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Corea: Catholic Priest To Work In North For Social Welfare Print E-mail
Written by UCANews   
Friday, 07 November 2008
For the first time in almost 60 years, a Catholic priest will stay in North Korea, and look after the welfare of local workers.

Franciscan Father Paul Kim Kwon-soon says he will stay in Pyongyang, probably beginning in late November, and serve as a "social worker" for factory workers in the first joint North-South business venture.

Returning to South Korea from a visit, Father Kim told UCA News on Nov. 4 that North Korea is allowing him to run a newly built welfare center in Pyongyang that houses a soup kitchen, a free clinic and a public bath, even though "they know I am a Catholic priest." As a visitor, he will have to renew his visa every two months.

From Oct. 29 to Nov. 1, a group of 260 South Koreans visited North Korea to celebrate the completion of the first-ever inter-Korean joint venture, Pyongyang Hemp Textile Company, which will produce towels, socks and shrouds.

While 80 South Korean manufacturers are currently operating at an industrial complex in Kaesong, 60 kilometers south of Pyongyang, this is the first time a South Korean company is in a partnership with a North Korean company. The contract to build the factory was signed in November 2003, but delays prevented the factory from being completed sooner.

Former South Korean president Thomas More Kim Dae-jung sent a congratulatory message to Pyongyang, hailing the joint venture as "another accomplishment by the North and South businesspeople, following the Kaesong industrial complex, amid 60 years of division of the country."

South Korea's Andong Hemp Textile Company and North Korea's Saebyol General Company shouldered the US$30-million investment equally, according to an Andong Hemp spokesperson. Saebyol General comes under the North Korean government's National Economic Cooperative Association.

The spokesperson told UCA News on Nov. 3 that eight people from the South will stay there and prepare the factory to begin operations, hopefully early next year. The factory is expected to employ 1,000 North Koreans.
According to Father Kim, the three-story welfare center he will manage is within the factory premises and will provide the workers with services such as medical checkups, meals and haircuts. It will have the capacity to offer free meals to up to 1,500 workers a day.

"I can say that the center will be a turning point in the humanitarian aid to the North," the priest noted. "We only could send aid materials" in the past, he pointed out, whereas he can now bring aid materials to the North and provide direct service.

Saebyol General agreed last February to establish the center after three years of "great efforts" on the part of his Order of Friars Minor, Father Kim explained.

During the four-day visit to the North, Bishop Lazzaro You Heung-sik of Daejeon presided at the opening ceremony of the center on Oct. 30, the priest reported.

On Nov. 1 Bishop You, former president of Caritas Corea, the Korean bishops' social service organization, celebrated a Mass at Changchung Church, the only Catholic church in North Korea, to thank God for opening the center. About 50 South Korean Catholics including eight priests and four Religious took part. No North Korean Catholics attended.

Father Michael Lee Chang-jun, secretary of Caritas Corea, accompanied Bishop You. He told UCA News on Nov. 5 that he wished "the center could provide its service not only for the workers, but other North Korean people in the neighborhood."

Cecilia Lee Seung-jung, North Korea program manager for Caritas Internationalis, the worldwide confederation of Caritas organizations, earlier called the agreement on the center a significant development. She pointed out that inter-Korean exchanges have been limited since the current government in Seoul assumed office last February.

Records of South Korea's Unification Ministry show aid to North Korea from the South Korean government and civil groups amounting to US$63.6 million from January to September 2008, while in 2007 it totaled US$304.6 million.

According to Church sources, North Korea maintains that 3,000 Catholics in North Korea practice their faith at "home worship places" across the country, with no residing priest or nun. Between 1949 and 1950 all priests and nuns who remained in the North were executed or disappeared.
Last Updated ( Friday, 07 November 2008 )