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In a first meeting since 2009 and since the 2013 appointment of a new leader for the Korea Christian Federation (KCF) of North Korea, an international group of from 34 churches and related organizations from 15 countries, including North and South Korea, met near Geneva, Switzerland, to seek ways to advance reconciliation and peace on the peninsula.

At a press conference in Seoul, Republic of Korea, on 9 April, the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC, announced that an international consultation on peace, reconciliation and reunification of the Korean peninsula will be held in Geneva in June 2014.

The WCC general secretary has expressed heartfelt condolences on the passing away of Dr Kang Moon-Kyu, an ecumenical leader from South Korea and former president of the WCC from Asia, 1998-2006.

Participants from across the ecumenical membership of the WCC gathered from 28 to 29 October for a Women and Men’s Pre-assembly programme preceding the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea. The WCC has had a long tradition and commitment to gender justice and advocacy for a just community of women and men in church and society, a commitment which began at the first WCC assembly in 1948.

The distance between the North Korean and South Korean sides of the demarcation line (DMZ) near Panmunjom can be measured in a few metres.

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.

Dr Oh Jae Shik, an ecumenical peace activist from South Korea was remembered by the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary as “friend of the weak and marginalized”.

Some 22 representatives of the major Asian associations of theological schools came together recently in Indonesia to discuss challenges for training of ministers and lay people in Asian churches and to set goals for a new forum on theological education.

On behalf of the member churches, the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit expressed deep sorrow over the passing away of Rev. Kang Young-sup on 21 Januray, a great Christian leader, whose efforts for the reunification of the Korean peninsula have been significant throughout his life.

A broad group of World Council of Churches (WCC) member churches, inside and outside of Korea, were involved in a recent shipment of food aid to North Korea.

The silence of the international community to the plight of millions of North Koreans facing starvation and severe malnutrition was of deep concern to the members of an ecumenical forum for peace and reunification of the Korean Peninsula, which met last week, 16 to 19 June, in Nanjing, China.