The Commission on Justice and Peace of The Canadian Council of Churches endorses the Korea Peace Appeal. The Council was formed in 1944 as the long years of the second world war were drawing to a close. Christians in Canada were yearning for ways to come together to work for a world built on the biblical calls to peace. Over 75 years later, we live in a still divided world. In the peace and justice-seeking tradition of the Council, the member churches of the Commission on Justice and Peace issue two invitations:
- The Commission urges individuals to join the Canadian Ten Thousand Signature Campaign
>> Sign the appeal now
- The Commission invites national Canadian churches, organizations, and their leaders to endorse the campaign and to urge their members to sign the appeal.
Join the Canadian response to the invitation issued by The National Council of Churches in Korea. The Korea Peace Appeal is a global campaign that seeks to collect 100 million signatures by 2023, the 70th anniversary of the armistice. Canadians are challenged to add ten thousand signatures by the summer of 2022.
The Korean War began in 1950. While open clashes ceased in 1953 with the signing of an armistice, a peace treaty has not yet been established. The war is not over. For more than 70 years the Korean people have endured a constant state of hostility and war, which has solidified the division of the peninsula.
Join with Korean partners and all who seek peace on the Korean Peninsula, the region, and the world. In adding your signature to the petition, you are saying:
- End the Korean War and establish a peace agreement.
- Create a Korean Peninsula and a world free from nuclear weapons and nuclear threat.
- Resolve the conflict with dialogue and cooperation instead of sanctions and pressure.
- Break from the vicious cycle of the arms race and invest in human security and environmental sustainability.
Background
The United Church of Canada responded to an urgent invitation of the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK), a long-time United Church partner, to join them in the Korea Peace Appeal. The United Church of Canada invited the Canadian ecumenical community to help add ten thousand or more signatures from across Canada.
This campaign has been initiated by more than 370 South Korean civil society organizations, religious groups, and international partner organizations with the goal of ending the Korean War and concluding a Korea peace agreement.
Both North and South Korea have used the conflict as an excuse to perpetuate violations of human rights to maintain power, countless resources have been focused on military spending rather than on people’s health and welfare, and millions of Korean families remain separated from each other on opposite sides of the border that was sealed in 1953.
The people of Korea have not lost hope. Their call to the world is “Peace First―End the War Now.”
Help reach the 10,000-signature target
Sign the Korea Peace Appeal. End the war now by signing the petition.
- Peace Campaign to End the Korean War (English)
- L’appel pour la paix en Corée (français)
- La campagne de 10-000-signatures-pour-la-paix-en-coree (français)
- Peace Campaign to End the Korean War 한반도 종전 평화 캠페인 (Korean)
- Learn more about the global campaign and the Korean War.
- Learn more about the Canadian 10,000 signature campaign
Pray
Pray for Korean partners and the Korean people as they work toward unity and engage your community of faith. Use these resources from the United Church of Canada or create your own:
- For Peaceful Coexistence and Prosperity on Korean Peninsula
- 2020 A Light of Peace for Korea: Prayer for Peace #27
- Korea Peace Appeal Liturgy for Congregational Use
Share
- Share your support on social media using the hashtag #EndtheKoreanWar #KoreaPeaceAppeal
- Share the link to invite others to sign
God of wonder,
Comfort those who have been suffering from the division by foreign powers for over 70 years.
We ask you to restore the broken Korean Peninsula.
—from Prayer for the End to the Korean War and Peace on the Korean Peninsula by Dr. Un Sunn Lee