Minute for Mission: Day of Prayer for the Peaceful Reunification of the Korean Peninsula

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North and South Korean Christians gathered in 2017, along with ecumenical colleagues and supporters as part of the Ecumenical Forum for Korea.

“He is our peace … and has broken down the dividing wall.” — Ephesians 2:14 

Each year, Presbyterians around the world join with Korean Christians in observing the Day of Prayer for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, lifting up prayers rooted in grief, hope and a yearning for peace that transcends borders. For many, this is not just a political issue; it is deeply spiritual and profoundly personal.

After World War II, Korea was divided along the 38th parallel, a temporary military line that, in the aftermath of the Korean War (1950–1953), solidified into a permanent and heavily fortified border. What had started as an arbitrary border evolved into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), now considered one of the most militarized borders in the world. “Families, communities and cultures were split almost overnight,” said the Rev. Hyunghee Kim, a United Methodist pastor and Hebrew Bible scholar living in Girdwood, Alaska.

The consequences of this split were deeply personal: Millions of families were torn apart by the conflict, with loved ones stranded on opposite sides of a sealed frontier, unable to reach one another. In 1983, South Korea responded with a poignant national broadcast, “Finding Dispersed Families,” where people went on live television to search for missing relatives. “It became a national moment of weeping, mourning and deep yearning,” Hyunghee said.

For Korean Christians, the longing for reunification is rooted in both faith and history, but the path forward is complex. “I believe that true reconciliation requires not only spiritual healing, but also political, historical and emotional restoration,” said Miyoung Kim, a Korean Presbyterian living in Virginia. “I hope our prayers can come from a place of compassion, humility and a desire to understand its complexity.”

The hope of reunification is more than nationalistic; it is also theological. “Though it is a political reality, the separation is deeply spiritual,” Hyunghee said. “In Korean Christian theology, this longing often parallels biblical themes of exile and return, brokenness and healing, and division and reconciliation.”

Worship practices for this day include intercessory prayer, lighting candles for the North and South, and singing beloved hymns like “Let Us Be One” (하나되게 하소서), which prays, “Let us be one, in the love of the Lord.” Likewise, secular songs like “Arirang Alone” (홀로아리랑) express a sense of deep longing.

As we mark this Day of Prayer, let us join in that longing, with candles lit, hymns lifted and hearts open.

Alex Pickell, Peacemaking Fellow, Office of Public Witness

Let us join in prayer for:

Yun Kyoung Yang, Editorial Assistant, Korean, Growing Faith Resources, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation
Andrew Yeager-Buckley, Project Manager II, President’s Office, Administrative Services Group

Let us pray:

God of mercy, we weep for what has been lost — families torn, stories silenced, generations divided. Bring healing to this land and peace to your people.

하나되게 하소서, 주님의 뜻 안에서.

Make us one, O Lord, in your purpose and will.

Minute for Mission: Day of Prayer for the Peaceful Reunification of the Korean Peninsula

Image

North and South Korean Christians gathered in 2017, along with ecumenical colleagues and supporters as part of the Ecumenical Forum for Korea.

"He is our peace...and has broken down the dividing wall." - Ephesians 2:14

Each year, Presbyterians around the world join with Korean Christians in observing the Day of Prayer for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, lifting up prayers rooted in grief, hope and a yearning for peace that transcends borders. For many, this is not just a political issue; it is deeply spiritual and profoundly personal.

After World War II, Korea was divided along the 38th parallel, a temporary military line that, in the aftermath of the Korean Ware (1950-1953), solidified into a permanent and heavily fortified border. What had started as an arbitrary border evolved into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), now considred one of the most militarized borders in the world. "Families, communities and cultures were split almost overnight," said the Rev. Hyunghee Kim, a United Methodist pastor and Hebrew Bible scholar living in Girdwood, Alaska.

The consequences of this split were deeply personal: Millions of families were torn apart by the conflict, with loved ones stranded on opposite sides of a sealed frontier, unable to reach one another. In 1983, South Korea responded with a poignant national broadcast, "Finding Dispersed Families," where people went on live television to search for missing relatives. "It became a national moment of weeping, mourning and deep yearning," Hyunghee said.

For Korean Christians, the longing for reunification is rooted in both faith and history, but the path forward is complex. "I believe that true reconciliation requires not only spiritual healing, but also political, historical and emotional restoration," said Miyoung Kim, a Korean Presbyterian living in Virginia. "I hope our prayers can come from a place of compassion, humility and a desire to understand its complexity."

