Korean Religious Leaders urging reconciliation

(June 23,2010) Amid tensions on the Korean peninsula that have brought fears of war, the president of the Episcopal conference is affirming the supreme good of reconciliation. Bishop Peter Kang of Cheju, president of the Korean bishops' conference, in a Friday interview with Fides said
"In this extremely delicate situation, Korea's religious leaders and Christians, must keep reminding all Koreans and indeed the whole world that the supreme good is reconciliation." The bishop spoke with the agency on the eve of a day of prayer for peace. "War would be a terrible tragedy, and we want to prevent it, using the most powerful of weapons: prayer," Bishop Kang explained.
Tense relations between the Koreas worsened last month, after North Korea was found responsible for firing a torpedo that sank one of South Korea's naval vessels and killed 46 sailors. The 64-year-old prelate emphasized the importance of humanitarian aid for the North, which is at a standstill due to the tensions. He said "Humanitarian aid to the North is beneficial and very positive, and to resume it, would be a gesture of goodwill toward our brothers and sisters in North Korea, suffering because of poverty and hunger. This gesture would certainly have a positive effect on the government of North Korea," Bishop Kang said