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Erich Weingartner, who previously helped lead the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, has also represented CanKor, a Canadian interactive resource on North Korea. From the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, he was also founding head of the Food Aid Liaison Unit of the World Food Programme.

A war erupted on the Korean Peninsula 70 years ago that divided Korea and that has yet to end. So, the world’s churches have launched a “70 Days of Prayers - Global Prayer Campaign” for peace.

A global prayer campaign for peace on the Korean Peninsula will occur from 1 March – 15 August, lasting 70 days and inviting hundreds of thousands of people worldwide to say: “We Pray, Peace Now, End the War!”

On day 847 of a 1,000-day pilgrimage for peace on the Korean Peninsula, the Bargn Nuri Community stopped at the WCC for a Life and Peace Conference.

Even as international tension mounts, religious leaders from North and South Korea renewed their exchange during a December meeting that kept the push for peace alive. Members of the Steering Committee of the Ecumenical Forum for Peace, Reunification and Cooperation on the Korean Peninsula – including delegations from the Korean Christian Federation (KCF) of North Korea and of the National Council of Churches in South Korea (NCCK) – met in Shenyang, China, on 2-3 December 2019.

Churches across the Korean Peninsula will mark the year 2020 as a “jubilee year,” and, as they commemorate 70 years since the Korean War, religious leaders are pledging to redouble their ongoing efforts for stronger peace and reunification.

On 18 November a delegation led by World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit met with the prime minister of the Republic of Korea, Lee Nak-yeon.

Offering a keynote speech during the 68th General Assembly of the National Council of Churches in Korea in Seoul, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit reflected on the assembly theme, “Walk the Path of the New Commandment,” based on John’s account of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples.

In a sermon at the Seong Eun Methodist Church on 17 November, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit reflected on the theme of the upcoming WCC Assembly in 2021, “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity.”

The World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit is gravely concerned by the deteriorating situation in West Papua (the Indonesian provinces of Papua and Papua Barat), especially in light of reports from church partners in the territory that peaceful anti-racism demonstrations by Papuan students have been attacked with lethal force by Indonesian military forces and armed settler militias. In other places we have learned about horizontal violence between Papuans and non-indigenous residents.

Twenty-five ecumenical theologians and leaders gathered for public lectures coordinated by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Tokyo, Japan, on 17 September under the theme “Global Manifestations of Racism Today”.

Lectures and responses reflected on racism as a major concern of the ecumenical movement. Reflections focused on understanding global manifestations of racism today, and reaffirming the intersection of race and ethnicity with other determining characteristics．

At the most glorious moment in her career, Rev. Prof. Dr Sang Chang discovered that society is not always friendly and that politics can be devilish. But thanks to God, she got over it. Without bitterness and even more determined in her fight for gender equality and social justice.

The World Council of Churches invites all people of good will to observe a Sunday of Prayer for the Peaceful Reunification of the Korean Peninsula on 11 August.

An Ecumenical Forum for Peace, Reunification and Development Cooperation on the Korean Peninsula, held 10-12 July in Bangkok, has issued a communique that reiterates calls for peace and outlines possible steps toward renewed dialogue.

At the Ecumenical Forum for Peace, Reunification and Development Cooperation on the Korean Peninsula, being held in Bangkok on 10-12 July, the World Council of Churches (WCC) reiterated its call for peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The World Council of Churches Executive Committee issued a statement on 23 May expressing concern and solidarity for the people of West Papua who are facing violence and human rights violations.

The World Council of Churches (WCC), with the Korea Institute for National Unification, reflected on international cooperation for improvement of human rights and ecumenical cooperation for diakonia ministry in North Korea.

In a 29 April message, the Rt Rev. Dhiloraj Canagasabey, Anglican Bishop of Colombo in Sri Lanka and a member of the World Council of Churches Central Committee, reflected on the Easter Sunday violence in Christian churches in Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa and also in some hotels.

On 27 April, some 500,000 people joined hands to form a “human peace chain” along the 500 km long Demilitarized Zone between South and North Korea. They expressed their strong desire for permanent peace in the Korean Peninsula, gathering to celebrate the first anniversary of Panmunjom Declaration and commemorate the centennial of the 1 March Independence Movement.

In the wake of the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka, the Omnia Institute for Contextual Leadership, based in Chicago, lifted up points of hope that peace will win in the end. In a 25 April message, Shanta Premawardhana, president of the institute, wrote that every person of every faith of every nation deserves to wake up in peace. “Every child deserves to feel safe, welcomed, and alive to the promise that each day brings,” Premawardhana wrote. “I'm sure you know that this is why we build Interfaith Peacemaker Teams in Sri Lanka.”