By Matters India Reporter
Chiang Mai: The Christian Conference of Asia’s (CCA) has organized a special prayer for the success of the rare inter-Korean summit now underway in South Korea.
The historic summit takes place on April 27 the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom. This is the third such summit since the division of Korea 65 years ago. The last was at Pyongyang, North Korea, 11 years ago.
In a statement issued by CCA, its general secretary Mathews George Chunakara, said: “It is our fervent prayer and hope that the North and South Korean leaders will work out a suitable solution based on equality, mutual respect, mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.”
The conference organized the prayers at its headquarters in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.
Reverend Chunakara expressed the hope that the successful inter-Koream meeting will pave the way for “a highly anticipated encounter” between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump.
The CCA general secretary further stated that Trump’s support to North and South Korea to discuss the end of the war is a significant turning point in international relations and diplomacy. “However, sustained efforts to keep the momentum of the new enthusiasm are vital to pursue the spirit of the new initiative,” he added.
As the two Koreas technically are still at war with each other, the relaxation of tensions between the two Koreas is long overdue, he said.
“CCA and its member constituencies in Asia are encouraged that the two Koreas are forging a path towards peace. The CCA unswervingly reiterates its support to the call by the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) and member churches to replace the 1953 Armistice Agreement with a Peace Treaty.”
The conference urged its members and all peace-loving people around the world to pray for the success of the inter-Korean summit, as the leaders of both Koreas are committed to work together this week towards reconciliation and peaceful coexistence in the Peninsula.
Kim Jong Un sat with South Korean President Moon Jae- after shaking hands over the Military Demarcation Line that divides their countries in a gesture laden with symbolism.
“I am happy to meet you,” a smiling Moon told Kim before the visitor stepped over the concrete blocks, making him the first North Korean leader to set foot in the South since the Korean War ended in an armistice in 1953.
At Kim’s invitation the two men briefly crossed hand-in-hand into the North before walking to the Peace House building on the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom for the summit.
“I came here determined to send a starting signal at the threshold of a new history,” Kim told Moon as the meeting began, promising a “frank, serious and honest mindset.”
With the North’s atomic arsenal high on the agenda, Moon responded that he hoped they would reach “a bold agreement so that we may give a big gift to the whole Korean people and the people who want peace”.
Kim was flanked by his sister and close adviser Kim Yo Jong and the North’s head of inter-Korean relations, while Moon was accompanied by his spy chief and chief of staff.
It is the highest-level encounter yet in a whirlwind of nuclear diplomacy, and intended to pave the way for a much-anticipated encounter between Kim and US President Donald Trump.
The North’s official KCNA news agency said that Kim will “open-heartedly discuss… all the issues arising in improving inter-Korean relations and achieving peace, prosperity and reunification of the Korean peninsula”.
Last year Pyongyang carried out its sixth nuclear blast, by far its most powerful to date, and launched missiles capable of reaching the US mainland.
Its actions sent tensions soaring as Kim and Trump traded personal insults and threats of war.
Moon seized on the South’s Winter Olympics as an opportunity to broker dialogue between them, and has said his meeting with Kim will serve to set up the summit between Pyongyang and Washington.
The White House said in a statement it hoped the summit would it would “achieve progress toward a future of peace and prosperity for the entire Korean Peninsula”.
Trump has demanded the North give up its weapons, and Washington is pressing for it to do so in a complete, verifiable and irreversible way.
In the past, North Korean support for denuclearization of the “Korean peninsula” has been code for the removal of US troops from the South and the end of its nuclear umbrella over its security ally — prospects unthinkable in Washington.
Pyongyang announced last week a moratorium on nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missiles, adding it would dismantle its Punggye-ri nuclear test site.
But it also said it had completed the development of its weapons and had no need for further tests.
Seoul has also promoted the idea of opening talks towards a peace treaty to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War, when hostilities stopped with a ceasefire, leaving the neighbors technically in a state of conflict.
Reunions of families left divided by the war could also be discussed at the summit, and Moon has told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe he will raise the emotive subject of Japanese citizens kidnapped by the North.
Kim became the first North Korean leader since the 1950-53 Korean War to set foot in South Korea.