PROK E-NEWS
February 2008
PROK in Focus
1. PROK responds to the west-coast oil spill
In the early morning of December 5, 2007 off the western coast of Korea, the supertanker Hubei Spirit collided with a barge-ship owned by Samsung Heavy Industries. The coastline of the once pristine TaeanCounty in SouthChungcheongProvince became covered with a thick coat of oil following the resultant massive leak of oil from the Hubei Spirit. It took 48 hours for the emergency workers to eventually close up the vessel’s three ruptured tanks. However, 15,000 tons of crude oil had already leaked into the sea. The accident was recorded as the worst oil spill in Korean history.
The PROK immediately responded to this disastrous accident, appealing to all member churches to act with urgency in order to prevent further contamination of the west coast. The General Assembly office organized a massive relief effort on December 20 and 27, 2007 and January 10, 2008. The response of the member churches was tremendous. About 3,000 PROK volunteers including pastors, lay people and even children from 180 member churches participated in the volunteer work of cleaning up the oil, mainly scrubbing, rock by rock, the shore-line covered by the spilled oil. According to Christian news media, the number of PROK volunteers ranked top among all Korean churches which participated in the oil clean-up work. The PROK General Assembly office has also raised funds to provide financial support to the fish-farming families whose livelihood was so tragically affected by the catastrophe. After the disastrous accident, three people in TaeanCounty committed suicide, having lost all hope for their future. Meanwhile Samsung Heavy Industries, which was declared responsible for the accident, has been very passive in dealing with the issue of compensation and healing the trauma of the affected people. So far, about US$100,000 has been donated by PROK member churches; most of the fund was released to relieve the emergency needs of the affected families. Even some PROK partner churches in Switzerland and Taiwan (Presbyterian Church in Taiwan) encouraged the PROK effort through sending solidarity funds. Since the spilled oil still continues to contaminate the coast line, the General Assembly office has urged presbyteries and local churches to continuously organize volunteers, and the churches continue to faithfully answer the call; during the school vacation, many churches are organizing their youth retreats around this volunteer work. The number of volunteers from not only the churches but from all walks of society had topped the 1-million mark by mid-January. Environmental scientists have warned that “it will take at least half a century for the ecosystem in the west coast to recover from the disaster.”
In order to address the impending ecological issues, the PROKChurch and Society Committee plans to call an emergency meeting to evaluate all the activities concerning the oil-spill disaster and to articulate PROK’s long-term vision and mission on ecological issues including climate change and the issue of sustainable development. The Committee will consolidate its efforts to deepen its theological vision from the ecological perspective and develop very concrete guidelines for the local churches to live an eco-friendly life in society. Some creative proposals such as eco-friendly church construction and direct trade of organic agricultural products are being carefully studied by the Committee.
2. PROK opposes the government restructure plan
On January 21, 2007 the PROKChurch and Society Committee and Reunification Committee jointly issued a statement on the government restructure plan proposed by the new Presidential Transition Committee (PTC). A few days earlier, the PTC had proposed a plan to close, among several others, the Ministry of Unification and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. Furthermore, the PTC has pushed a proposal to place the existing National Human Rights Commission under direct control of the new president. Until now the National Human Rights Commission has worked independently, handling substantial human rights issues in Korean society. The rationale of the PTC for the proposed restructuring plan was “to manage a light and efficient government.” However, the proposal has met with harsh criticism by the outgoing Roh Moo-Hyun government as well as by civil society including the churches.
In its statement the PROK reiterated the historical contribution of the Ministry of Unification to peace-building and reconciliation in the Korean peninsula since its establishment in 1969. The PROK warned that “the closure of the Ministry of Unification will be a serious set-back to peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula.” The PROK also urged the new government to recognize the significance of gender equality in Korean society and to sustain the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, considering the fact that Korea ranks 64th among the 93 UNDP member countries in regard to safeguarding women’s rights.The PROK also spelled out that “one of the most critical roles of the National Human Rights Commission is to monitor human rights violations by the state,” and that therefore “the independence of the Commission from government bodies should not be a matter of question.”
Faced with harsh criticism by all sectors of Korean society, the PTC on February 22, 2008 withdrew its original plan and promised to maintain the above two ministries and to sustain the independence of the National Human Rights Commission.
