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“The military tensions on the Korean Peninsula are now escalating,” the NCCK statement reads. “Anxiety is growing among the residents of the border region and the people who witness such a military tension.”
A policy of confrontation and antagonism obscures the prospect of peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, the statement notes. “There should never be any more armed conflicts on the Korean Peninsula,” the text reads. “There is still time for dialogue between the South and the North and opportunities for peaceful engagement.”
"The South, the North, and US must immediately stop hostile acts that amplify military tensions on the Korean Peninsula,” the text reads. “Furthermore, we must choose the path of peace and take all diplomatic measures to achieve peace.”
Sauca said that the WCC joins the NCCK in underlining that the continued escalation of tensions and confrontation risks tipping into catastrophic conflict. “We must not ignore each other's warnings about current hostile military actions, nor should it lead to diplomatic failure,” the NCCK statement reads.
We must choose the path of peace and reject any acts of violence, the statement concludes. "The path to peace is opened only through the peaceful means of solidarity with love and justice, with a heart of peace as commanded by Christ,” reads the text. “It must be remembered that the only way to overcome the current crisis is to seek mutual coexistence and reconciliation through peace engagement on the Korean Peninsula and its neighboring countries.”
In September, the WCC 11th Assembly adopted a minute on ending the war and building peace on the Korean Peninsula. The minute notes that the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, South Korea, drew the attention of the worldwide ecumenical movement to the ongoing search for peace, reconciliation, and reunification of the divided Korean people. "And despite the signing of an armistice agreement on 27 July 1953, the Korean War still has not been formally ended,” the minute notes.
“Carrying forward the heritage of the Busan Assembly in this time of renewed threats to peace in the region, the WCC 11th Assembly prays for our Christian sisters and brothers in the Korean Peninsula, that the political reasons for their division from each other will be resolved, and that the peaceful reunification will be achieved,” the minute reads.
