독일통일과정을 통해서 본 한반도 통일과 사회통합을 위한 교회의 역할 모색

Over 70 years have passed after the division of Korean peninsula. Until now, the state of divided Korean peninsula has become a burdenous, risky reality to surrounding countries in the international politic reality as well as an agony to Korean people. Such that, the division of Korean peninsular has become not only a problem but also a task to be solved for Korean churches. Although much time has passed after the breakup of cold war, but both Koreas have not get out of the mutual confrontation. North Korean 4th nuclear test and rocket launching which have been happened lately caused the closure of Gaesong Industrial Complex and the shut of both Koreas’ dialogue having been barely kept until then. In order to embrace the problem of divided Korea and to open a new prospect in the unification field, this study intended to seek the direction for South Korean churches to go that they have a long way to go by tracing the tracks of German churches. During the process of German Unification, the Germany went through a lot trials and errors and errors of judgement. However, in spite of such errors of judgement, the German eventually accepted the unification between West Germany and East Germany and became a people overcoming the agony of divided country. In spite of the state that Germany was divided into West Germany and East Germany, but German churches in both Germanies kept the conformity and the solidarity, so they took the role as a major subject in the East Germany’s democratization and the German Unification. The churches in East and West German territories recognized themselves as a ‘special community’ each other and accepted, understood each other. It can be said that based on such mutual understanding, West German churches’ support for East German churches and East German churches’ solidarity with the West German churches and their communication with the World Church Association substantially contributed in forming the social integration between West and East german people during their unification process. Besides, East German churches took a core role in the composition of organizations of East German society’s democratization and such organizations’ solidarity as well as their peaceful demonstration. And they collected various opinions from social members in various fields through the ‘round-table conference’ and took a major role as the arbitrator for peace and reconciliation. Such activities can be said to be meaningful in that churches took a central role in taking socially public roles, not simply as a worship community. German church’s core role in the social integration during the process of German Unification can give the right answer for question about how today South Korean churches will deal with the matter of Korean Unification. First of all, South Korean churches need to intensify the conformity and the solidarity between North and South Korean churches through South Korean churches’ continual exchanges and cooperation. Second, for the North-South Korean churches’ cooperation and exchanges beyond the current political ideology, they need to remain the political neutral position in that there may occur confrontal states and conflicts between Both Koreans depending on the changing security situations. Third, like that East German churches went out of the isolation through its exchange with the World Church Association as well as with West German churches and took an important rple in realizing the German Unification, the North-South Korean churches’ exchange & cooperation in various fields requires their solidarity with the World Church Association.