3. CWM-EAR Consultation on Migrant Workers and Cross-border Marriages
Twenty-one participants from the member and partner churches of the Council for World Mission East-Asia Region attended the Consultation on Migrant Workers and Cross-border Marriage held on January 22-25, 2008 in Seoul. The winter chill in Seoul did not prevent the guests and observers from discussing the phenomenal and complex concerns of the migrant workers and foreign spouses, particularly those of Korean nationals in Korea. The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK) as a CWM partner church was entitled to send three official participants including an observer; they were Rev. Park Kyung-So, Executive Director of Incheon Migrant Workers Centre; Rev. Frank J. Hernando, UCCP/PROK mission co-worker; and Rev. Esther Grieder, mission-21/EMS mission co-worker with the PROK.
The invited resource persons and participants from the member churches - the Greja Presbyterian Malaysia (GPM), Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China (HKCCCC), Presbyterian Church in Singapore (PCS), Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) and Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK) - shared information on the various programs they initiated in their respective countries to aid foreign migrant workers and immigrants, and pointed out the immensity of the social costs of migration, such as separation of family members, anxiety and fear of deportation, stress related to job stability and maladjustment to the culture of the receiving country. The reports and case studies revealed that improvements are needed in the programs for the migrant workers, immigrants and émigrés in labor-receiving countries, particularly in how to mitigate the impact of social discrimination and violation of human rights.
The Consultation provided a broader theological and programmatic framework on which church-initiated programs for migrant workers can be pursued. The theological presentation underscored five typologies of theology of mission for migrant workers: mission as proselytism, mission as hospitality, mission-in-reverse, and minority mission. However, an alternative type of mission theology was proposed, that is, mission as ecumenical work for justice and peace. Broadly, it emphasizes respect for human rights of the migrant workers and the building of multi-cultural peace communities in society. The participants expressed the need for networking among CWM member and partner churches, agencies or organizations to strengthen ecumenical approaches for ministry with migrant workers and for enhancing the social work skills of those directly involved in this ministry. The participants had the chance to visit AnsanMigrantWorkersCenter and the MongolianChurch in Seoul, two of the many migrant worker centers in Korea which are managed either directly by local churches or as church-related social service centers.
Ecumenical Movement in Focus
The second meeting of the “Ecumenical Forum for Peace, Reunification, and Development Cooperation on the KoreanPeninsula” (referred to hereafter in this article as the Ecumenical Forum) was held in Arnoldshain, Germany, on February 7-8, 2008. First proposed by the International Ecumenical Consultation on Peace in East Asia, held in Seoul in May 2006 (PROK E-News May/06), the Forum held its first meeting, under its original name of “Ecumenical Consortium for PeaceBuilding and Social Development on the KoreanPeninsula” in December 2006 in Hong Kong (PROK E-News Dec/06). With larger and significantly wider participation than the first, this meeting of the Ecumenical Forum was attended by 35 representatives of churches and ecumenical bodies around the world, including three representatives of the Korean Christian Federation (KCF) of North Korea; representatives of the World Council of Churches (WCC); Christian Conference of Asia (CCA); and National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK). The PROK was represented by General Secretary Rev. Yoon Kil-Soo, and Chairperson of the PROK Peace Community Movement Centre, Rev. Rah Haek-Jib.
The change of name of the Ecumenical Forum reflects a holistic approach to the issues of peace and reunification and development cooperation on the peninsula, which, it was agreed, cannot be separated one from the other. The word “Forum” is meant to denote a world-wide network for development cooperation in the North as well as the churches’ solidarity efforts for peace and reunification on the Korean peninsula in continuation of the spirit of the Tozanso process. Participants in the first meeting in Hong Kong in 2006 recognized that the problem of poverty in North Korea must be met by more than emergency humanitarian support which, in the past ten and more years have been characterized by lack of information sharing, mutual cooperation and process of common evaluation, resulting in loss of trust, wasteful duplication, and money-centred support. This second meeting of the Ecumenical Forum was thus a first step forward toward sharing information and experiences in relation to North Korea and planning long-term projects and mutual trust-building through a worldwide network. The Steering Committee will meet in May 2008 in China to discuss common projects.
In the final statement the Ecumenical Forum appealed “to Christians around the world to be in wholehearted solidarity with the efforts of the Korean nation towards achieving reunification based on the principles of ensuring ‘co-existence, co-prosperity and common interests’ and to be fully involved in development cooperation.” The full statement and revised Terms of Reference may be obtained through the NCCK which continues to be responsible for coordinating the ongoing work of the Ecumenical Forum.
PROK E-News is a publication of The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK).
Editor: Rev. Yoon Kil-Soo, General Secretary
