Five-Party Talks at the Eighth World AssemblyOur colleagues and friends in Asia recently celebrated two milestones: the thirtieth anniversary of Asian Conference of Religion for Peace (ACRP) and the twentieth anniversary of the Korean Conference of Religions for Peace (KCRP). KCRP has been an important and leading member of the Religions for Peace family, and ACRP is a privileged regional partner in a key global area. It was a deep honor for me, as Secretary General of Religions for Peace, to participate in this joyous October celebration hosted by Dr. Kim Sunggoon, Secretary General of ACRP; Dr. Byun, Secretary General of KCRP; and Dr. Marwat Khan, the moderator of ACRP. Please join me in congratulating our colleagues as they observe these anniversaries.
Religions for Peace has its roots in Asia. We had our First Assembly in Asia in 1970, and ACRP was founded only six years later, followed by KCRP. We recently gathered together for our Eighth World Assembly in Kyoto, Japan, and many of you joined us for that important gathering. We pledged to confront violence and to advance shared security, which acknowledges that your safety is my safety. And my safety is yours. Today we must all pool our moral commitments and strengths to build an alliance for peace.
Religions for Peace was born during the Cold War. KCRP, perhaps more than any of us, knows too well the deep and profound sorrow that remains with us from that period in our history. The division of Korea is just one example of an issue on which we as religious people must take shared responsibility. The division of Korea shows us how we cannot build a wall high enough to shield ourselves from the vulnerabilities of another.
Throughout its twenty-year history, KCRP—representing Buddhist, Protestant, Catholic, Salvation Army, Won Buddhist, and other affiliations—has worked steadily in five local districts to promote multi-religious cooperation. Among their programs are reconciliation and confidence-building exchanges between religious leaders from North and South Korea, young adult exchange programs in collaboration with Religions for Peace–Japan, a peace education center, and various inter-religious seminars throughout the country.
Together, at the Religions for Peace Eighth World Assembly, we provided a supportive environment in which Six-Party multi-religious talks could convene, a complement to the needed governmental talks. Sadly, our North Korean colleagues could not join us.
But we must persevere, and Religions for Peace has already taken concrete steps to affirm our multi-religious commitment to work together in the Korean Peninsula. Only two weeks after North Korea first tested a nuclear device, KCRP, ACRP, and Religions for Peace–International met and pledged to work together to continue the vital peace dialogs in the Korean Peninsula. North Korean delegates were not able to join us for the meeting on the occasion of the anniversary; however, they still conveyed a message of support to the KCRP for its work—a significant and powerful gesture during a time of tremendous political tension.
We look forward to the presence of four North Korean representatives at the ACRP Executive Committee meeting on 24–26 November 2006 in Manila. They will join about forty of their Asian colleagues to address critical issues, of which the Korean Peninsula Six-Party Talks will be one of the most urgent. Please join me and the entire Religions for Peace family in standing in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in the Korean Peninsula at this time.
In peace,
Dr. William F. Vendley
