Korean War Armistice

 

In the Catholic Times' 'Window of the Ark' column by a Seoul Diocesan priest, the reader is reminded of the situation in which Korea finds itself on the 75th anniversary of the Korean War. A heartbreaking war! At times, brothers, parents, and children became enemies and fought each other with guns. It was a fratricidal war. 

75 years have passed since the day when brothers began fighting as enemies, as if to prove the words of Jesus who came to give a sword that separated a son from his father, a daughter from her mother, and a daughter-in-law from her mother-in-law. The Korean War is recorded as the war that caused the most horrific war damage among the wars that occurred on the Korean Peninsula. 

Depending on the source, there are many discrepancies in the figures. Still, according to records, the total number of military casualties, including the South Korean military, is 800,000, with 900,000 wounded and 200,000 missing or captured. A total of 2.5 million civilians were killed, wounded, or abducted on the Korean Peninsula. The pain of millions of separated families continues to this day, and the repercussions continue to spread among individuals, regions, the Korean Peninsula, and the entire world, creating further sorrow. The war that brought such misery led to a temporary ceasefire, and the upcoming 27th marks Armistice Day—the day the three-year war was temporarily halted. 

Even 72 years later, the war has not ended. The conflict has escalated into an ideological war and even a war of daily life. Residents in regions where the front lines shifted several times within just one year of the war's onset endured relentless retaliation and punishment, spending their days and nights in fear. Even after the fighting ceased, massacres continued, leading to a horrific situation where the entire population suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Among civilian victims, the fact that half of them lost their lives in massacres goes beyond mere suffering, creating a devastating situation that shakes the very nature of humanity with extreme resentment and anger. The bizarre terms “defection to the North,” “abduction to the North,” “surrender,” and “defection to the South” continue to torment the families left behind, disrupting their lives. Under the guise of the “family responsibility system” and the “National Security Law,” the extent to which citizens' basic rights have been violated is unknown.

This ongoing division has become the freezing point that causes all the tragedies unfolding on the Korean Peninsula. At the confirmation hearing for the Minister of National Defense, the first question asked is not how to ensure the safety of citizens' lives and property. They probe the nominee's thoughts on whether North Korea is an enemy or not.

Even when engaging in debate over important decisions in our society, the thoughts that arise in one's mind must always undergo multiple rounds of verification. Efforts made for peace, whether by individuals or organizations, have been treated as hostile acts that benefit North Korea. 

Even expressing discomfort with the proud K-defense industry that exports weapons that kill people, or talking about peace, requires caution. The bizarre logic that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and the friend of my enemy is my enemy, is still our uncomfortable reality.

In this context, it is very encouraging and empowering that the first words of Pope Leo XIV were “peace.” In his first blessing to Rome and the world, he shared with everyone “the peace of the risen Christ, the peace that lays down arms, the peace that causes arms to be laid down, the peace that is humble and patient, and the peace that comes from God.” 

During his inauguration Mass, he appealed to the Church and the entire world to “become the leaven of hope that brings peace.” Inspired by this gracious appeal, we earnestly hope that this year, marking the 80th anniversary of liberation and division, will be a year when the terms “ceasefire” and ‘armistice’ are replaced with the new names “end of war” and “first year of peace.”  

Inherent Dignity of Human Life

In the Window of the Ark column of the Catholic Times, a Professor in the Graduate School of Life Sciences, Catholic University of Korea, describes the conflict of perspectives on Human Life in Today's Bioethics, which today is often understood as ethics on life that manages the side effects of scientific and technological development. 

However, in easily understood language, ethics has been reduced to a shield that creates the minimum standards necessary to avoid hindering the development of science and technology, as well as economic growth. In other words, the purpose of bioethics is to protect human dignity. Still, upon closer examination, it reveals a conflict of perspectives on how to view human life above all else.

The discussions ask us about real-world issues such as embryo research, abortion, gene editing, physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia, organ transplantation, and artificial intelligence. “Who is a human being?” “Who determines the value of human life?” These questions prompt us to reflect on how our society has perceived humans and human life.

