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Dear friends of the global church:
Dear friends of the global church:
We are in March, and 3.1, or the first ofMarch, is a National Holiday, the day we honour the first generation of Koreanswho rose against oppression. In 1919, 10years after the official takeover of our country by Japan, brave citizens rosein a national protest against the occupation. Although it was many years before we gained independence, and even moreuntil we acquired democratic rule, and although we are still struggling forreunification, we remember that the fire of freedom was lit on March 1, 1919 asthe shouts of Liberation for Korea rose from the lips of our country’s people.
Thus final liberation still lies ahead ofus, and will not be completed until unification of our divided country comesabout. It has been important for us thatthe WCC General Assembly issued a declaration calling for reunification, andcontinues to support this pilgrimage as we envision a new area, especially inthis year which is the 30th anniversary of the Tozanso process. The church wants to play a pastoral role inthe efforts toward reunification, to bring healing with the heart of JesusChrist. NCCK celebrates the recent reunion of the divided families, and callsfor such visits to take place regularly, free of political agendas.
As well as calling on the governments ofNorth and South Korea for open dialogue making honest efforts toward a renewed relationship,we also urge the South Korean government to address the democratic needs of ourcountry, and honestly investigate the questions of election fraud that havebeen raised.
One of our major hopes at this immediatetime is the establishment of a joint Council of Faith and Order betweenProtestants and Roman Catholic Christians. We are waiting for the official approval from the Korean Council ofCatholic Bishops to make concrete this historic event in mutual understandingand ecumenical solidarity.
March 11 was the anniversary of theterrible triple-disaster which struck Japan in 2011, the massive earthquake andtsunami which killed so many and the Fukishima nuclear-power plant meltdownwhose effects are still causing great distress. Although, as is evident, in this newsletter, there are many issues ofconflict between Korean and Japan, they are our close neighbours. Our heartsare full of grief for those who experienced so many losses – of loved ones, ofhomes, farms and livelihoods, of confidence in the future. The Peoples’ Forum on Peace and Security inNorth-East Asia was held in Japan to coincide with this anniversary, and areport will be in next month’s newsletter. Especially the nuclear issue must be taken very seriously by the leadersof the nations, for it threatens the very life of the world itself.
We continue to communicate with globalpartners to engage them in the Korean Christian History and Culture Museum,especially those partners who had sent missionaries to Korea in the early daysof our Christian story, those who have documents relevant to our story in theirarchives. We long to bring those valuableresources home.
As always, I recommend the work done byeach of the departments of this NCCK, and ask that our reporting will bring youhope and inspiration as each of you carries out God’s mission in your place.
Kim Young Ju, General Secretary
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