South Korean Religious Leaders Take Peace Message North

The group, formed by members of the Korean Conference of Religions for Peace (KCRP), were sent from Seoul to Pyongyang, via China, on a four-day visit.

This visit "could have an important function in improving relations between the two countries," said Archbishop Hyginus Kim Hee-jong of Kwangju, president of the KCRP.

The religious leaders intend "to take to North Korea a message of peace of the religions and thus contribute to open a path to reconciliation and cooperation between the two Koreas," they pointed out in a joint statement.

According to Eglises d'Asie, the news agency of the Foreign Missions of Paris, the program included a series of visits on Thursday to places that are representative of different religions.

Scheduled for today was a time of prayer for peace on Mount Baekdu, regarded as the cradle of Korean civilization. The group returns to Seoul on Saturday.