Seoul (AsiaNews/CBCK) "Deep concern" over "trends taking hold of our society which tend more and more towards indifference about the right to life, the most fundamental of all human rights", has been voiced by Mgr Boniface Choi Ki-san. The president of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Korean Bishops' Conference opened a message published on 4 December to mark the 24th Human Rights Sunday with these words.
In his message, entitled "For All Our Human Life", Bishop Choi explained that "among all creatures, the human being along knows and loves God and is called to share in the life of God." He also stressed that "human dignity can be guaranteed through the respect for and realization of human rights."
"Particular concern" was expressed also for the situation in North Korea: Mgr Choi forcefully called for the ""realization and guarantee of religious freedom, an important indicator of the degree of humanization of a society."
Elements which "threaten the right to life and violate human dignity" in South Korea include problems linked to poverty and an ageing population: the bishop expressed hope for the introduction of "policies at all government levels to counter these phenomena" and he proposed "institutional safeguards" to protect the right to life and stop abortion, embryonic stem cell research and the death penalty.
