04388
September 1, 2004

Lift sanctions on North Korea, global church body urges

by Michael Mettason
Ecumenical News International

BANGKOK — The Geneva-based World Council of Churches (WCC) has appealed to the international community to help lift sanctions against North Korea and to restore humanitarian aid to defeat hunger and malnutrition in the country.

      “The grave humanitarian crisis of hunger, chronic malnutrition and related disease facing the North Korean people are a challenge not only to the churches, but also to the conscience of the entire international community,” said the WCC executive committee after completing its Aug. 24-27 meeting in Seoul.

      The church grouping acknowledged in a statement that the churches and related agencies had addressed these problems and helped prevent “a major catastrophe,” and it urged them to continue to deal with the humanitarian needs of the North Korean people.

      South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun had, on Aug. 24, expressed his appreciation to the WCC for its “fundamental assistance” in support of human rights and democratization in his country. He also welcomed the contribution of the churches to the promotion of peaceful reunification of divided Korea.

      The WCC executive called on churches to mobilize support for the Six Party Talks, started in August 2003. The six — South Korea, North Korea, Russia, Japan, China and the United States — “have agreed to work towards a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and most share the view that North Korea’s concern over its security must be given due consideration and resolved,” the WCC said.

      North Korea is considered one of the most isolated nations and, since a 1953 armistice in the Korean War, a number of nations have imposed both multilateral and bilateral diplomatic and trade sanctions against it for its acts of internal oppression and nuclear armaments policies. Among those having sanctions against the communist country are the United States, Japan, South Korea, and the European Union.

      While calling for an end to sanctions, the WCC was critical towards North Korea, expressing concern over reports it violated human rights and denied access to human rights organizations. At the same time, the WCC called on the U.S. not to take pre-emptive military action against North Korea nor to use nuclear weapons against it.

      Earlier this year, the WCC’s Churches Commission on International Affairs said the reunification of the Korean Peninsula would be a major focus of its work in the run-up to the council’s next assembly — its highest governing body — to be held in Brazil in 2006.

      The WCC is a grouping of 342 churches in more than 120 countries from virtually all Christian traditions.