SEOUL (SE): Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick of Seoul appealed to the South Korean government to make concrete efforts for peace on the Korean Peninsula during his meeting with the minister for Unification, Lee In-young, on January 19, the Archdiocese of Seoul reported in a press release.
“As the apostolic administrator of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, I would like to extend my gratitude to [South Korean] President Moon Jae-in for asking the Holy Father to pray for peace on the Korean Peninsula during his visit to the Vatican,” Archbishop Chung said.
Lee conveyed a congratulatory message to the archbishop, who was appointed as the new Archbishop of Seoul and Apostolic Administrator of Pyongyang by Pope Francis on 28 October 2021, saying that the pope has brought comfort and consolation to all Koreans as well.
He expressed his appreciation for the endeavours of the Archdiocese of Seoul for initiatives such as providing assistance and humanitarian aid to North Korea through various channels, and for helping North Korean Refugees in South Korea, while offering peace education, peace research and asked the Korean Catholic Church to continue playing an important role in achieving peace between the two Koreas.
Archbishop Chung commended the special exhibition titled, Barbed wire becomes a symbol of peace. Organised by the Ministry of Unification, and held at the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola in Rome from October 29 to November 7 last year, it drew an enthusiatic response.
At the end of the meeting, Archbishop Chung introduced The Korean Peninsula and Synodal Path to Peace 2022: Commemoration, Communication, Communion as well as other humanitarian assistance programmes to the North Koreans and asked for cooperation from the South Korean government.
The Ministry of Unification was established on1 March 1969 as the government body responsible for all issues pertaining to inter-Korean relations and unification.
