Document
He shall judge between the nations and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war anymore.
(Isaiah 2:4)
This year, 2026, marks the 40th anniversary of the historic meeting convened by the World Council of Churches on 2-5 September 1986 in Glion, Switzerland, that brought together Christians from both North and South Korea, in a seminar on “the Biblical and theological foundation of Christian concern for peace”.
In this meeting, representatives from the Korean Christian Federation (KCF) of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), and from the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) in the Republic of Korea encountered each other for the first time. It is recalled that though the representatives from both sides were initially fearful and suspicious of one another, mutual trust grew. The closing Eucharist became a deeply emotional expression of Christian unity that melted invisible walls, reducing participants to tears and embraces.
This gathering laid the groundwork for the foundational “88 Declaration”, in which the South Korean NCCK confessed the guilt of national division and laid out principles for peace and reconciliation. Moreover, the Glion meeting marked the beginning of the practical implementation of the “Tozanso Process” which has been the essential framework for international ecumenical engagement and accompaniment of KCF and NCCK as partners for dialogue, cooperation and peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula.
However, in December 2023 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un formally abandoned the long‑standing goal of peaceful Korean reunification, recognizing North and South Korea as separate countries, and identifying South Korea as a hostile foreign state rather than part of one nation. This change removed the political foundations on which the Tozanso Process of international ecumenical support for inter-Korean encounter, dialogue and cooperation and the vision of peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula had been based.
In the intervening period, regional geopolitics have hardened – especially during the period of Yoon Suk Yeol’s presidency in South Korea – and tensions and military confrontation have increased. The threat of nuclear conflict in the Northeast Asian region – with catastrophic consequences for all people of the region and the world – is once again ascendant.
The executive committee of the World Council of Churches, meeting online from 8-12 June 2026:
Laments the shift in regional geopolitics that represents such a serious rupture in relations and of the political context for inter-Korean cooperation for peace and for the peaceful reunification of the divided Korean people.
Regretfully recognizes this new reality, and the need to find other pathways for mitigating the risks of catastrophic conflict, and of working for peaceful co-existence on the Korean Peninsula.
Nevertheless maintains the hope and vision that has guided more than forty years of ecumenical engagement in the Tozanso Process, that the Korean people divided by Cold War political forces will one day peacefully reunite, and that peace will reign for all people on the Korean Peninsula and in the wider Northeast Asian region.
Encourages all WCC member churches and ecumenical partners in Korea and around the world to continue their work for peace, mutual understanding, and human rights for all people on the Korean Peninsula.
Invites WCC member churches and ecumenical partners to a global prayer for peace on the Korean Peninsula, and to renewed solidarity and cooperation with the National Council of Churches in Korea in their continuing Christian witness for peace and for justice.
