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Religious leaders of two Koreas to gather in N. Korea next month

October 23, 2015

Buddhists from South and North Korea pose for a picture at Shingye Temple on Mount Kumgang along the North’s east coast on Oct. 15, 2015, after a service for reconciliation and a peaceful unification of the two Koreas. (Yonhap file photo)

SEOUL (Yonhap) — Religious leaders in South Korea will visit North Korea next month to hold a joint event for peace with their counterparts in the communist country, a religious group said Friday.

Some 150 men from the South’s seven major religious groups, including Protestants, the Catholic Church and Buddhism, will cross the border to Mount Kumgang on the North’s east coast to hold the South-North Korean believers’ peace event from Nov. 9-10, according to the Korean Conference on Religion and Peace (KCRP).

“During the event, they are to meet with dozens of officials from North Korean religious orders for prayer services and diverse events for friendship including hiking the mountain,” a KCRP official said.

Since earlier this year, the entity has been working to organize a joint event to pray for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, he added.

If realized, South and North Korea’s religious leaders will meet for the first time since 2011 when a joint prayer meeting was held in Pyongyang.

“The upcoming event carries significance, as it is the first time under the current (Park Geun-hye) administration for this many people from the two Koreas to get together. It will help usher in inter-Korean reconciliation,” the official said.

Meanwhile, Pyongyang greeted Christian church leaders from across the world, including South Korea, who are to seek ways for peace on the Korean Peninsula and the social development of the communist country, according to the World Council of Churches.

“The Ecumenical Forum for Peace, Reunification and Development Cooperation on the Korean Peninsula” kicked off earlier in the day to run until Oct. 31, with participants to hold rounds of meetings to find out what roles they can play for a peaceful peninsula and better living conditions for the people there.

The believers’ itinerary also includes visiting religious facilities in the North and food companies and holding prayer services, according to the organization.

“We will put the focus on how to maintain a stable link between the world church and that in North Korea, one of the crucial elements to help develop the communist country,” a forum official said.

Albeit lukewarm in political terms, the two Koreas have been engaged in humanitarian and religious events. This week, the first batch of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War met with their loved ones at Mount Kumgang, with the second groups to cross the border into the North for the reunions on Saturday.

One Comment

Riya So

October 24, 2015 at 4:25 PM

North Korea shouldn’t let the christians in, because they always try to destroy the Korean culture and cultural identity and pride. Just look at South Korea, where the Korean culture and cultural identity and pride are disappearing and the foreign western culture is growing.

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