South Korea's Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant leaders have together declared 2009 as the Year of Prayer for Christian Unity.

The Catholic bishops' Committee for Promoting Christian Unity and Interreligious Dialogue and the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) announced last week that South Korean churches will hold ecumenical activities such as prayer services, forums and exchanges throughout this year.

It will be the year Korean Christians "together sow the seeds of true unity and reconciliation, and overcome division," it added.

"2009 will be the year of confessing our faults to God and forgiving our brothers," he said.

Through ecumenical unity, Korean churches hope to be "the stepping-stone" for a society that is suffering from "tensions and discord" in the political, economic, and social sectors.

NCCK chairman Kim Sam-hwan agreed saying, "Unity will give hope not only for the churches but for the whole society."