‘Don’t talk tough on North Korea – talk peace’

Korean church leaders today pleaded for a peaceful solution to the Korean crisis.
“ Don’t talk tough to North Korea – talk peace,” Rev Choi Byung Gon, said in an interview.
“ We have seen what happened in Iraq. We don’t want that to happen to Korea.
Rev Choi Byung Gon is moderator of the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea.
He spoke to the Assembly today on behalf of the overseas guests.
“ John Howard has left open the option of going to war against North Korea,” he said.
“ The headlines this morning said, ‘Howard talks tough on North Korea.’
“ I urge you, the Uniting Church, to pray for a peaceful resolution on the crisis in the Korean peninsula.”
Later he said through an interpreter: “We don’t want war. We have seen what war does. We want war never, never again.
“ We don’t want to tell your political leaders what to do. But we do call on the Christians of Australia to do everything they can to ensure that there is a peaceful settlement.
“ The confrontational policy of the US towards North Korea must stop.
“ The current nuclear crisis must be resolved by peaceful means.
“ For the peace of the Korean peninsular, Northeast Asia and the world, we support a Korea free of nuclear weapons of all kinds.
“ The production, distribution and use of nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula must be prohibited.
“ But this crisis must be solved by negotiation and diplomatic activity.”
Fifty years ago, he said, there had been a tragic war on the peninsula.
“ We must not allow another war,” he said. “It could threaten the lives of the 70 million people of Korea.”
Rev Dr Ok-Nam Kim, moderator-elect of the Presbyterian Church of Korea, supported Rev Choi Byung Gon’s plea for a peaceful settlement.
“ We ask you to stand against the power-oriented diplomatic policy of the US, which is a threat to peace,” he said.
“ President Busch’s ‘axis of evil’ speech caused enormous anger and resentment throughout our country.”
He said the US must guarantee the survival of the North Korean regime.
“ It seems North Korea is willing to give up nuclear weapons in return for a clear cut promise from the US to guarantee its regime and give it economic support,” he said.
“ It is clear from the difficult economic situation of North Korea that the North does not want to be isolated from international society and from neighboring countries, such as South Korea, China and Russia.
“ But it seems that the US is approaching the issue from the perspective of its military strategy in North East Asia.”
It is doing this “to strengthen the military union of South Korea, Japan and the US, to restrain China through the missile defence system – and to strengthen US influence,” he said.