NEW YORK — Many diverse global religious and spiritual communities have issued a statement to the Summit between US and South Korea on Friday, June 29, 2017, in Washington, D.C.

The interfaith statement is both a call for action on the part of governments and a promise of support on behalf of the religious communities who have long worked for peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The statement is presented in English and Korean and was paired with a statement that came from a May 25-26 meeting in Beijing – the latest in a series of ongoing joint meetings – between the Korean Conference of Religions for Peace (RfP-South Korea) and the Korean Council of Religionists (RfP-North Korea).

Religious communities see the value in person-to-person and faith-to-faith Track II diplomacy, humanitarian assistance, prayer, education, and advocacy. As enduring transnational institutions, religious and interfaith communities call upon the respective administrations in the bilateral and multi-party talks on Korean security to weigh moral, ethical, and humanitarian considerations, not just social, political, and military ones.

The religious and interfaith leaders will join with other civil society actors for a one day summit of their own in New York City on August 30, 2017, in order to review and advance strategies for affecting reconciliation and peace on the Korean Peninsula.

During the Summit, religious leaders in the United States and beyond will offer special prayers, meditations, and host peace walks to support peace and security in Korea, Asia, and the world.

Interfaith Statement is available at www.wonbuddhist.org

###