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"The world must listen to the people of Korea. They do not want war. They want peace.”
Those are the words of Rev. Frank Chikane, moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), as he reflected what was on the minds of several dozen people from all over the world who attended a videoconference on the Korea crisis on 5 October.
“God help us and use us to work together to find peace, and live together again as brothers and sisters,” Chikane said.
The videoconference, led by WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, focused on how to find a peaceful solution on the Korean Peninsula and avoid a nuclear war. More specifically, the focus was on how to strengthen the voice and actions of churches in South Korea, the United States, North Korea and around the world to work for peace.
To open the videoconference, the WCC presented a briefing on the history of ecumenical engagement for peace on the Korean peninsula, and the re-intensification of this engagement since the WCC’s 10th Assembly in 2013 in Busan, South Korea.
Tveit said that churches are instrumental in building the relationships that could help prevent anybody from using nuclear weapons.
“We have to work together, both to prevent any idea of using them but also to prevent any preparation to use them,” he said.
Rev. Prof. Dr Sang Chang, WCC president for Asia and also representing the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea, said this is a critical time in history with a high level of tension that has brought us closer to a nuclear war than we have been in many years.
“We do need a peaceful solution,” said Chang. “We are asking for peace, not war. The churches around the world are able to play a significant role in mobilizing for peace. ”
Churches appeal for peaceful dialogue in Korea (WCC press release of 27 September 2017)
WCC urges dialogue and engagement - not threats and sanctions - for North Korea (WCC press release of 9 August 2017)
Across church families, across states: pledges for peace on the Korean Peninsula (WCC press release 12 July, 2017)
