Resolution: Advocating Peace and Reconciliation in the Korean Peninsula

WHEREAS, Jesus' prayer in John's gospel implores God, "that they all may be one" (John 17:21 NRSV); and

WHEREAS, the Psalmist writes, "How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!" (Psalm 133:1); and

WHEREAS, Matthew says, "Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive." (Matthew 21:22); and

WHEREAS, Jesus states in the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are the peacemakers," (Matthew 5:9); and

WHEREAS, II Corinthians 5:18-19 says, "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us."; and

WHEREAS, the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ has been in partnership with the Kyung-ki Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of the Republic of Korea since 1994 and the United Church of Christ maintains a partnership with the Presbyterian Church of the Republic of Korea (PROK); and

WHEREAS, the Korean people suffered under Japanese occupation for 50 years and the Korean Peninsula was divided at the 38th parallel by the USSR and the United States following the defeat of Japan at the end of World War II and that in the ensuing Cold War environment, the USSR and the US each supported the development of a government and a separate country of the divided peninsula, a division that has continued beyond the truce of the Korean War in 1953; and

WHEREAS, many families were divided when some members migrated across the border to escape communism; and

WHEREAS, isolation, embargoes, floods and drought have undermined the economy of the North; and

WHEREAS, the PROK has maintained work for the reunification of the Korean Peninsula as a justice priority and has requested that we include this concern in our prayers; and

WHEREAS, the Kyung-ki Presbytery has adopted a resolution calling for the reunification of Korea;

WHEREAS, at the 213th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Korean Presbyterian leaders appealed for peace and reconciliation in their divided country and the General Assembly pledged to join in earnest prayer for peace;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that we the delegates to the 135th Annual Meeting of the Connecticut Conference, United Church of Christ, call upon the members of the churches, associations and the Conference as a whole to express our solidarity with our partners in Korea, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we join with the 213th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in earnest prayer "which seeks the face of God's wisdom in the hope that God transforms our lives from anger to love, from destruction to construction"; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we request our national policy advocate to communicate to our policy makers, including our President and Congress, our recommendation that the United States pursue policies that will end tension, decrease armaments and weapons of mass destruction, and seek the peace and security of all the people of Korea; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call on the members of local congregations to contact President Bush and urge a continuation of the basic tenets of the "sunshine policy" practiced by the government of the Republic of Korea, including helping North Korea economically, ending the Cold War legacy, reuniting families, and exchanging special envoys to fulfill the 1991 Agreement on Reconciliation, Non-aggression and Exchange and Cooperation between the North and South; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge local congregations to study and become familiar with the problems of our partners in the PROK; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be recommended to the XXIV General Synod of the United Church of Christ for its consideration.

Presented by the Church of Christ, Congregational, Newington