*자료출처 : 한국기독교교회협의회 홈페이지 kncc.or.kr
From Tokyo to Seoul – The Second Inter-Religious Conference
on Article 9
The first Asia Inter-religious Conference on Article 9 and Peace and Asia was held in Tokyo at the Korean YMCA from November 29 to December 1, 2007 with the participation of leaders from religious communities in Asia and the rest of the world. The Conference was hosted by an inter-religious body in Japan to respond to the move of the Japanese government towards militarization. It was able to consolidate an inter-faith network for peace and non-violence in the spirit of Article 9 in a meaningful and hopeful way.
In October, 2008, the hosting committee in Japan organized a follow up meeting in Tokyo at which the International Working Committee (IWC) was formed to implement the recommendation and proposals given by the first Conference. The IWC decided to organize the Second Conference in Seoul in December, 2009, hosted by the Korean religious community including the National Council of Churches in Korea. A collaborative process was initiated to prepare a mission statement to be presented and approved by the Second Conference in Seoul.
Based on the decision taken by the IWC, a letter was sent in December, 2008, to the President elect Obama to ask him:
• to study and reconsider the U.S. military presence with its ongoing plan of transformation and realignment;
• stop pressuring the government of Japan to revise Article 9;
• adopt a new multilateral policy that would guarantee peace and stability in East Asia;
• enable Japan’s disarmament and the withdrawal of the U.S. Forces;
• promote the vision of Nuclear Free East Asia as the first step.
The Second Conference on Article 9 reiterates the calls made to US President Barack Obama.
During this Second Conference attended by more than 80 religious leaders representing Buddhist, Christian and Muslim faith communities, reports on developments in Japan and the rest of East Asia, stories from communities affected by the presence and actions by military forces were shared. Our deliberations and reflections brought many insights to light, including the following -
• Supporting Article 9 has changed the interactions between religion and politics. In a sense, it has helped the communities re-learn what it means to be living their faith in an area of public concern;
• The issue of Article 9 is the first time that communities of faith as a group has taken a faith-based stand in public on peace;
• Supporting Article 9 has created solidarity among different religions;
• Shared concern for Article 9 has created new bonds between religious and other peace advocates;
• Many have been moved to reclaim Article 9 as part of the people’s agenda;
• Article 9 is more relevant for regional and international relations than ever, and is forward-looking. It can be seem as the core value of a future East Asian Community;
• Countries that have made war on their neighbors have to make right with their neighbors in order to find a lasting peace. Article 9 is a reminder that truth and reconciliation after past conflicts is necessary;
• Japan must move beyond its ‘One Nation Peace Identity’ to the joint building of regional peace with its neighbors;
• East Asia’s post-war race to prosperity and success has divided the region in new ways;
• Article 9 invites people of the region to promote a fuller understanding of peace. The “right to a peaceful existence” in the preamble of the Japanese Constitution is derived from the right to be free from fear in the Preamble and to be free from want in Article 25. The challenge is to create a world where all peoples have the right to live in peace free from fear and want.
It is our resolve to actively pursue the following to advance the spirit of Article 9:
1) To broaden our perspective that peace is not just the absence of war but that which is based on justice and human dignity;
2) To undertake more vigorous cross-generational peace education (i.e., children, youth and adults), to include exposure programs, inter-religious dialogues and the training of peace education facilitators and advocates, the use of creative media. And people need to be more vigilant in making their governments more accountable;
3) To support the Japanese people in their efforts to interpret in their own terms the spirit and application of Article 9;
4) To expand the peace network in countries experiencing conflict and violence, including the Philippines, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Indonesia and other countries;
5) To study the link between US foreign domination and peace building in Asia;
6) To espouse the abolition of nuclear weapons among powerful countries and in any part of the world;
7) To actively oppose the presence of US bases and self-defense forces, which are contradictory to Article 9;
8) To take inter-religious dialogues at the level of communities, where the impact of conflict and militarization is felt more intensely;
9) To recommend the inclusion of the Article 9 campaign in the Ecumenical Advocacy Day (Washington DC, March 2010) and the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (Jamaica, 2011);
10) To support all efforts at reunification in the Korean Peninsula.
We commend this Statement to all religious communities for their prayerful consideration, commitment and deliberate actions as individuals and as communities.
December 3, 2009
Academy House, Seoul, Korea.
