South Korea has been in turmoil since December 2024, when President Yoon Suk Yeol made a brazen power grab, declaring martial law for the first time in 45 years and risking Korea's democracy. Since then, the president was removed from office; with the support of his own party, the National Assembly impeached the president. The country’s Constitutional Court then spent an enormous amount of time deliberating the legitimacy of the impeachment.
The Court finally released their verdict to unanimously uphold the impeachment of the president and remove him from office. The country, however, remains deeply divided, and the path towards healing and protecting democracy in South Korea continues.
United Church partners in Korea are concerned about the polarization of the country and the rise of far-right Christians who support the impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol. These right-wing Christians are critical of the LGBTQIA+ community, women’s rights, migrant workers, and more. The partners are asking for prayers for peace and reconciliation from internal divisions—social, political, ecumenical, gender, sexuality, etc.
The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea has asked us to join them in solidarity and pray for peace and reconciliation in Korea. As friends in Christ, we offer this prayer.
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A Joint Prayer for Peace with The Presbyterian Church of Canada and The United Church of Canada
God of peace and justice,
you call us to love and to be peacemakers among your people.
God of unity,
in a world struggling with divisions and conflicts,
we pray for the people of Korea where so many remember and suffer from the division that tore the country, families, and friendships apart. Today many living in South Korea are experiencing the excruciating pain of divisions between rich and poor, divisions in politics, and divisions in the understanding of gender and sexuality. And these divisions also exist in your churches and distract from the church’s mission, which we mourn in sadness.
Comforting God, we pray for healing of the profound pain Koreans call “han.” May your Spirit intercede with sighs too deep for words as you tend to the pain of loss, sadness, and injustices.
God of the nations,
we pray for your wisdom and guidance to help build societies with governments based on truth, integrity, and dignity that support people. And by your Spirit, strengthen your Church to be your faithful body in the world to speak of your love and seek your justice. And let your will be done among us and let your peace and the politics realm be established on Earth as in heaven so that all your children know your love, peace, and justice and sing praises to your name. We pray in the name of Jesus who showed us your radical and unfathomable love for all of us. Amen.
2025 marks a very important moment in history as The Presbyterian Church in Canada (PCC) celebrates its 150th anniversary, and The United Church of Canada celebrates its 100th anniversary. The United Church traces its roots to the PCC who began to establish churches, hospitals, and schools in Korea in the late 19th century. This prayer was jointly written between PCC and the United Church.