Hundreds Gathered in Washington, DC for Korea Peace Action

From July 26 to 28, hundreds of people from across the country gathered in Washington, DC, for Korea Peace Action: National Mobilization to End the Korean War, on the 70th anniversary of the Korean armistice.

Held over three days, Korea Peace Action fortified the Korea peace movement by fostering connection and collaboration between organizations, groups, and individuals — including Korean Americans from divided families, Gen M/Z activists, humanitarian aid workers, experts, scholars, and peace-loving people — reflecting the diverse ecosystem of changemakers who share the vision of peace on the Korean Peninsula in our lifetime. Several veterans of the movement said this historic convening made them feel hopeful about the possibility of achieving peace in our lifetime, for the first time in decades.

Here are some of the highlights:

  • We met with Congressional offices asking them to support — or thanking them for supporting — H.R.1369, the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act.
  • We also met with State Department officials to urge them to lift the US travel ban to the DPRK to allow family reunions, humanitarian activities, the repatriation of US servicemember remains, and peacebuilding initiatives.
Grassroots members and 30 Under 30 Activists thanking Rep. Judy Chu for being a Korea Peace Champion.
Meeting with the State Department: (l-r): AFSC’s Jennifer Deibert, Zachary Barter of State Dept., Rick Downes, Dan Leaf, Zachary Murray of Mennonite Central Committee, Christine Ahn, Alison Kahn of AFSC, Joy Lee Gebhard, Women Cross DMZ’s Cathi Choi, and Joy Lee Gebhard’s daughter, MiRan Powell.
  • We held a press conference in front of the Capitol building with Korea Peace Champions Representatives Barbara Lee, Judy Chu, and Delia Ramirez; Joy Gebhard, a member of a divided family; Rick Downes of the Coalition of Families of Korean and Cold War POW/MIAs; Dan Leaf, a retired three-star general and former acting commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command; Joyce Ajlouny, Secretary General of AFSC; and 14-year-old Hana de Vitton, a fifth-generation member of a divided family. Members of the media — including from The Washington Post and PBS Newshour — were in attendance. Watch the video of our press conference below.

Rep. Barbara Lee speaks at our press conference.

“This legislation [H.R.1369] offers a transformative peace-first approach to ending the Korean War, finally. The Korean War is known as the forgotten war in the United States. Most people think the war officially has ended so this is unacceptable. It’s time that we wake up from our collective amnesia to remember the death and destruction that this war entailed and chart a new path forward, one based on global peace and security and rooted in human security.”
— Rep. Barbara Lee

  • We held an event called Unbind Your Heart: Korean Han / Grief Transmutation Ceremony, in which we wailed, wept, and danced through our Han (generational grief/rage). It included an interfaith prayer by Sulkiro, pastor of Han Church; a participatory writing prompt and construction of a community altar led by acclaimed author Joseph Han; and traditional Korean grief rituals led by renowned multidisciplinary artist and shaman Dohee Lee. It was an incredibly moving and cathartic experience that transformed our collective grief and rage into strength and resilience.
Dohee Lee, who is from Jeju, Korea, led a communal grief ritual.
  • We ended the day in the fierce DC sun in front of the White House for a rousing rally with Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK, Nick Cho (@YourKoreanDad), and David Kim (CA-34 candidate), and a deeply moving performance of “Arirang” by Josephine Lee of the Chicago Children’s Choir.
Echo of Women Cross DMZ leads the rally in front of the White House on July 27, 2023.
  • From there, our 500-strong group marched through a gorgeous summer shower to the Lincoln Memorial, led by the rousing rhythms of Baltimore Han Pan youth percussion group. There, we held an interfaith vigil that included prayers, a powerful chant for peace by a Buddhist monk, and an unforgettable gang gang sullae circle dance on the national mall.

