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North Korea

By Salesian Missionary Animation Delegate

Seoul, South Korea, 22 July 2021 -- Already 68 years after the end of the Korean War (1950-1953) and the 'two Koreas' are still deeply divided. However the Catholic Church in South Korea (11% of the 50M population equivalent to around 5.6 million Catholics) is striving to become the bridge and also to contribute in any possible way to the evangelization of their Northern brothers and sisters. At present there is only one 'official' place of Catholic worship in the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) without any resident Catholic priest.

In the 169th issue of the Korean Salesian Bulletin there is an interesting reflection and challenge written by the provincial delegate for missionary animation (http://ibosco.net/data8/122930; page 18-21, July 2021). Since the article is published in Korean, we bring you a short summary:

"It is amazing to realize that up until now some 20 Korean Salesians of Don Bosco were sent to the missions in 4 continent: Africa, Europe, Asia or Oceania. Although at present not many of them have returned to their homeland, when they do they bring their missionary experience, dream and missionary zeal to their 'home mission'.

Reflecting on the last missionary dream of Don Bosco (1886, April) with the 'line from Valparaiso to Beijing', the author calls attention to the mission in North East Asia and specifically to North Korea. Although at present North Korea is called the most isolated 'hermit kingdom', Christians in South Korea have been preparing for their evangelization for many years.

Since 2010 one South Korea based Civil Foundation (www.pom.or.kr) 'Bom' (means 'Spring' in Korean ) is at work in a joint venture with 'Caritas Germany' to develop quite effective professional support for the North Korean population. It is not based just on humanitarian help, but on the paradigm 'to empower' the North Korea health services. Their partner is the DPRK ministry of health. Since 2010 a few million children have been vaccinated against hepatitis B and other frequent diseases, and this activity is connected to 11 city or province hygiene centers. Also since 2011 this foundation has built 94 green houses for the TBC sanitarium. What is remarkable - all these projects are the result of long-term planning, guided by the DPRK local partner. Especially thanks to frequent dialogue and some workshops in Germany organized by Caritas, mutual understanding is growing.

And what about the formation of new missionaries for the North East Asian countries? Due to common suspicion about 'clergy' or 'religious people' belonging to the Catholic Church, the future focus of this mission may be a solid formation of lay missionaries, with due specialization and deep Gospel motivations and spirituality.

At present there are already some 30 thousand North Korean refugees living in the South (Republic of Korea) and many Christian and ordinary civil society NGOs are involved in different ways in their support. Also more mutual exchange and solidarity action with these organizations may be explored by the Salesian family."