Tag Archives: Republic of Korea

October 30, 2022 · 12:42 pm

An inadequate prayer in the face of tragedy in the Itaewon area of Seoul

God –

our minds stagger,

our hearts hurt,

our spirits sink

as we hear the news

of tragedy unimaginable

in the Itaewon area of Seoul.

Understanding falters,

words prove inadequate

and still we turn to you in prayer.

Comfort your children who grieve

for loved ones who died.

Work healing in your children

who are injured.

Support first responders,

medical personnel, and all who

provide care.

Guide the people of Itaewon,

of the Republic of Korea,

of the world,

as our spirits rage in anger,

and our minds flounder to process

to find appropriate responses.

Even in this time of profound grief,

perhaps especially in this time of profound grief,

help everyone – all your children – wherever we might be,

help us to love.

Amen.

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Filed under Current Events, Friends, Prayer

Tagged as death, grief, Injury, Itaewon, Republic of Korea, Seoul

August 14, 2021 · 9:46 pm

A prayer for peace and reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula 2021

Join the National Council of Churches in Korea in praying for peace on August 15 and every day.

God of creation,

We love this land where the people of the North and the South have built our own history together. We love the Korean Peninsula where we share our laughter and tears. But this land is moaning from the wounds of division.

The borders of different ideologies have driven this land into war and violence. The depths of hate are deep within us, and the forces that promote division are blocking our steps toward peace. The interference of major powers around the Korean Peninsula continues, and the people of the North and the South bear the burdens of conflict.

God of healing,

Hear our cry!

We pray that wounds of division will be healed.

Help us to stop hating and accusing each other, and plant the seeds of peace and coexistence. Help us to overcome the conflicts of ideology by the love of Christ.

Defeat the forces of evil that block the path of peace.

Help us stop the military exercises in the name of security.

God of reconciliation,

Grant the churches of the North and the South the strength and courage to lead the way of reconciliation and peace. We pray that the churches of the North and the South will strive to break down the walls of division and promote reconciliation.

God of peace,

We pray that we become a church dedicated to the true liberation today on the 76th anniversary of liberation from the Japanese Empire. We confess that peace and reunification on the Korean Peninsula is not an option, but a calling that we must achieve. Although the barbed wire of division has torn us apart, we remember that our spirits and hearts are connected in the Lord.

Help us walk together on the pilgrimage of justice and peace as we walk together for the Kingdom of God.

In Jesus’s name, we pray.

Amen!

15 August 2021
National Council of Churches in Korea

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Filed under Current Events

Tagged as Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Korea, Korean Peninsula, Peace, reconcilitation, Republic of Korea

November 25, 2018 · 6:56 pm

A challenge I am thankful for

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This banner, seen at Gangjeong village on the southern coast of Jeju Island, where a naval base was built over the opposition of the people and their supporters, provides a reminder of the challenge to work for justice and peace and wholeness in all things.

Traci Smith, author of Faithful Families: Creating Sacred Moments at Home has provided a gift of the November 2018 Gratitude Every Day calendar. I am using it as an opportuity to revisit photos and post them as they speak to gratitude.

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Filed under Photo, Travel

Tagged as challenge, Gangjeong Village, gratitude, Jeju Island, justice, November 2018 Gratitude Every Day, Peace, Republic of Korea, Traci Smith, wholeness

July 17, 2016 · 4:12 pm

Act for peace for Korea

Act for peace on the Korean Peninsula – sign the petition asking the U.S. government to enter negotiations for a peace treaty. 0001-42

On July 27, 1953, the guns fell silent on the Korean peninsula. An armistice brought three years of war to an end. However, a peace treaty has never replaced this cease fire.

Tensions remain between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. At times tensions heighten. Periodically they boil over into violent clashes. The continuing conflict diverts precious resources from the welfare of the people on both sides of the Demilitarized Zone.

The United States holds a special responsibility for a peaceful resolution of the conflict as it occupied the southern part of the peninsula in 1945 and signed the armistice in 1953. The United States maintains a military presence in the Republic of Korea. Joint military exercises fuel the tension with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Churches in the Republic of Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korean, the United States, and around the world have joined a campaign to call President Obama and Congress to enter negotiations now for a Korean peace treaty, without conditions, to replace the armistice agreement.

The Korean Peninsula has known separation and conflict since 1945. It is time, it is past time, for peace for Korea.

Sign the petition asking the U.S. government to enter negotiations for a peace treaty. Invite your friends to join you. Let’s give peace a chance.

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Filed under Current Events, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Tagged as Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Korea, Korean Peninsula, Korean War, North Korea, Peace, Republic of Korea, South Korea

July 18, 2015 · 3:13 pm

2015 Joint North-South Prayer and Worship Liturgy (8.15 Anniversary)

From my friends Kurt Esslinger and Hyeyoung Lee comes an opportunity to pray and witness for peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Hyeyoung and Kurt's Korean Adventure

This coming August 15th, 2015 will mark 70 years since Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial control as well as Korea’s division into two zones based on the decision of US and Soviet Union officials (with Koreans conspicuously absent). Thus began a cycle of conflict and violence that Korea has yet to escape. Christians in South Korea first learned that Christians still lived in the open North despite severe restrictions on the practice of their faith. South and North Christians met face to face for the first time in 1988, despite it being illegal with participants risking arrest upon return to the South. Since then, South Koreans and Christians of the world helped convince the North to give Christians some breathing room to worship and practice in public, although full freedom to practice is still restricted. Since 1988, the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK – South) and the Korean…

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Filed under Friends, Uncategorized, Worship

Tagged as Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Korea, Korean Peninsula, Republic of Korea

June 22, 2014 · 9:18 pm

Jeju Island Study Trip: Part 1

Way behind on this – but here is a reflection on the visit of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Young Adult Volunteer program in South Korea to Jeju Island, a place of beauty, pain, and courage.

Hyeyoung and Kurt's Korean Adventure

We take the YAVs on four big study trips/retreats during the one year they live with us in Daejeon. Our first trip was to Busan for the World Council of Churches Assembly. This time we went to Jeju Island. It is Korea’s largest island, and it hangs off the southern tip of the peninsula. It is known these days as a vacation/resort location, particularly for honeymoon couples. However, we went to learn about some of its darker history and some of the ways the islanders continue to deal with sufferings of the past. We spent 6 nights and 7 days there learning about the history of the island, it’s connection to the history of the mainland, and it’s unique culture that differs a bit from the mainland. I’ll cover different parts of our week there over the course of several posts.

Jeju April 3rd Peace Park (4/3 “Sah Sahm”)