  • We wrapped up our three-day convening with an all-day conference at George Washington University to learn from experts and those with lived experience about the impact of the unresolved war and what’s at stake, and share strategies to move toward peace. Preeminent Korea historian Bruce Cumings gave the keynote address, followed by panel discussions: “The Human Costs of Unending War” and “Peace to Prevent Nuclear War.” Watch the conference below.
Korea historian Bruce Cumings
  • Speakers included divided family member Joy Lee Gebhard; Rick Downes of the Coalition of Families of Korean and Cold War POW/MIAs; Dr. Kee Park, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Harvard University Department of Global Health and Social Medicine; Prof. Siegfried Hecker, former Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory; retired U.S. Army Colonel Ann Wright; and Dan Leaf, retired Lieutenant General of the U.S. Air Force and former Acting Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

“The odds of North Korea’s denuclearization absent a peace treaty are zero. That’s why starting with denuclearization is such a nonstarter.” — Dan Leaf

“Sanctions kill. We know it and we should not excuse it. We have allowed our leaders and our morals to deteriorate. We have become barbarians because we have accepted deaths of women and children in the name of national security.” — Dr. Kee Park, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Harvard University Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, who has visited DPRK over 20 times  

Of all the events over those eventful three days, perhaps the most meaningful was the opportunity to connect with one another to weave an intergenerational tapestry of resistance to the ongoing Korean War. Our movement is powerful, and our voices are growing louder. Our calls are being heard. We know we’re making a difference because we even got attacked by right-wing, pro-war media!

Thank you to all our co-convenors — American Friends Service Committee, Korean American Peace Fund, Mennonite Central Committee, National Association of Korean Americans, The United Methodist Church, and Veterans for Peace — and 27 co-sponsors, our 30 Under 30 cohort, Rep. Barbara Lee who hosted our press conference, and everyone who contributed to help make this action so successful and meaningful.

Together, we can and will see an end to the Korean War!

Click here to read press coverage of Korea Peace Action.

See more photos by clicking through the slideshow below. Photos by Constance Faulk.

Letter Sent to the State Department Regarding Travel Restrictions to Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

Daniel J. Kritenbrink

Assistant Secretary of State

Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs

U.S. Department of State

2201 C Street, NW

Washington, DC 20520

 

July 25, 2023

Dear Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink:

We previously have corresponded concerning the current travel ban restricting U.S. citizens from traveling freely to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).  See our letter, dated September 6, 2022, attached.  We appreciate your letter to us, dated September 22, 2022, responding to our concerns.

We take this opportunity to further our discussion and request achievable changes in the current ban on travel to the DPRK.  As set forth in our September 6 letter, we believe there are many reasons justifying an end to the travel ban at this time, or, at the very least, modifications to the ban to support bona fide humanitarian and democracy-based initiatives and people-to-people engagement, with little risk to those who would travel.  We ask that the State Department end the travel ban at this time.  To the extent the ban is based on concerns that U.S. citizens will be unlawfully detained, mistreated, or held hostage, we believe the empirical evidence strongly suggests otherwise.  Since the early 1990s, U.S. humanitarian organizations safely sent hundreds of aid workers to North Korea, including outside of the capital city of Pyongyang.  From 2000 to 2017, an estimated 6,000 Korean Americans traveled to North Korea, many seeking to reunite with family members from whom they became separated due to the Korean War.  Out of these thousands, only 20 known U.S. citizens have been detained in or deported from North Korea.  Additionally, prior to the institution of the 2017 travel ban, hundreds of U.S. citizens lived and worked as residents in the DPRK – none of whom were detained. These people-to-people exchanges and humanitarian activities are crucial to advancing the U.S. national interest and building trust with North Korea, but have been largely halted as a result of the 2017 travel ban.

In the absence of terminating the travel ban, at a minimum we propose two modifications to the Department’s Special Validation Passport (SVP) policy that has been applied for travel to the DPRK.  First, we believe it would be sensible to align the SVP policies for the DPRK more closely with the NGO-related general license in the North Korea Sanctions Regulations (NKSR), set forth at 31 C.F.R. Part 510, and administered by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Such a modification would more fully reflect existing U.S. policy towards the DPRK, and support the important objectives of the NGO and humanitarian communities that are the intended users of OFAC’s humanitarian exemption.

