Motion to renounce the properties was passed at General Council 44 recall meeting on Oct. 21, 2023.
In a highly symbolic action, The United Church of Canada’s 44th General Council renounced all claims to former United Church of Canada mission properties in The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, also known as North Korea. The action was in response to the request from Mission and Service partner, The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK).
The ongoing division of the Korean Peninsula and the accompanying context of instability and militarization is a concern that is both Korean and global. How can God’s transformative Word of abundant life for all be spoken into this context? In the face of brokenness and hostility, the PROK has committed itself to pursue justice and peace, and reconciliation and reunification, by embarking on a special mission within South Korean society to challenge Korea to think differently about the future to which God calls.
The United Church GC44 action is in solidarity with an earlier public statement made by the PROK in 2021, at its 106th General Assembly: “A Declaration Regarding the Renunciation of Claims to Property Left in the North for the Sake of Reconciliation between South and North Korea.”
The PROK 2021 Declaration states:
. . .One of the issues to be addressed in advance, before reconciliation and reunification between the South and the North can happen, is the issue of property left by those who came down from the North to the South. Even if reunification is achieved, it will cause further serious social problems and division if the issue of property claims in the North is not resolved.
During the 75 years of division, South and North Korea have taken different paths regarding systems of land ownership. On March 5, 1946, North Korea implemented land reform in the form of "free confiscation and free distribution" under the leadership of the North Korean People's Committee. Since then, the socialist constitution or land law in the North has also made it clear that "all land in the country is owned by the people in common, and no one can sell or buy it, or make it private."
The path to permanent peace on the Korean peninsula through reconciliation between South and North Korea is through both symbolic and concrete action. Therefore, we pledge in advance to give up claims to property left in the North from our faith perspective as Christians, and to take the initiative in ensuring that this declaration is carried out in practice.
In these actions and public declarations, the PROK sees powerful opportunity to take symbolic steps towards reconciliation on the Korean peninsula. For The United Church of Canada, responding to this request is a way of living out the United Church commitment to radical accompaniment, decolonizing partner relationships and deepening mutual engagement in God’s mission.
Please read the full declaration below.