Bioethics emerged in earnest in the mid-20th century, when life sciences developed and their technologies began to intervene at the beginning and end of human life. In the past, religious and moral traditions played an important role in defining the boundaries and meaning of life, but in modern society, as individual choice and the possibilities of science and technology are given more importance, life is increasingly perceived as an object that can be selected and manipulated, and sometimes as a burdensome reality. In this flow, bioethics ultimately becomes a turning point that takes an entirely different path depending on ‘how one views humans.’

Catholic bioethics presents a perspective that protects the inherent dignity of human life in this confusion. Human beings are holistic beings with soul and body, and their life is a purpose in itself and a dignified being from the moment of conception. This fact is connected to a universal truth and determines our actions on how to protect and respect human life. In other words, universal standards of right and wrong are engraved in human existence. Just as we have a compass in our hearts to know where to go, we have the ability to think deeply and discern good and evil based on those universal standards.

However, as our society increasingly pursues decisions based on social consensus rather than universal truth, it prioritizes the pursuit of profit over the pursuit of truth. This kind of thinking is rooted in modern secular bioethics, represented by utilitarianism and relativism. They view human life as a relative value that can change depending on the situation.

Utilitarianism is a result-oriented thinking and sometimes justifies the sacrifice of one life for the benefit of the majority. Relativism can judge based on principles such as autonomy and justice, but since those principles change priority depending on the exercise of rational ability or the situation rather than the essence of human life, they do not guarantee human life itself. As a result, there is a danger that the boundary between ‘valuable life’ and ‘less valuable life’ is drawn, and life itself becomes an object to be evaluated. This trend is increasingly manifesting itself in “legalizing the decision not to punish acts against life and even legalizing them altogether.” 

For Pope John Paul II, bioethics is not a matter of solving scientific and technological problems, but rather a matter of re-examining the meaning of human existence. He emphasized that “we must fully realize that we are faced with a tremendous and dramatic clash between good and evil, death and life, the ‘culture of death’ and the ‘culture of life’” and he believes that bioethics should be a place for deep ethical reflection in the face of such clashes.

This is precisely why bioethics is essential to us. All human life, whether embryonic, fetal, elderly, healthy, or sick, has the same dignity. We must bear witness to this viewpoint to the world and become the seed of a culture that protects and respects the mystery of life. 

Momentum for Improving Inter-Korean Relations

 

The 'Catholic News Here Now' Catholic site features an article by a PhD in Political Science and Chairman of the Catholic Northeast Asia Peace Research Institute, titled "Momentum for Improving Inter-Korean Relations."

The president of South Korea is struggling to improve the worsening inter-Korean relations. Inter-Korean relations have been consistently hostile and confrontational throughout the previous term of the past president's government, with all lines of contact severed. This is because North Korea's Chairman Kim Jong-un has defined inter-Korean relations as "two belligerent countries at war," leaving no room for change. Furthermore, North Korea has expanded its external position through close ties with Russia, making it less inclined to improve inter-Korean relations.

Why do we need to talk, exchange, and cooperate with the North Korean government? This question is essential in a situation where the extreme right-wing forces' anti-North Korea hatred and incitement of inter-Korean confrontation are rampant, and one-third of voters agree with this. The '2024 Unification Awareness Survey' by the Seoul National University Institute for Peace and Unification Studies clearly shows the weak domestic support base for inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation. 

According to the survey results, 31.6 percent said that inter-Korean talks are not necessary, 40.9 percent said that North Korea is an enemy that we must be wary of and threatens our safety, and 73.6 percent said that the North Korean regime is not capable of dialogue and compromise. This survey was conducted at a time when the atmosphere of confrontation between the two Koreas was at its peak due to the Yoon Seok-yeol government's breach of the "9.19 Military Agreement," the resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts toward the North, and the distribution of leaflets toward the North via drones, but it is shocking.

In the present situation, exchange and cooperation between the two Koreas are essential steps toward unification. If the two Koreas, who share the same language, exchange and cooperate with each other, they will be able to communicate and empathize at a profound level, which will lead to a strengthened sense of national community, and this will serve as a driving force for unification. The "national community unification plan," which has been the unification policy of the South Korean government since the Roh Tae-woo administration, is also a gradual method of building a national community through reconciliation and cooperation and moving toward South-North union and complete unification. 

