A meeting of the Steering Committee of the Christian International Forum for the peace and reunification of the Korean peninsula and cooperation for development took place in Pyongyang on October 28.

Present there were delegates from the Christian Federation of Korea, the World Council of Churches and those from Christian organizations of Canada, Germany, Britain, the US, and south Korea.

The meeting was held on the theme of "On present situation and the action program for Christian organizations of countries for peace and reunification of the Korean peninsula". Measures of Christian organizations for strengthening solidarity for the reunification of Korea were discussed and a Pyongyang appeal was made public at the meeting.

The appeal said that the participants in the meeting witnessed the reality in the DPRK which is advancing dynamically full of confidence despite the vicious moves to isolate and stifle the country and economic blockade, adding that the tension that almost went out of control was defused thanks to the north-south high-level urgent contact that was arranged at the initiative of the DPRK in August this year. It pointed out that the political confrontation and threats still persist.

The appeal underscored the need for Christian organizations to wage a widespread campaign for the implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration and the October 4 Declaration, for a stop to the aggressive and provocative military exercises and the use of armed forces that harass stability and cause tension on the Korean peninsula, for the lift of economic sanctions, for a stop to the act of abusing human rights issue for escalating confrontation and leaflet-scattering operations and other acts aimed at inciting hostility, for the replacement of the Armistice Agreement with a peace treaty and for supporting dialogue aimed at mutual recognition between the north and the south, peaceful co-existence and reunification.

The appeal also expressed concern over the advance of forces overseas by dint of Japan's "right to collective self-defence" and the re-interpretation of Article 9 of the Pacifist Constitution.

KCNA