The hope of reunification is more than nationalistic; it is also theological. "though it is a political reality, the separation is deeply spiritual," Hyunghee said. "In Korean Christian theology, this longing often parallels biblical themes of exile and return, brokenness and healing, and division and reconciliation."

Worship practices for this day include intercessory prayer, lighting candles for the North and South, and singing beloved hymns like Let Us Be One, which prays, Let us be one, in the love of the Lord. Likewise, secular songs like Arirang Alone express a sense of deep longing.

As we mark this Day of Prayer, let us join in that longing, with candles lit, hymns lifted and hearts open.

Alex Pickell, Peacemaking Fellow, Office of Public Witness, Interim Unified Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

Julie Tonini, Director of Production, Publishing & Editorial Presbyterian Publishing Corp.
Janet Toole, Vice President, Affiliated Markets, Board of Pensions 

Let us pray:

God of mercy, we weep for what has been lost - families torn, stories silenced, generations divided. Bring healing to this land and peace to your people.

Make us one, O Lord, in your purpose and will.

Minute for Mission: Day of Prayer for the Peaceful Reunification of the Korean Peninsula

August 11, 2024

North and South Korean Christians gathered in 2017, along 

with ecumenical colleagues and supporters as part of the 

Ecumenical Forum for Korea. (Photo credit: Kurt Esslinger, 

mission co-worker)

In recent years, news from the Korean peninsula has tended to focus on the North. Nuclear capabilities and missile tests, famine and poverty, and the political turmoil that marked Kim Jong Un’s ascendance following the death of his father, Kim Jong-Il, have all captured headlines. Added together, these headlines can give the misimpression that the barriers to peace and reunification on the Korean peninsula are largely parochial affairs to which those of us in far flung places can only look in on. But because today is set aside as a chance for us to reflect on and hope for peace, reconciliation and reunification on the Korean peninsula, it’s also worth remembering that the current situation is deeply indebted to U.S. interference and a longstanding U.S. foreign policy that puts militarism first.

As the Korean War came to a close in 1953, the major parties signed the Korean Armistice Agreement, itself the culmination of back-and-forth wrangling between officials from the U.S., North and South Korea, China, the former Soviet Union and the U.N. The armistice included promises to have a political conference to further negotiate questions of how and when foreign forces would withdraw from Korea. Instead, the U.S. pushed for a unilateral U.S.-South Korea Mutual Defense Treaty that same year which enabled it to indefinitely retain a military force on the Korea peninsula. This move foreshadowed the heavy-handed and self-interested nature of the U.S.’s foreign policy toward South Korea, which continues to today.

During the same time, the U.S.’s continued military presence in South Korea contributed to the deterioration of South Korea’s security. North Korea aggressively pursued a nuclear arsenal in large part because it saw nuclear weapons as a defensive necessity, the only military response capable of countering the nearby American presence which often included U.S. nuclear weapons deployed to South Korea. Escalation begets escalation, and the cycles of further militarization continue to this day. Just last year, South Korea’s government agreed not to develop its own nuclear weapons if the U.S. promised to deploy nuclear submarines to South Korea.

Much more could be said about the state of things today and the long history which has gotten us here. But already we outside of the Korean peninsula have much to consider as we recommit ourselves to peace, reconciliation, and reunification on the peninsula. What can we do to encourage a U.S. foreign policy that treats our international neighbors as equals rather than as vassal states confined to serving our own interests? What can we do to combat own home-grown militarism and the military industrial complex, which we export in ways that entrench and escalate military tensions around the world? And what can we as Christians do to build relationships of solidarity and mutual aid that will serve as an example of a better way?

Dr. Andrew J. Peterson, Associate for Peacemaking, Presbyterian Peacemaking Program

Today’s Focus: Day of Prayer for the Peaceful Reunification of the Korean Peninsula

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Dawn Nashid, Administrative Assistant II, Faith Based Investing & Corporate Engagement, Presbyterian Mission Agency 
Mary Nebelsick, Mission Associate, Interpretation Assignment Support, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

God of one and all, you shower rain on the righteous and the unrighteous; you make the sun rise on the evil and the good. In your Son, we have seen another way — a life free from violence and fear, a life free from greed and domination, a life open to the beauty and goodness of the peace we can share with one another. Today that life seems at once crucial and compelling and also distant and long delayed. Give us hope and determination to pursue it, nonetheless. Amen.