ASIA/SOUTH KOREA - North Korea has cut off road and rail access to South Korea: Catholics continue to keep alive the hope of peace and reconciliation

Seoul (Agenzia Fides) - North Korea has cut off road and rail access to South Korea with the aim of "completely separating" the two countries. The North Korean army has announced that it is proceeding to "permanently isolate and block the southern border", reinforcing the fortifications as a "self-defense measure to prevent war". Signs of closure such as this - with high symbolic value - mark a historic moment in which tensions between the two parts of Korea have reached their highest levels in recent years. This has not left southern society untouched either, and "the desire for reunification is diminishing", says Peter Soon-Taick Chung, Archbishop of Seoul and Apostolic Administrator of Pyongyang, in an interview with Fides, in which he examines the issue of North-South relations.
"I think many young people in the South are beginning to believe that reconciliation or reunification are not viable paths. Hope is fading", he notes. Therefore, he adds, "I think it is appropriate to continue to dream of peaceful coexistence and to keep the light of hope burning in Korean society, especially today, in the current stalemate, with the total blockade of communication routes, the situation is very bleak". He adds that "our task is to continue with prayer and education for peace: the Church continues to ask what can and must be done for peace". "We are approaching the Holy Year, which has as its theme hope: we are pilgrims of hope, also with regard to relations with the North", he stresses.
Simon Kim Ju-young, Bishop of Chuncheon and president of the Episcopal Commission for Reconciliation, meanwhile notes with bitterness that "both sides view each other with a certain hostility and all channels are closed, even that of humanitarian aid, which was kept open in the past. And even if the Korean public opinion is still quite divided on policy towards the North, all Koreans are united when it comes to sending humanitarian aid to North Korea. But North Korea keeps all channels closed, including humanitarian ones."
There is another reason for this attitude, according to political observers: in the current international context, marked by wars in Europe and the Middle East, the arms market has grown and North Korea is one of the countries that sell equipment from its war arsenal. This sector acts as a driving force for the North Korean economy, which is thus less dependent and less reliant on external aid.
In this period of closure, "we pray above all for the doors to open. All the faithful of the Church in Korea participate in this prayer," says Bishop Simon Kim Ju-young. "In some dioceses, for example, the faithful gathered at nine o'clock in the evening to ask God for reconciliation and peace. In Seoul, a Mass is celebrated every week for this intention, and in my diocese of Chuncheon, we hold a special prayer on the 25th of every month.”
In all the dioceses of Korea, there is a Commission for Reconciliation and Unification of the Korean People, where religious priests, nuns and lay people come together “to talk about peace and continue to raise people’s awareness of the issue of peace, with initiatives aimed at the Catholic faithful but also at non-Catholics,” the bishop continued.
Another way, which practices a kind of “culture of welcome,” is proposed by Benedictine Abbot Blasio Park Hyun-dong, OSB, Apostolic Administrator of the Territorial Abbey of Tokwon in the province of Hamkyongnam in North Korea: the building of the Tokwon Abbey is now used as a University of Agriculture. In 1952, Benedictine monks and nuns fled the North because of the Korean War and founded a new monastery in Waegwan, South Korea. Today, the Abbot of Waegwan, who is also Apostolic Administrator of the Territorial Abbey of Tokwon, reports: “We can continue to show concrete solidarity and welcome the refugees who make it from the North to the South. As religious communities, we do our best to help these refugees, at all levels. Even if reunification is still a long way off, for us this is a kind of preparation for living together and keeps the hope of reconciliation alive.”
Looking back, the bishops recall that the Commission for Reconciliation within the Episcopal Conference visited Pyongyang in December 2015 to meet with the local Catholic community and celebrate a Mass in the Changchung Church. “On that occasion,” recalls the then priest Simon Kim Ju-young, "we told the local faithful that South Korean Catholics pray for reconciliation every day at nine in the evening. We asked them to participate in this prayer and they assured us that they would do so." He added: "I remember their faces and their words. They were people who professed Christianity and I felt in my heart that they said it with a sincere heart and the authenticity of the Holy Spirit. Today, listening to the stories of the refugees, even if we have no news from across the border, we nourish the hope that there are still believers there. We hope that one day we will be able to come together again and pray together". (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 9/10/2024)

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