THAAD and Reunification

July 12th 2016

Today we started the day meeting members of the National Council of Churches, Korea staff. The staff is preparing to leave for the United States next week to take a cross country trip collecting signatures supporting the reunification of the Korean peninsula, ending in Washington DC where the petitions will be delivered to the White House. Your prayers and support are encouraged, more information can be found at: www.globalministries.org/seeking_peace_with_justice_in_korea

Next we met with the Reunification Committee of the PROK. They were very thankful for the supportive work that the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) have done, especially the 2015 General Synod and General Assembly resolutions supporting the reunification of the Korean peninsula.

Korea has been in the U.S. news lately because of the announcement between South Korea and the United States to implement the THAAD missile defense system.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_High_Altitude_Area_Defense

It was clear that the members of the reunification committee felt that THAAD's development benefits the United States much more than it does South Korea. There was much discussion on the actual capabilities of THAAD and the overall sentiment is that the defense system gives the United States a stronger foothold in Asia from which to engage China and Russia. The committee was also very concerned with the financial burden being passed on to South Korea for the implementation of a weapons system that would significantly benefit the United States. There was complete agreement that the preference of the committee would be to support further negotiations between the north and south rather than continue to escalate the weaponization of the situation. They asked that we carry this message back to congregations and legislators in the United States.

Our conversations with the committee was enlightening to think about the geo-political realities of the Korean peninsula. One of the committee members called THAAD an attribute of the "neo-cold war". The reason Korea is currently divided is because in 1945 after WWII ended and Japan was forced to leave Korea, world powers could not decide who would maintain control of the region. U.S.S.R. was granted the northern part of the country and the United States the southern region. The Korean war erupted in 1950 when the north, as backed by the Soviet Union and later China attacked the south, where the United States and other allied forces which were part of the United Nations responded to the aggression. (Several people in the south have approached us to express their appreciation for the support of the United States during the Korean War).

Technically, the war in Korea has never ended, only the cease fire (armistice) agreement signed by the United States (on behalf of the U.N.) China, and North Korea exists. The armistice agreement penned in 1953 said that within three months the signers would return to the negotiation table to develop a peace treaty. Since that time period the Korean peninsula has remained a country divided and used as part of a larger global conflict centering on controlling east Asia and the Pacific. Control and influence in the Korean peninsula remains a priority for Russia, China and the United States, leaving the true sovereignty of Korea in question, as it has been since the end of the Joseon Dynasty in 1909.

August 15th is the anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese occupation (1909-1945). The reunification committee encouraged congregations in the UCC and DOC to join with them on that date (or the Sunday closest to that date) to pray for a peaceful reunification of the peninsula. Prayers and additional information can be found in the Global Ministries link above.

In our conversations after the meeting Jonathan and I agreed that the history courses we were taught in the United States as well as the messages provided through U.S. media provide a much different perspective on the region than the information we are receiving throughout this trip. 

Creator God, when you called forth light and life and separated the land from the seas, you did not draw boarders between nations and you did not create weapons of war. May we honor creation and one another by seeking to find unity that celebrates the diversity of all that you have created and called good. Amen.