On Transitions
Greetings, friends and supporters,
I write to you today from a new office in Seoul, Korea. By now many of you have heard of the restructuring within the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., and the concluding of the PC(USA) World Mission ministry area. I can now let you know that Hyeyoung and I will continue our ministry with partners in and around Korea. Even though our ministry as mission co-workers has concluded, we have been offered positions in the new Global Ecumenical Partnerships ministry area as international ecumenical liaisons, taking on some of the responsibilities of previous regional liaisons in East Asia.
For me, (Kurt), this transition means that I have concluded my assignment with the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) and have moved over to the PC(USA) Korea mission office in the building next door. Hyeyoung has been working in this office for many years now so she has merely moved into a new desk as we both step into responsibilities for facilitating PC(USA)’s ecumenical partnerships around East Asia. Hyeyoung will also continue as site coordinator for the Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) Program’s Korea site. We are excited to announce that we have been interviewing possible YAVs for next year.
We are living into our new assignments with the Interim Unified Agency as we envision how our roles will complement each other. At the moment, Hyeyoung’s tasks will include liaising with our two Presbyterian partner churches in South Korea, the PCK and PROK, as well as coordinating the YAV site. I will likely focus on the partners in the rest of East Asia, including Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and North Korea. I will also continue my work with the Ecumenical Forum for Korea (EFK) as its coordinator and will be liaising with the NCCK, one of the key leaders of the EFK, along with the Korean Christian Federation (KCF) in North Korea.
Recent political events in South Korea may make that work more interesting in the next year or so. Koreans have impeached and removed Yoon Seok Yeol from the presidency for violating the constitution when he declared martial law last December and sent the military to try to block National Assembly members from meeting to vote on whether to accept or to end martial law. Thankfully, enough legislators entered the building and voted to end martial law and have now been able to impeach and remove the president. South Korea will hold elections to replace him. The leading candidate of the Minjudang (Democratic) Party has affirmed his intention to de-escalate hostile relations with North Korea and to work on returning to dialogue with Kim Jong Un and, hopefully, to host summits between North Korea and the U.S. again. We are praying along with our partners that this time around, these political changes will finally work and end the state of war on the Korean Peninsula, thus creating the possibility for a peace agreement.
We thank you for your ongoing support. We look forward to your support in our new roles. Please continue to keep us in your prayers and make gifts to the PC(USA) in support of PC(USA)’s ongoing ecumenical engagement. Please join us in prayer for a peaceful transition of power in South Korea and a transition to a peace settlement for the Korean Peninsula!
Kurt and Hyeyoung