KNCC

It has been 95 years since the historic day when ourpeople opposed the savage Japanese military rule and triggered the nationalanti-Japanese patriotic resistance to restore their lost country and nationalindependence.

The Independence Movement (March 1) was the mostmemorable event in the history of our national liberation movement againstJapanese occupation. It revealed that our people will never accept a foreignyoke and an oppressive rule. It also disclosed how noble was the spirit ofindependence, the patriotic zeal and the indomitable will of our people.

Many patriotic Christians of Chosun who participated inthe uprising cried out "Independence of Korea", even though Japancruelly suppressed them with guns and swords.

Although Japan should make an apology for the crimesagainst humanity of their occupation of Korea and pay proper compensation tothe victims, rather they still try to glorify their past wrong doings and rekindlea spirit of militarism. They have reached a dangerous level of preparing theinstitutional, legal and material foundations for a militant nation which meansthe restoration of the glory of 'strong Japan'.

The current Abe administration is openly pushing aheadwith the restoration of militarism and exposing its ambitions for war, and inparticular the Japanese conservative administration has recurrently educatedand propagated the wrong ideology to rob Dokdo from Korea.

It has been almost one century since the IndependenceMovement (March 1) occurred. However, we are still facing the interference offoreign powers which threatens our people’s safety and the peace of Koreanpeninsula, hindering our two Koreas from improvement of relations and ultimatereunification.

We Korean people have a crucial task to raise up thespirit of the national independence movement which was national self-reliance,and to reject foreign interventions on issues which are only Korean business.We have to cooperate with each other so as to defend the peace and nationalsafety of the Korean peninsula and to improve the relationship between Southand North Korea.

Thus, in remembrance of the 95th anniversary of March1, the National Council of Churches in Korea and the Central Committee of theKorean Christian Federation determine to reject aggressive foreign powers andto open up the way of peace and reunification by ourselves, and so we declarethe following:

1. The NCCK and the KCF will strongly urge Japan togive up their ambitions for the restoration of militarism and attempts at war,including a refusal to deal with the Japanese military comfort women issues,the government leaders’ visit to the Yasukuni shrine, attempts to rob Dokdo,revision of the Peace Constitution, and the strengthening of the Self-DefenseForces.

2. The NCCK and the KCF not only strongly oppose allkinds of war preparations but also will not allow anything that hinders theimprovement and reunification of our people.

3. The NCCK and the KCF will make every effort toimprove the relationship between South and North Korea and actively cooperateto bring about a new turn for independent reunification and peaceful prosperitythis year.

March 1, 2014

TheNational Council of Churches in Korea      The Korean ChristianFederation, Central Committee