended was in Indonesia, the annual executive meeting of

Asian Conference of Religions for Peace. 55 delegates came from 17 nations,

representing Buddhist, Hindu, Catholic, Protestant, Shinto, Confucian and Islamic

communities. To our joy, the North Korean branch of ACRP was represented, in the

person of Rev. Jang Jae Un. He and I talked extensively about the desires of our hearts

for reunification and the need for security and wellbeing of our people. Rev. Jang supports

the Peace Train and Peace Treaty initiatives and will do all in his power to support North

Korean attendance at WCC General Assembly if circumstances allow. In these days we are

jointly praying for reunification as we celebrate the sad anniversary of the beginning of our

painful civil war in 1950.

In an exciting decision, the executive of ACRP accepted our joint proposal for next years’

General Assembly to be held at Keumgang Mountain, in North Korea. We ask your prayers

to lead the leaders of our countries into the will to make this important initiative come

about.

The preparation for the World Council of Churches General Assembly is going on. We

commit ourselves to a successful and Spirit-filled Assembly as the churches of the world

gather to live and learn together.

Finally, last month I told you about the agonies of the Ssangyong Motors workers. In a

terrible police raid on the protesting laid-off labourers, Kim Jeong Woo, the head of the

union, was arrested and is still being held. Christians continue to fast and pray for labour

leader Kim and the others affected by this. We ask your prayers for his release and for a

just settlement of this issue which tears at our nation.

Our prayer for Korea and the world is, “God of Life, in all things, lead us into justice and

peace.” I pray that you will know the joy and the strength that the Lord gives to those

who follow him, who drink from the wells of life-giving water.

In Peace,

Kim Young Ju, General Secretary