April KPNGN Newsletter 🌷 Join our Webinar with Legal Experts on Jeju 4.3 Retrials

Thank you to everyone who joined us in New York and Pennsylvania last week!

In New York, we launched the Women’s Rights Under the Division System in Korea report at the United Nations’ 69th Commission on the Status of Women to a packed house! Released to coincide with International Women’s Day and the 80th year of Korea’s division, the report highlights the profound and persistent impact of division and militarism on Korean women’s lives and the urgency of developing a comprehensive approach to human rights. Read the full report here.

In Philadelphia, we met with Korea peace grassroots activists and joined University of Pennsylvania’s Asian American Across Disciplines with Mark Tseng-Putterman to present on “The Far Right and the New Cold War: Transnational Organizing from Korea to the US,” co-sponsored by Koreans 4 Decolonization at Penn and James Joo-Kim Center for Korean Studies.

In Philadelphia, we met with Korea peace grassroots activists and joined University of Pennsylvania’s Asian American Across Disciplines with Mark Tseng-Putterman to present on “The Far Right and the New Cold War: Transnational Organizing from Korea to the US,” co-sponsored by Koreans 4 Decolonization at Penn and James Joo-Kim Center for Korean Studies.

🤝 Organize

Join our April national grassroots meeting on Thursday, April 10 at 5pm PT/8pm ET! Members of Resist U.S.-Led War Movement will provide an overview of their movement and together, we will brainstorm ways to collaborate. Register here.

Following the national meeting, join our ongoing KPNGN New Member Orientation series on the same Zoom link, starting at 6pm PT/9pm ET. The Education Committee will host Part 1 of this ongoing series on the history of the Korean War.

🗓️ Events

April 3 at 1pm HST/4pm PT/7pm ET | APOLOGY & REPARATION: The Jeju 4.3 Retrials and the Japanese American coram nobis Cases: The United States, South Korea, and the Jeju 4.3 Tragedy

Join Korea Peace Now! and Women Cross DMZ for a virtual webinar on the Jeju 4.3 Tragedy, the villagers’ criminal retrials, and the linkages between their 2018 retrials and the 1980s coram nobis reopening of the resistors of the WWII Japanese American mass incarceration featuring Eric Yamamoto and Miyoko Pettit-Toledo. Recording available here.

Join us for a virtual webinar with World Beyond War with Cathi Choi (Women Cross DMZ) and Dae-Han Song (International Strategy Center) on “How to Prevent a Coup: Lessons from Korea.” Register here.

Register to participate in this year’s Korea Peace Advocacy Week, June 6-13, 2025! For ten years, Korea Peace Advocacy Week has brought hundreds of people around the country to advocate for their members of Congress to support Korea peace legislation. This nationally coordinated action is particularly timely as tensions on the Korean Peninsula run dangerously high. We must urgently advocate for diplomacy in pursuit of a binding peace agreement to formally end the Korean War. Participants will join 30-minute virtual meetings with their congressional representatives, share personal stories, and urge members to support legislation focused on Korean peace. We will also offer an online training session for participants over Zoom in advance of these meetings. Register to receive details. We may also arrange in-person visits for DC, MD, and VA constituents. Please reach out to echo@womencrossdmz.org if you are interested.

đź“šRECOMMENDED READINGS:

From the Education Committee:

  1. Fear of far-right violence grows as verdict on Yoon’s impeachment is delayed highlights the need for the Constitutional Court to avoid further delays in the Yoon impeachment ruling and presents some concerns about possible far-right violence that could follow a ruling in favor of impeachment.
  2. Chaos Under Heaven: South Korea’s Deepening Political Debacle discusses how the U.S. strategic geopolitical interests have contributed to the unfolding crisis in Korea.
  3. South Korean court reinstates impeached PM Han Duck-soo as acting president reports on how the impeachment of Han Duck-soo has been overturned.

🛍 Support the Korea Peace Movement: Show your support for Korea peace with one of our new tote bags, hats, baby onesies, and clothing, available here. All money raised will support Korea Peace Now!, our U.S.-based movement for peace in Korea led by Women Cross DMZ. Art by Peter Holland and lazy blender.

✌️Follow Korea Peace Now! on Bluesky! Say hello and check out our new account!

FYI

April 22 at 4pm PT | Among Women across Worlds: North Korea in Global Cold War

In-person event at UCLA Bunche Hall, Rm 10383 with Suzy Kim (Rutgers University, Professor & Women Cross DMZ, Founding Member) The Korean War galvanized women to promote women’s rights in the context of the first global peace campaign during the Cold War. Recuperating the erasure of North Korean women from this movement, this talk excavates buried histories of Cold War sutures to show how leftist women tried to bridge the Cold War divide through maternalist strategies.

Travel Opportunity with the Korea Peace Journey, October 21 – 30, 2025

The Presbyterian Peace Network for Korea is sponsoring the Korea Peace Journey. Registration for the Journey runs through April 30. The cost for in-Korea expenses is $2,300; limited scholarship help is available for persons under 40 years of age. Register and learn more here. For questions, contact Rev. In Yang at PeaceNetworkforKorea@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

Cathi Choi and Echo

Return to resources page.