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Participants in the WCC 10th Assembly witnessed a vibrant artistic performance filled with music and drama, telling the story of the national and Christian mission history of Korea.

Amidst dramatic events, injustices and crises in the world, God is creating a “new dawn” for the ecumenical movement, said the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC. He was reporting at the 10th Assembly of the WCC on the council’s work over the last seven years. He welcomed the coming of this Assembly which he expects to be an event of humility, honesty and hope.

“They’re coming, they’re coming,” shouts a young women, looking toward the train pulling into platform 6 at Busan Station. When the doors open, people get off with large suitcases. They look tired – yet incredibly happy at the same time. They’ve traveled from Berlin to Busan, 20 days across Europe and Asia. Their objective: To send out a signal against the division of Korea – and for peace in the country which has been split in two for 63 years.

More than 200 international theology students of varied Christian traditions have commenced participating in the Global Ecumenical Theological Institute (GETI). An opening with a vibrant worship service at the Graduate School of Theology of Hanshin University marked the beginning of the GETI on 26 October in Seoul, Republic of Korea.

Final preparations are underway for the opening of the 10th Assembly of the WCC, to be held in Busan, Republic of Korea.

In preparation for the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea (South Korea), pastors and peace activists in that nation are holding a 40-day “fasting prayer” in front of the Busan City Hall. They are protesting the dangers of nuclear radiation and asking to shut down South Korea’s oldest and incident-prone Kori Nuclear Power Plant, some 20 kilometres from the venue of the WCC assembly.

Migrants are reduced to mere commodities, traded and exchanged in the global market, according to a declaration issued by churches calling for an end to this gross violation of human dignity. The declaration was issued on the occasion of the Second United Nations High Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development in New York City, USA.

The WCC is working toward the revival of “Thursdays in Black”, a campaign against sexual and gender-based violence. The emphasis is pertinent to the theme of the WCC’s upcoming assembly: “God of life, lead us to justice and peace”.

The 10th Assembly of the WCC begins at the end of October and promises to be one of the most diverse gatherings of Christians in the world.

During a recent visit, members of the committee responsible for hosting the upcoming WCC assembly in Busan shared their hope for a “meaningful and successful assembly” which will bring together the worldwide fellowship of WCC member churches in the Republic of Korea for celebration, deliberations and prayer.

As part of the preparations for the upcoming WCC assembly in Korea, young delegates to the event recently got together in Geneva to strategize on making youth contributions to the assembly and to the WCC youth programme more meaningful – envisioning a “youth pilgrimage for justice and peace”.

“Justice and peace now!” was a call made by the participants of the Asia-Pacific Students and Youth Gathering in the Philippines. They affirmed their role in revitalizing the ecumenical movement, aspiring to be “seeds of hope, catalysts of genuine and lasting peace that is based on justice”.

Members of migrant and local churches in Geneva will get to experience the life and spirit of the WCC 10th Assembly in their own city on Saturday 14 September.

Events in Northeast Asia this year “dramatize how much the region and the world still live in the shadow of mass destruction”, the WCC general secretary said in a comment on the 68th anniversary this week of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. “The God of life calls all of us to take up [the survivors’] tireless cry and make certain that a Hiroshima or Nagasaki bombing can never happen again.”

While the WCC 10th Assembly is several months away, a foretaste of what young people will bring to the assembly and experience is already developing a rhythm.

Talk about peace on the Korean peninsula part of discussions at ecumenical consultation on peace and security issues in Asia.

During a visit to the Ecumenical Centre and the WCC in Geneva, the officers of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK) announced that Pentecost Sunday 2013, which it celebrates on 19 May, will be a special day of prayer for the WCC Busan Assembly throughout the 8,300 congregations of the denomination.

The general secretary of the WCC has called for an end to the increase of tensions on the Korean peninsula and encourages the parties involved to move immediately to dialogue about peace, reconciliation and reunification.

At the recent World Social Forum, ecumenical voices warned about the grave consequences of extraction of natural resources and mining, which they say generate a tremendous amount of social and ecological debt.

"€œA church has to embrace its sick, go out in the world, and work with its people to heal the communities,"€ said Dr Erlinda N. Senturias from the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, in an interview.