On October 26, leaders from several faith communities came together to convey to Congress their concerns about the escalating rhetoric between the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
October 26, 2017
Dear Senators Corker and Cardin and Representatives Royce and Engel:
We write to convey and echo the deep and urgent alarm we are hearing from our brothers and sisters of faith in and around South Korea about the escalating rhetoric of war between the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Pastors are reporting profound and growing fear among their congregations.
National groups such as the National Council of Churches in Korea have declared strong opposition to a second war on the peninsula and to military actions that aggravate the situation, and have appealed to the leaders of both the DPRK and the United States to reenergize efforts to enhance dialogue and avert war. Specifically, the Council of Churches urges North Korea to stop its nuclear testing and respond to dialogue requests and asks the United States to halt its military threats and sanctions on North Korea. Our partners in faith in South Korea have also urged us, as faith communities in the United States, to communicate with our own Congress and administration about the risks of war and the need for expanded diplomacy and dialogue. To that end we call on Congress to
State publicly at every opportunity that war would have catastrophic consequences for the people of the peninsula, the region, and the United States;
Demand that the United States refrain from further escalating military confrontation, and instead lead efforts to reduce tensions and create windows for new dialogue;
Encourage rather than impede peacebuilding people-to-people encounters and other humanitarian engagement; and
Recall, before mandating still more economic sanctions, that such sanctions generally have not been effective in preventing development of DPRK’s nuclear weapons and missiles capacities or promoting negotiations, but have resulted in heightened tensions and constrained humanitarian access.
As people of faith, we share an overriding concern for the fundamental rights and dignity of all people, in North Korea as in every country of the world, and we affirm that dialogue is the only way to avert a war that would be catastrophically damaging to the rights, interests, and future of the people of Korea, the region, and the world.
Joyce Ajlouny
General Secretary
American Friends Service Committee
Rebecca Linder Blachly
Director, Office of Government Relations
The Episcopal Church
Rev Jimmie R Hawkins
Director
Presbyterian Church (USA) Office of Public Witness
Susan Henry-Crowe
General Secretary
United Methodist Board of Church and Society
Diane Randall
Executive Secretary
Friends Committee on National Legislation (Quakers)
Amy E. Reumann
Director, Advocacy
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Jim Winkler
President and General Secretary
National Council of Churches of Christ
