CNA Staff October 14, 2024 / 3:25 p.m

South Korean officials warned Monday of rapidly growing military threats from North Korea, escalating tensions.

Days earlier, a South Korean prelate said in an interview with Fides news agency that Catholics continued to pray for peace and hope, but that “hope for reunification between the two East Asian countries is fading.”

The South Korean government said on Monday that North Korea was preparing to destroy some inter-Korean roads following allegations that Seoul had flown drones over northern areas, the Associated Press reported.

North Korean troops have also reportedly been sent to the border between the two countries. The communist government said its soldiers were ready to attack South Korean targets.

Ahead of the escalating conflict, Seoul Archbishop Peter Soon-taick Chung told Fides that “the desire for reunification among South Koreans is waning.”

The Archbishop also serves as Apostolic Administrator of Pyongyang, North Korea; No bishop has operated directly from Pyongyang for decades. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in its 2024 annual report that religious freedom was “nonexistent” in North Korea and that “state-controlled religious sites and organizations,” including the Korean Catholic Association, provided an “illusion of religious freedom.”

The country’s total Catholic population is estimated at between 800 and 3,000 believers.

“I think many young people in the South are beginning to believe that reconciliation or reunification is not a viable path. Hope is fading,” Chung told the news agency.

“I think it is appropriate to continue to dream of peaceful coexistence and keep the light of hope burning in Korean society, especially today,” the prelate said.

But “in the current standoff with the total blockage of communication channels, the situation is very dire,” he said.

Chung told the news service that Catholics would “continue prayer and education for peace.”

“We are approaching the Holy Year whose theme is hope; “We are pilgrims of hope, also with regard to relations with the North,” he said.

Bishop Simon Kim Ju-young of the Diocese of Chuncheon in South Korea told Fides that “both sides face each other with a certain hostility and all channels are closed, including humanitarian aid, which was kept open in the past.” The bishop also serves as president of the Episcopal Reconciliation Commission.

“And while Korean public opinion is still fairly divided on policy toward the North, all Koreans are united when it comes to sending humanitarian aid to North Korea,” he said.

“But North Korea keeps all channels closed, including humanitarian ones,” he added.

“Above all, we pray that the doors will open. “All the faithful of the Church in Korea take part in this prayer,” the bishop said.

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