<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2963" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Summary of South Korean RC Bishops statement on
North Korea by Zenit news agency </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><A name=96834><FONT face="Times New Roman"
color=#000040 size=3><B>Korean Bishops Lament North's Nuclear
Test</B></FONT></A><BR><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Issue Message for
Peace and Reconciliation <BR><BR>SEOUL, South Korea, OCT. 19, 2006 </FONT><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>The recent announcement of North Korea's nuclear
test caused shock and concern among the Korean people and all those who love
peace, say the country's bishops. <BR><BR>The test carried out Oct. 9 by the
North's Communist government has alarmed the international community. <BR><BR>In
response, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea (CBCK) sent a "Message for
Peace and Reconciliation" to the North last Friday. <BR><BR>"We cannot but feel
deep sorrow for the choice of our North Korean brethren who must cooperate with
us to maintain the peace," reads the text, signed by Auxiliary Bishop Lucas Kim
Woon-hoe of Seoul, president of the prelates' Committee for the Reconciliation
of the Korean People, and by Bishop Boniface Choi Ki-san, president of the
Committee for Justice and Peace. <BR><BR>"Even if it was for self-defence,
nuclear weapons cannot be justified in any way," the bishops warn. <BR><BR>The
prelates observe that in recent years, the South and North have maintained
peaceful exchanges, through which the two Koreas have come to recognize each
other not as enemies but as one people, "the same brethren." <BR><BR>"Hence, no
one should block the way of reconciliation which the South and North have paved
through all efforts or turn back the streams of peace and unity running through
the Korean peninsula," the bishops say in their statement. "Furthermore, no one
should make use of this situation to provoke hatred and confrontation."
<BR><BR>The bishops pointed out that, for peace to take root in Korea, the Joint
Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, adopted in 1991,
should be effectively implemented, something which could be achieved through
"dialogue and negotiation." <BR><BR>Dialogue <BR><BR>In their message, reported
on Wednesday by the Fides agency, the South Korean prelates emphasized that the
"international society must walk the difficult way toward reconciliation and
peace with patience, not through military sanctions or blockade but through
dialogue and negotiation." <BR><BR>While the Korean peninsula is shocked by the
North's nuclear test, "we put our trust in 'Christ, our peace' (Ephesians 2:14)
without restlessness of mind, and heartily wish that we could bring real peace
in this country with all the people working for peace together," the South
Korean prelates write. <BR><BR>North Korea, which suffers a lack of religious
liberty, has 22 million inhabitants. South Korea has 48 million, including 4
million Catholics. The North and South have been separated since the 1953
armistice. <BR>ZE06101923</FONT><BR></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>