However, exchange and cooperation between the two Koreas are not smoothly achieved, as they repeatedly start and stop due to political and military conflicts. The relationship between the South and the North is one of antagonism and hostility. As one people, the two Koreas will inevitably be unified someday, so a fight for the initiative in unification is inevitable.  

Examining history, countries with superior national power have been actively engaged in exchanges and cooperation. In contrast, countries with inferior national power have been passive out of fear of absorption or unification. 

In the East-West German relationship, West Germany, with its strong national power, was actively engaged in exchanges and cooperation with East Germany. In the case of South and North Korea, when North Korea was superior in national power in the 1960s and 1970s, North Korea took the lead. Since the late 1980s, when South Korea was more advanced, it has been more active.

What is unique is that the conservative governments were reluctant to engage in exchanges and cooperation between the South and the North. This was because they believed that the funds flowing into North Korea through exchanges and cooperation projects would keep the North Korean regime alive. Since the early 1990s, they have consistently argued that we must pressure and isolate North Korea based on the theory that North Korea will collapse. Even though the extreme confrontational policy toward the North that the Yoon Seok-yeol government pursued for three years resulted in the strengthening of the North Korean regime rather than the collapse of North Korea, there are no signs of change in the conservative camp. 

As of 2025, South Korea's GDP is expected to be 60 times that of North Korea, and its military budget is expected to be 1.5 times that of North Korea, indicating a significant lead in terms of national power. There is no reason for the South Korean government, which has the upper hand in national power, to refuse exchanges and cooperation between the two Koreas.

On the 11th, President Lee Jae-myung announced that he would stop broadcasting through loudspeakers toward the North as of 2:00 p.m. that day. He said, "I hope that this measure will help the South and the North ease military tensions and rebuild trust in each other." 

Blessings of Agri-culture

In the Catholic Peace Weekly column on Faith and Science, the writer recalls that in January 2016, at the World Economic Forum (WEF) held in Switzerland, German economist Klaus Schwab, then chairman, introduced the concept of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. 

The remarkably advanced science and technology of this era, including drones, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, virtual reality, big data, self-driving cars, blockchain, and quantum technology, are driving significant changes in modern civilization. 

There have been several instances in human history when civilization underwent a revolutionary transformation. Alvin Toffler expressed this as three waves in his book, “The Third Wave.” The first wave was the Agricultural Revolution, which began approximately 10,000 years ago, during the Neolithic Age, following the end of the Ice Age. Humans, who had been wandering around hunting and gathering for over 2 million years since the Paleolithic Age, began to settle down and raise grains and livestock, and in the process, civilization began. The development of civilization, which encompasses the material and technological aspects, naturally led to the development of culture, the mental and social aspects of humans, and the wildness of humans gradually disappeared. It may not be unrelated to the fact that the word “agriculture” contains the word “culture”. 

The second wave was the Industrial Revolution, which began in England in the 18th century and spread to Europe, marking a transition from an agricultural to an industrial society. 

The third wave was the information revolution (digital revolution) in the late 20th-century industrialized society. However, among all these changes, the agricultural revolution is the most significant to humanity. The early civilizations that emerged in human history were founded on agriculture. Agriculture is the most fundamental means of addressing the basic problem of human beings' need to eat and live, so if there had been no agricultural revolution, there would have been no subsequent progress in civilization.

Agriculture is the process of artificially manipulating the natural environment of plants and animals that can become food for humans, as well as land and water, to convert and collect the energy of living things into a form applicable to humans. Grains produce organic substances, such as carbohydrates, which convert the sun's light energy into chemical energy that is valuable to humans. This process is caused by photosynthesis, a chemical reaction that occurs in plants. Surprisingly, the materials that plants need to make one molecule of glucose are only 6 carbon dioxide molecules, which exist in the air at a rate of only 0.03%, and 12 water molecules absorbed by the roots. When the sun’s light energy is applied to this, glucose, a carbohydrate, is synthesized by several enzymes inside the plants. This seemingly simple photosynthetic process is the basis for feeding all living things on Earth.

