The Constitutional Court of Korea brought an end to 70 years of imprisoning conscientious objectors (COs) when it ruled 28 June 2018 that it is unconstitutional for South Korea not to offer alternative service options for COs.<\/p>\n
An alternative does exist, but it requires four to six weeks of military training, and participants who finish it are considered reserves in the military. Men who go to jail rather than the military are barred from many professions, such as working in the education field.<\/p>\n
Korean Mennonites celebrated the ruling. KyongJung Kim, Mennonite World Conference regional representative for Northeast Asia, said he had been longing for this moment ever since he began taking seriously the implications of the gospel of peace.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have paid close attention to the recent peace process between North and South Korea. I feel that things are falling into place one after another,\u201d he said. \u201cWe may have a long way to go…[but] we have seen many signs of the light already.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kim began working for such a societal change in 2001 at the Korea Anabaptist Center in South Korea.<\/p>\n
The Korea Anabaptist Center provides Anabaptist resources, translates materials and organizes lectures to promote the gospel of peace from a theological perspective. Representatives visit COs in jail, sharing their stories so others can also pray for them.<\/p>\n