The World Council of Churches (WCC) called on its member Churches worldwide to join the “Korea Peace Appeal,” an international campaign launched in South Korea in 2020 that seeks to amplify voices calling for a transition from armistice to peace beyond the peninsula.
The appeal urges governments “to take sincere and responsible action” to formally end the war, to resolve ongoing tensions “with dialogue and cooperation instead of sanctions and pressure,” to break from the “vicious circle of the arms race,” and to invest “in human security and environmental sustainability.”
The National Council of Churches of Korea is among over 370 South Korean civil society organizations and religious groups behind the initiative, and more than 70 international partner organizations, including the WCC and Catholic Pax Christi International, are supporting the appeal, according to a report on Vatican News.
“We are committed to continue our peace-building efforts and advocacy for justice worldwide,” said Dr. Jerry Pillay, WCC general secretary. “Transition from the armistice agreement to a peace treaty is a crucial step towards achieving lasting peace in the Korean Peninsula and beyond,” he added.
During the year, the WCC will publish a series of interviews with Church leaders and experts involved in the peace-building process on the Korean peninsula and promote the resources included in its 2020 publication “The Light of Peace: Churches in Solidarity with the Korean Peninsula.”