However, photosynthesis—the amazing ability of plants to convert light energy—is something that even advanced science and technology cannot yet imitate. Humans only harvest light energy through plants, and farmers are at the forefront of this work. The agricultural revolution is still in progress in the 21st century.

This third Sunday in July is ‘Farmers Sunday’, designated by the Korean Church. The current situation in rural areas is becoming increasingly challenging due to the decline and aging of the rural population, unstable farm income resulting from agricultural liberalization, and climate change. This is why we must gather our hearts and pray for our farmers, who silently work the land and harvest despite the many difficulties they face. “As long as the earth endures, sowing and harvesting, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease” (Genesis 8:22)

Time for Healing

In the "Preciousness of Faith" column of the Peace Weekly, the priest helps us understand the challenges of health and the importance of healing. 

We spend time without much thought, but time is very important in our lives. If we take proper measures, a wound will heal over time. We want it to heal quickly, but a wounded body needs time to recover its health.

The same goes for our hearts. Our delicate hearts are prone to getting hurt, and they need time to heal and regain their health. We are weak and vulnerable and need time and care to heal our wounds. 

Time also plays a very important role in faith. Jesus began to preach the gospel when the time was ripe. “The time is ripe, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the good news.” (Mark 1:15) Even during his public life, Jesus waited for his time. “Before the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father.” (John 13:1) Only when the time is ripe can something be seen. Especially the will of God.

When a priest in France said that he had only begun to understand the gospel at the age of 80, the columnist did not understand what he was saying. As time passes, life becomes deeper, faith matures, and the depth of Jesus’ words and actions approaches us in a different way than before. Our eyes have been opened to see the truth.

The truth of faith is also often understood after a long time. Jesus’ words to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us seem like unrealistic commandments that are difficult to follow. However, as time passes, our emotions often eventually recover and begin to make sense. And that depends on time. With the Lord’s care that embraces and heals our wounds.

Jesus was well aware of our weaknesses and limitations. However, Jesus never takes back His commandment to love our enemies. He just waits. Because there is no other way to health and growth. True happiness cannot be experienced without forgiveness and reconciliation. However, as time passes, clues will emerge and a way to live will become apparent. That is why we can continue to move forward while waiting for time to ripen.

It will be the moment when we reach the threshold of wisdom. That time is the time needed for our love to ripen, and that distance is the reminder that there is a path we must walk, and that we must continue to move forward with courage, despite our weaknesses and limitations.

Time is the medicine. Little by little, we gain the wisdom and courage to let go. The generosity and magnanimity that allows us to wait, understand, and embrace will liberate our souls.

This is how time teaches us. How to accumulate wisdom, how to wait, and how to receive generously. That's how we mature. If you're feeling unsettled and shaken right now, tell yourself that time will solve everything. And that time belongs to God.

Overcoming Despair

In the Philosophical Counseling column of the Catholic Peace Weekly, a Jesuit professor shares his thoughts on overcoming despair— the need to restore distorted relationships with oneself.

Life is a series of numerous adversities and trials. People often despair when they lose sight of a better life and hope for the future. The number of deaths due to alcohol, drug overdoses, and suicide, desiring to forget one's desperate reality, increases every year.

Economist Angus Deaton (1945~) calls them 'deaths of despair'. Despair, which is emerging as a new social problem, refers to a kind of ‘social death’ in which the poor, exhausted from life amidst the widening gap between the rich and the poor, end their lives by suicide, drug addiction, or alcoholism due to accumulated psychological pain.

It goes without saying that securing an economic and social safety net, as well as devising countermeasures, are urgently needed to prevent such deaths. However, the key point to consider here is whether we can truly escape despair simply because external problems are resolved. People try to resolve despair by connecting it to external obstacles. However, despair is a more fundamental existential phenomenon of humans, and it cannot be wholly overcome just by removing external obstacles.

The philosopher who examined despair as a fundamental phenomenon of human existence is Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855). He diagnosed the modern era as an ‘age of despair’, and in “The Sickness Unto Death”, he considers despair as a significant opportunity for ‘becoming oneself’ to acquire one’s original self. 

