Joseph Yun Li-sun

For the first time ever the regime has permitted a predominantly Catholic delegation to visit the hospitals where people are cured of tuberculosis. Eight of these structures are supported by the Church, while programmes are being planned to extend this collaboration to Research Centres to stop the spread of the disease. Currently, 10% of the population has TB.

Arrested over 15 weeks ago, they had been held by police looking for a thousand dollars ransom for their release. In Thailand, over 400 refugees hunger strike demanding asylum in South Korea.

The archbishop of Seoul celebrates a memorial mass for the 32 men and women killed by Cho Seung-hui. Messages of sympathy come from Korea’s Protestant and Buddhist communities.

President Roh send condolences to the families of the 33 victims and the entire nation, but the Us Korean community fear a violent reprisal. Some consider leaving the country.

During celebrations marking the second anniversary of Pope Wojtyla’s death, cardinal bishops and faithful gathered in Seoul cathedral along with representatives from other religions and diplomatic delegates, to remember John Paul II’s commitment to dialogue and peace.

The Supreme People’s Assembly replaces Pak with Transportation Minister Kim Yong-Il. South Korean sources claim Pak’s removal is related to a possible military coup against Dictator Kim Jong-il.

The bishops publish Easter Messages for their diocese, underscoring the pain caused by the government’s policies on abortion and embryonic research.

All of Korea’s bishops have signed and released a message in which they attack the South Korean government for promoting abortion and stem cell research in the name of economic progress. For them abortion and embryo manipulation destroy man’s dignity and sacredness, and are the cause for a declining birth rate and society’s perversion.

On the 80th anniversary of the founding of the diocese of Pyongyang, Korean Catholics gather in Seoul cathedral to pray so that the blood of the martyrs in the North may again give the Church and the faithful oppressed by the Stalinist regime vigour and freedom.

The Committee for Life of the Archdiocese of Seoul sends message to the government, which is currently examining a revised bioethics law, urging decision-makers to stop the destruction of innocent lives in the name of progress. It invites the scientific community to focus research on adult stem cells.

About a hundred young South Koreans carry World Youth Day Cross, given by John Paul II, to the demilitarised zone that divides the country where they prayed for the peaceful reunification of the peninsula.

The Korean Church and South Korean government warn that under the present rate of refugee arrivals, the northern regime might face mass flight. A Catholic ‘Unification Centre’ is being set up as first station to help refugees integrate.