Message for 2011 Prayer Day for the Reconciliation and Unity of the Korean People

The Most Rev. Lucas Kim Woon-hoe, President of the CBCK Committee for the Reconciliation of the Korean People and Bishop of Chunchon, issued a message for 2011 Prayer Day for the Reconciliation and Unity of the Korean People on June 19, 2011, with the theme, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you" (Jn 14,27).

Bishop Kim said, "These days, when the tension between South and North Korea is growing, we should remember more than ever that we are the apostles of peace."

He mentioned the food crisis in North Korea and asserted, "It is necessary to urge North Korean authorities to improve human rights, transparency and sincerity, but, first of all, it is our duty to think about the right to live of North Koreans who are left starving to death."

He also emphasized, "What is needed for South and North Korea is not a passive peace policy for mutual security, but an active peace policy which allows us to understand and accept each other." And he continued, "The most important action to bring peace to South and North Korea is for us to reach out a hand to our neighborhood in need."