한국교회의 한반도 통일 정책에 관한 연구

Abstract

Even though we have been divided for more than 70 years, the Korean Peninsula is still facing conflicts and confrontation under the condition of division. In the international politics of Northeast Asia, the Korean Peninsula was geopolitically standing on the inflection point in the flow of world history, and it is still in the same context. The division of the Korean Peninsula has created numerous efforts to achieve the peace and unification after exceeding the conflicts and confrontation. Recognizing the unification issue as a fateful task, Korean church has proceeded discussions of unification. Such discussions of unification were sometimes done under acute conflicts, and sometimes done under the reconciliatory atmosphere between South and North Korea. This paper aimed to examine the discussion process of unification through continuous meetings between South and North churches after the discussion of unification by South and North churches focusing on WCC, starting from the WCC Dojanso Meeting in 1984. Especially, the '88 Declaration' announced by the National Council of Churches in Korea in 1988 announced the five major principles of unification by adding the humanitarianism and democratization to the '7.4 North-South Joint Declaration' announced by South and North governments in 1972. Especially, the basic position toward the unification announced by the General Assembly of Presbyterian Church in Korea in 2016 suggests the concrete unification measures. In other words, on top of the reconciliatory exchange/cooperation between South and North Korea, it would pray and support for all the areas including politics, economy, society, culture, and military to be helpful to the reconciliation between South and North and the development of peaceful unification. Korean church's principles of unification and measures for the reconciliation between South and North could accord with the new functionalistic perspective. The measures for exchange and cooperation about achieving the integration through the exchange/cooperation of non-political areas and the spread of the outcomes of this integration to the political area seems to be persuasive. However, under the current condition of South and North Korea, this logic was often modified or ceased in accordance with the political condition. Also, considering the reality emphasizing benefits more than the cost of unification, it would be realistic to approach the South-North relation in the new-functionalistic perspective driving the formation of the European Economic Community in the 1950s. Through the operation of Gaeseong Industrial Complex, we have received a result in which the possibility of economic integration and benefits of realistic unification overwhelmed the aspect of cost in the relation between South and North. As this new functionalistic unification measures has something in common with the unification policies and measures of Korean church that has continuously pursued the independence, peace, race, humanitarianism, and democratization, it could suggest the direction of unification policies to Korean church.