South Korea

The Republic of Korea (ROK/South Korea) governs the southern half of the Korean peninsula, an area of mottled mountains and coastal plains and basins with islands dotting its southern and western coasts.  MCC’s connections in South Korea are an important part of our Global Service Learning exchanges and relationship with the global Anabaptist community.

The people of the Korean peninsula are faced with the constant presence of past and potential conflict.  The Korean War is seen in the west as lasting from 1950 to 1953, however it ended with a cease-fire, not a full peace treaty, which still causes tension between the two governments operating on the peninsula today.   For some in the ROK, the war seems like distant history and takes a back seat to South Korea's growing high-tech industries, but older generations remain aware that they live under the shadow of a potential reopening of hostilities.   In the midst of this tension, Mennonite Central Committee seeks to walk with and learn from those who seek relief and peace, just as we walk toward those goals with other peoples across the globe. 

In South Korea, MCC works extensively with the Korean Anabaptist Center (KAC), a networking hub for independent Korean churches interested in discipleship, peace, and living in Christian community.  Recent work includes an initiative to develop the Northeast Asia Regional Peacebuilding Institute (NARPI) as a collaboration between peace NGOs to foster greater understanding between the different nations in Northeast Asia, develop peacebuilding skills amongst the people of the region, and sow seeds of peace.