South Korea: Bishops to new President Moon Jae-in, “we need a leader who walks the path of peace and justice”

“In the past year, we have gone through the tough times of impeachment and early presidential elections”. Now the people have elected a new president. We now need a leader who walks the path of true peace and justice, and values these principles even at a time of conflict and confrontation. I pray that the new president may become a great leader, securing peace in the Korean peninsula and the development of the Korean people”, and “that democracy may become deeply rooted in our country”. This is the beginning of the congratulations message that Archbishop Kim Hee-jung, president of the Korean Bishops’ Conference, has sent today to the 19^th president of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in, who was elected in yesterday’s early presidential elections, following the impeachment and removal from office of Park Geun-hye over corruption charges. The Korean Bishops convey their best wishes to the new president that he may lead “the nation in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution” together with their hope that Korea will be ever more a country in which “even the weakest in society can enjoy human dignity”; in which “anyone can openly express their views without their freedom of thought or conscience being restricted”; and in which “people from all the regions are allowed to participate in state offices without regional discrimination”. The first declarations by newly elected president Moon about the relations with Washington and North Korea give reasons for hope. “If necessary, I will fly to Washington immediately”, he said. But also to “Beijing and Tokyo” to revive dialogue with a view to ending North Korea’s nuclear threat, a position that is not one of total closure. “I will also visit Pyongyang under the right circumstances”, the new president said, confirming his willingness to be a “man of détente”. The president of the Bishops stresses the importance of this policy of dialogue, also reminding Moon, in his congratulations message, of the urgent need for a policy aimed at achieving “the coexistence of North and South Korea”, “peace”, and the “reconciliation of the two Koreas”.