Despair is a synthesis of the ‘relationship with oneself’, the imbalance that comes from relating the soul and the body, the finite and the infinite, the temporal and the eternal, freedom and necessity in one’s life. It means ‘self-destruction’ that exhausts oneself to the point where one cannot do anything, and a ‘sinful situation’ that comes from the severance of one’s relationship with God. 

Kierkegaard defines the despair from this ‘disorder as a ‘disease of self-relationship'. However, the important fact is that despair is so painful and dangerous that one can die, and no one can avoid it, but no one dies because of it. Despair is a ‘disease that leads to death’, but unlike a disease of the body, it is a disease of the soul, an ‘existential disease’ that leads to a state where one dies but cannot die, that is, one cannot even hope for death. Nevertheless, Kierkegaard argues that 'despair never erodes one’s eternity under any circumstances'.

Despair is not a disease that only a select few people experience, but a phenomenon that all existing human beings experience. Humans are fundamentally in despair, but they often fail to recognize this despair and usually avoid it or rebel against it. 

It is a failure in not relating to oneself properly. An unconscious self-sabotaging behavior because of some unresolved trauma from the past. And the need to actively confront this improper relationship with oneself.

The restoration of a misaligned self-relation lies in standing alone before God with 'existential conscience' without hypocrisy. Existential conscience is based on 'authenticity' and 'self-responsibility' that sees oneself transparently without self-deception or pretense.

For those who genuinely pursue their true selves, life is not a calm sea but a fierce storm, and the truth is suffering. Therefore, philosophical counseling plays the role of helping those who bear the heavy burdens of life, especially when they are in despair due to pain, to cultivate the capacity to make their own decisions about their lives through self-reflection and to embrace their unique existence.

Life In Old Age

A professor in the welfare department of a university, in the Catholic Peace Weekly's Diagnosis of the Times column, gives the readers some thoughts on 'Life in Beautiful Old Age'.

As we age, we become increasingly familiar with more and more things. This is because our brain's memory creates a ‘cognitive schema’, a kind of interpretation framework based on the common characteristics of repetitive experiences. 

Of course, cognitive schemas can be modified at any time. However, most people do not readily change cognitive schemas once they are created. This is because modifying and forming new cognitive schemas requires time and effort. Cognitive schemas help us quickly understand situations and respond to them, but they also have a negative aspect, making us stubbornly act and become obsessed with stereotypes.

As familiar and repetitive things increase, new and novel things in life decrease. Familiarity provides comfort, but it also takes away the joy of life. Today is like yesterday, tomorrow is like today, and ordinary daily life speeds up. 

However, as the late Pope Francis said, “old age thirsting for wisdom, peaceful, devout, fruitful, and joyful old age" requires boldly cutting off this familiarity, which is a natural result of aging. Familiarity can bring us comfort and stability, but it can also hinder growth and wisdom.

In his book “The New Organon,” Francis Bacon presented three types of humans by comparing them to insects. First, ‘ant-type’ people who look at the ground, 'people' who are diligent and stick together well. Second, ‘spider-type’ people are ‘selfish people’ who do not work but build spider webs and wait for their prey to get caught and suck their blood. Lastly, ‘bee-type’ people are creative and make honey by transferring pollen. They are ‘altruistic people’ who share the honey they make with others and are essential to society. They seek out new flowers and collect honey; that is, people who reject familiarity and constantly grow and create.

Breaking away from familiarity means living a life of learning without rest. It is a life of using experience as material, but rather than simply repeating the same thing, creating and growing anew with the insights gained from the experience. And isn’t a life of sharing the results obtained through that challenge and growth with others, and giving back to society, a creative, altruistic, and beautiful old age like the life of a bee?

Do you want to live your old age as a time of decline and endless waiting, immersed in familiarity? Or do you want to live a life of creation and wisdom, where you break away from familiarity and use the wisdom you have gained as ingredients to create sweet honey, and share that honey with the next generation and society?

If in your youth you had to inevitably become accustomed to familiarity for social success, your family’s livelihood, and your children’s education, shouldn’t you break away from familiarity in your old age, free from all of that, and return to a beautiful and wise form that most resembles yourself, the original self that God created? Isn’t this the beautiful old age that God wants for us?