Seoul (AsiaNews) The archdiocese of Seoul plans to construct a Korean People's National Reconciliation Centre and an Atonement Church in Paju (Kyonggi province) near the border with North Korea in order to "promote relations with the North Korean Church" and "favour a friendly approach" to residents of the North.
The Centre will include a two-story building, with a seminary and a liturgical area. The first will accommodate up to 100 people and will have a study area and a religious museum; the second will include an Atonement church, a small shrine and an auditorium.
The National Reconciliation Committee, chaired by Bishop Kim Un-hwi, is in charge of the project; it has recently selected the architect to design the structure. The first drawings are already available for public viewing.
The center will cover an area of 2,200 pyong (7,270 m2) and will be built in a style that will reflect the old North Korean sacred architecture that existed before division.
North Korean Church architecture is known as an 'inculturated architectural style' because it relies on traditional Korean concepts of architecture.