Written by: incontextinternational
Article source: www.incontextinternational.org
On 10 May, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, in his annual speech, emphasised the need for urgent action to achieve peace with North Korea during his final year in office.
Mr Moon sees the final year of his term as the last chance to push for peace – given his ties to the north (as the son of North Korean refugees) and his prioritisation of engagement with North Korea (over their nuclear and missile programmes), reconciliation and working towards reunification.
Mr Moon has been more open to negotiations with the North than many of the recent conservative presidents since the height of the ‘Sunshine Policy’ (a policy that was meant to soften North Korea’s attitude towards South Korea) begun by former President Kim Dae-jung (1998-2003).
Mr Moon appeared to make progress during the 2018 summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but progress has since stagnated, with Pyongyang currently showing little interest in talking. Mr Moon’s efforts have been significantly influenced by the Biden administration’s revised stance on North Korea, which does not appear to be a top priority.
US President Joe Biden has shown no indication of loosening sanctions on North Korea and has not appointed a special envoy to handle the issue. After a recent policy review, Mr Biden was advised to pursue a “practical” and phased diplomatic approach to persuade North Korea to surrender its nuclear weapons. However, the Biden administration said its overtures to Pyongyang have gone unanswered.
North Korea reportedly did not see the need to respond due to the US’s unwillingness to meet its demands. Shortly after these attempts at communication, North Korea launched two short-range missile tests in March, marking the first such tests in a year, and the first since Mr Biden took office.
The tests are seen as a signal to Washington that North Korea would continue developing its nuclear weapons programme in the current “hostile” environment.
Mr Moon said in Monday’s speech that he does not believe North Korea is rejecting dialogue but is waiting to further assess US policy. As the window of opportunity is closing, he asserted that the time for long deliberations is coming to an end.
He is expected to push the US to pursue engagement with North Korea at the upcoming US-South Korea summit in Washington on 21 May.
From a Christian perspective, North Korea has been ranked by Open Doors as the country where Christians face the most extreme persecution, for the 20th year in a row. Being a Christian in North Korea is punishable by death or imprisonment as a political criminal in labour camps (estimated to hold 50-70,000 Christians), along with one’s family.
In North Korea, ‘Juche’, the official state ideology – a combination of Marxism, self-reliance, and a personality cult around the leader (starting with Kim Il-Sung, and subsequently his son and grandson) – has replaced religion. On the other side of the fortified border, South Korea has become a hub for evangelism and one of the world top missionary-sending nations.
While opinions vary over whether North and South Korea should merely work towards peaceful coexistence or be fully reunited, for many South Korean Christians, reunification with the North is a religious goal.
These Christians believe that anything is possible with faith – knowing that achieving a reunified democracy would require a miracle. The South Korean Church longs to join hands with the Church in the North – to which it owes some of its heritage (Pyongyang was once known as ‘The Jerusalem of the East,’ before the arrival of Communism) – and many older South Koreans desire to be reunited with relatives in the North.
South Korean believers have been involved in many outreach initiatives aimed at their northern neighbour, including sending messages and smuggling radios to broadcast Christian content over the border, helping defectors adjust to life in the South, holding prayer rallies, and paving the way for reunification in various ways.
Not much is known about the North Korean believing community, but some are convinced that once North Korea opens we will find a resilient Church, similar to the Chinese Church – refined through persecution – which could become a sending Church that has a powerful impact beyond its borders.
Please pray with us for the following:
- For this window of opportunity to achieve greater peace and reconciliation between the North and South to not be missed/forfeited
- For the believers in North Korea to persevere in their faith and find their strength, comfort, and courage in the Lord, especially during times of intense persecution
- For believers in South Korea to continue interceding for, and reaching out to, their North Korean neighbours
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Date published: 24/05/2021
Feature image: South Korean President Moon Jae-In. www.flickr.com
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