An appeal to Korean Church and Society:
The National Council of Churches in Korea, along with the Korean Church and its people send our enthusiastic support and solidarity as we see a wave of explosive national resistance and international solidarity spreading around the world after Myanmar’s military coup on February 1st.
The Myanmar Council of Churches (MCC) has already issued an emergency statement calling for the restoration of democracy, the release of detainees, suspension of violence, and for peace and solidarity to Myanmar's churches and people, as well as churches and civil society around the world. The World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) also sent a joint pastoral letter to their member church hoping for democracy and the safety of the people in Myanmar.
We are sure that Myanmar has reached a historical point where the military must no longer trample on the people’s democratization movement with guns and swords as happened in 1988 and 2007. We sincerely hope that this democratization movement will serve as the cornerstone of Myanmar's true democratization, where the right to live and the right to autonomy of various ethnic minorities are respected. We also urge the South Korean government, preserving the spirit of our candlelight revolution, to actively join in solidarity with Myanmar’s democratization movement, and we urge South Korean companies that support Myanmar's military leadership directly or indirectly to reconsider that cooperation.
In response, we declare our solidarity with the Korean Church and the global Church on behalf of Myanmar, and we urge the following:
- The Myanmar military should respect the results of the November 2020 general elections and immediately hand over power to the civilian government.
- Myanmar's military should immediately release Aung San Suu Kyi, government
leaders, and civil society figures.
- Myanmar's military should immediately stop the violent suppression of protests,
investigate the truth of the crackdown, punish those responsible, and come up
with measures to prevent a recurrence.
- The South Korean government, preserving the spirit of the candlelight revolution, should support Myanmar’s democracy, and Korean companies should reconsider their direct and indirect support of Myanmar’s military control.
We the NCCK will be in solidarity and in prayer with the global Church until Myanmar's military dictatorship ends and true democracy is achieved.
An appeal to Korean Church and Society.pdf
