The Catholic Church in South Korea is one of the few voices promoting reconciliation between the two countries. / Credit: Courtesy of South Korean Bishops’ Conference

ACI Prensa Staff, May 21, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Eight decades after the partition of the Korean peninsula, the Catholic Church in South Korea remains one of the few actors that, with perseverance and faith, keeps alive the hope for reconciliation between the two Koreas.

“Hatred and suspicion can never be a solution,” Bishop Simon Kim Jong-Gang, president of the Korean Reconciliation Commission, told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.

Last month, the Korean bishop led a pilgrimage to Kyodong Island on the border with North Korea in a gesture that highlighted the Church’s commitment to reconciliation between the two countries. The bishops walked along the three-mile barbed-wire fence on the island that has divided the two countries since the Korean War (1950–1953) and prayed that the two countries would put their differences behind them.

For 80 years, soldiers on both sides of the demarcation line at the Panmunjom Peace Village in the Demilitarized Zone between the two Koreas have stood guard face to face, armed and under the pressure that any minor incident could trigger a new war. In 2018, as part of agreements between the two countries to build mutual trust, the Joint Security Area was cleared of firearms and military posts.

But this openness was short-lived. In early 2020, North Korea closed its borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic and again ordered its soldiers to shoot at any movement across the border.

Kim noted that there are no exchanges between South and North Korea. “It’s impossible to meet people, exchange letters or phone calls, or even send emails between the two sides of Korea.”

Indeed, since the failure of the diplomatic process that attempted to reestablish communications between North Korea and the United States in 2019 and the closure of borders due to the pandemic, isolation has become total.

Five years without any exchanges

“In the past five years, South Korea and North Korea have not had any official exchanges, either at the governmental or civil level,” the bishop lamented. Before that, “there were some meetings and some correspondence, but lately there has been no news.”

In any case, he said that at this historic moment North Korea “is preparing to reopen to the international community.”

“There are rumors that embassies and international organizations are preparing to return to Pyongyang and that some areas are attracting foreign tourists,” he noted.

During the pilgrimage, the bishop said he could “easily see the other side.”

“I always experience the same feeling when walking along the barbed-wire fence. The South and the North are really close,” he explained.

This walk for peace gave him a certain sense of closeness. “If someone on the other side had shouted, I would have been able to hear it. I hope that trust between the South and the North will be restored as soon as possible,” he remarked.

Thousands of families torn apart and divided

One of the most moving moments of the day was the meeting with an elderly man who fled North Korea during the Korean War and now lives in Seoul. Today, he is 90 years old, but his age doesn’t prevent him from returning to Kyodong Island nearly every week.

“He came to the island fleeing the Korean War and lived there for many years. He didn’t want to leave his homeland,” Kim recounted. “He visits Kyodong Do almost once a week, although the round trip by public transport takes him between four and five hours.”

His story exemplifies the rift left by the division, with thousands of families unable to see one another for years. “For 80 years, North and South have lived with mutual distrust and hatred. This hatred and distrust still have a great impact on our society,” the bishop lamented.

A persecuted Church

During the Korean War, communist troops persecuted missionaries, foreign religious, and Korean Christians, pursuing them to the south. In North Korea, all monasteries and churches were destroyed. Monks and priests who could not flee were sentenced to death.

Today, the Church in North Korea has neither clergy nor religious services. However, according to official data, there are approximately 4,000 North Korean Catholics belonging to the Korean Catholic Association, controlled by the communist regime. This association, which does not recognize the pope’s role in appointing bishops, has only one church in the country, in Changchun, which is considered window dressing by the regime.

The Korean bishop hopes to one day be able to communicate with “the Catholic community in North Korea and also receive news from them.”

In this regard, he noted that the Catholic Church in South Korea is one of the few voices trying to build bridges despite the hostility.

“I know it’s difficult to easily change this mistrust toward North Korea, as it’s a feeling that has persisted for 80 years. But the Church teaches us that we cannot build new relationships with hatred and mistrust,” Kim said.

Small steps toward reconciliation

In recent years, the Catholic Church has organized international forums and meetings. For example, in 2022, the Commission for National Reconciliation of the Korean Bishops’ Conference, together with American institutions, organized a conference in Washington, D.C., titled “The Role of Religion for Peace on the Korean Peninsula.” 

“This event was attended by bishops from Korea and the United States, government and legislative officials from both countries, and academics from think tanks. The Vatican’s apostolic nuncio to the United States also attended, expressing his solidarity for peace on the Korean Peninsula,” the bishop explained.

Added to this are the peace forums held in 2023 with dioceses from Japan and the United States, and the entry, in 2024, of several Korean, Japanese, and American dioceses into the Partnership for a World Without Nuclear Weapons (PWNW) network. 

For Kim, these initiatives are also a call to peace: “It is the duty of Christians throughout the world who know and practice the peace of Christ to constantly criticize and warn political leaders who promote military security based on nuclear weapons, so that they may awaken from their illusion.”

Kim acknowledged that reunification lacks enthusiasm among young South Koreans, who are experiencing other pressing needs.

“It’s a global phenomenon, but in Korea, too, we’re seeing a decline in quality jobs. Even if you study for many years, it’s not easy to find a good job. Housing prices have risen considerably, making it difficult to buy a home,” he explained.

Younger generations in South Korea fear that “if exchanges between North and South Korea increase, South Korea will have to help the North financially. That’s why some young people oppose that. I completely understand.”

In any case, the bishop insists that if the internal conflicts caused by division are not resolved, “social stability, political integration, and economic development will always be limited.”

“Christ’s teaching is to live as brothers and sisters. When we work together courageously to create a path toward peace, the lives of our descendants can improve,” he concluded.

World Youth Day 2027 is to be held in Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.