Letter to the members of the United Nations Security Council in New York and the
Missions to the UN of the members of the Six Party Talks in Geneva, 10 September,
2004


Your Excellencies,

I write to you on behalf of the World Council of Churches, a fellowship of 340
churches around the world. Amongst others, one of the major tasks of the Council
is to work for peace and reconciliation both within communities and between
states.

In pursuance of this objective, the World Council of Churches together with
the churches in North and South Korea, have been concerned about the situation
in the Korean peninsula, which remains a flash point in the region with
potential to explode into a major conflagration. In 1984, the World Council of
Churches brought together churches in the Koreas as well as in North East Asia
in order to prepare for a common comprehensive plan of action of engagement
between North and South with the ultimate goal of bringing about peace and
reconciliation. This plan of action came to be known as the Tozanso Peace
Process, under the framework of which WCC organized a series of meetings
between the Korean Christian Federation from DRPK and the National Council
of Churches in Korea from the People's Republic of Korea. These meetings were
meant to foster relations between the two sides through prayer, worship and
celebration.

Subsequent to these meetings, delegations from WCC member churches in
US, Canada, Australia, Germany and Britain made several visits to DPRK; in
return the delegation of KCF visited Europe and North America. Through these
consultations and periodical visits the World Council of Churches together with
the churches in Korea was able to develop a position paper on Peace and Reunification
of the Korean peninsula and its people. Subsequently some salient features of this
paper became part of the South Korean Government's practices and policies on
peace and reunification.

In the post-Cold War period, the situation in the Korean peninsula has radically
changed. Tensions are running high and the Six Party Talks have yet to make
a breakthrough. Keeping in mind these developments, the members of the WCC
Executive Committee meeting in Seoul adopted the attached Statement that calls
on its member churches amongst others to mobilize support for peace and reunification
of Korea.

We urge your Government to continue to work for peace and reconciliation in
the Korean peninsula.

Sincerely yours,

Peter Weiderud
Director