South Korea President Roh Moo-hyun commends Anglican peace conference

By Matthew Davies, November 17, 2007 [Episcopal News Service] South Korea's President Roh Moo-hyun has sent a message of gratitude to the delegates attending the November 16-20 worldwide Anglican peace conference, Towards Peace in Korea (TOPIK), in Seoul, commending them "for your prayers and efforts for peace on the Korean Peninsula."

"The time is now ripe for peace on the peninsula," said Roh, who has served as South Korea's president since February 2003. "Building on reconciliation and cooperation, the South and North are marching forward together, taking one step at a time toward common prosperity."

In his message to the 150 delegates attending TOPIK, Roh acknowledged that "the North Korean nuclear issue has posed a great stumbling block to the progress of South-North Korean relations."

Originally scheduled for 2006, the TOPIK conference was postponed amid tensions arising from missile and nuclear tests in North Korea.

"With patience and moderation, the Korean Government has built confidence while bringing inter-Korean relations under stable management," said Roh. "It has never given up its efforts to engage the North in dialogue even when the going was tough. The North Korean nuclear issue is now on the path to peaceful resolution with the process of disabling its nuclear facilities having started."

Held prior to the TOPIK Forum in Seoul, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori joined other religious leaders and members of the Anglican Church of Korea on a November 14-16 peace trip to Geumgangsan in North Korea.

"I firmly believe that the future of humanity is bright, indeed," said Roh, upholding October's South-North Korean Summit as an important turning point in bringing about peace on the Korean Peninsula and forging a common economic community. "...[W]e are blessed with so many people like you who have dedicated themselves to resolving diverse disputes and conflicts in the interest of a peaceful world.

Roh said the agreements made in the inter-Korean summit will help free the peninsula "from the legacies of the Cold War and the yoke of division. The peninsula then will be transformed into a new generator of world peace, contributing to the progress of humanity."

"Particularly, the Anglican Church has long striven to actively propagate messages of peace globally according to the teaching of Jesus Christ," Roh added. "These endeavors will certainly help lay a solid foundation for advancing the age of peace on the Korean Peninsula."

Throughout the TOPIK conference, experiences of working for reconciliation, forgiveness and healing will be shared and discussed through addresses given by a range of speakers from around the world.

In attendance are about 100 South Koreans and 40 overseas delegates from 20 countries, including Korea Primate Francis Park; Japan Primate Nathaniel M. Uematsu; Taiwan Bishop David Lai; Archbishop Roger Herft of Perth (Australia); Bishop Kumara Illangasinghe of Kurunagala (Church of Ceylon, Sri Lanka); and Bishop Terry Brown of Malaita (Solomon Islands).

The Episcopal Church delegation includes Jefferts Schori; Peter Ng, partnership officer for Asia and the Pacific; the Rev. Canon Brian Grieves, director of Peace and Justice Ministries; the Rev. Dr. Charles K. Robertson, Canon to the Presiding Bishop; and Neva Rae Fox, senior program officer for public affairs.

-- Matthew Davies is editor of Episcopal Life Online.

» Respond to this article

Browse by Topic:

Browse by Topic: 2009 »   Anglican and Global Relations   Children, Youth and Young Adults   Congregational Ministries   Ecumenical and Inter-Religious   Education   Ethnic Ministries   Executive Council   FEAST: Faith, Environment, Action, Science, Technology   General Convention   House of Bishops   Liturgy and Music   Millennium Development Goals   Peace and Justice   Presiding Bishop   Program, Budget and Finance   Women and the Church