A second and related point is that we believe the Department’s SVP policy for the DPRK should explicitly allow travel for the purpose of constitutionally protected speech (a concept already reflected in part in OFAC’s NKSR), and, in particular, for the purpose of democracy-building and people-to-people initiatives.  In light of the strong constitutional protection associated with the right to travel, we believe travel that is associated with First Amendment free speech in aid of such initiatives is compelling.  We believe that now is the time to consider appropriate amendments to the SVP policies to make them a more coherent part of the overall U.S. regulatory structure for the DPRK, and also more fully reflective of U.S. laws and values.

Section 510.512 of OFAC’s NKSR authorizes NGOs to provide services to the DPRK for enumerated categories of not-for-profit activities, including those relating to humanitarian, democracy building, non-commercial development, and environmental protection purposes.  As you know, numerous organizations are engaged in these areas in the DPRK.[1]  However, the Department’s SVP “national interest” policy is more limited, only explicitly applying to journalists, Red Cross representatives, or others whose travel is “justified by compelling humanitarian considerations”, which we understand has been applied primarily for life-saving assistance for civilians.

Given that the U.S. government has authorized NGOs, through the NKSR, to provide the listed types of services in 31 C.F.R. section 510.512, U.S. citizen NGO personnel need to be able to travel to the DPRK to responsibly plan, implement, and monitor those authorized activities. Therefore, a more explicit alignment between the SVP policies and the OFAC general license is appropriate, helpful to humanitarian policy objectives, and sensible.  To the extent that NGOs engaged in OFAC-authorized activity cannot have their representatives travel to the DPRK, two detrimental outcomes will result:

(1) humanitarian aid organizations will continue to be deterred from engaging with the DPRK, to the detriment of long-term U.S. policy interests, not to mention the interests of the DPRK people who receive support from these programs, and

(2) for those organizations that maintain their in-country activity despite this seemingly counterproductive regulatory obstacle, it will become harder to properly plan, implement, and monitor effectiveness and results, thereby impeding well-managed humanitarian activity in the DPRK.

Accordingly, we believe that U.S. policy and associated regulations or State Department guidance for the DPRK should explicitly allow travel when it relates to OFAC-authorized activity. This should include activity authorized under section 510.512, as well as other activities that are authorized under or exempt from OFAC’s NKSR (e.g., as discussed below, activities relating to the exchange of “information or informational materials,” an exemption from the NKSR, which is grounded in First Amendment protections).  The Department could consider implementing this policy alignment in a simplified manner by, for example, putting out guidance on its website explaining that activity that is lawful under the NKSR would be deemed to be “justified by compelling humanitarian considerations” for the purpose of SVP authorization.

While we believe that aligning the SVP policy with the NKSR in this way would be an important step, there is an additional category of activity that in our view should — in fact, in our assessment, must — be explicitly covered by the SVP policy: travel to the DPRK for the purpose of engaging in constitutionally-protected speech.  When the State Department has no particular safety-related concerns about a specific SVP requester whose travel purpose would be to engage in constitutionally-protected speech, those requests should be granted, and this policy should be made explicit.  Not only is it our considered view that this is what would be consistent with U.S. constitutional law,[2] we also believe that allowing U.S. citizens to travel to the DPRK to engage in peace advocacy and other forms of protected speech would further U.S. policy interests in the region by allowing the local populations and government representatives to witness the diverse views and freedom of expression that governments can permit.

Section 510.213 of the NKSR already exempts activity relating to the importation and exportation of “information or informational materials,” as well as any “personal communication that does not involve the transfer of anything of value.”  Congressional action codified this policy into U.S. law in 1988 and 1994, and it is clear that over the past three decades, this exemption has not undermined – and in fact has been an important and positive feature of – U.S. embargo policies towards countries like the DPRK.  Congress enacted this exemption despite agency objections, in large part due to concerns about sanctions regulations restricting constitutionally-protected rights, and out of a fundamental belief that people-to-people contacts and the free flow of information are key foundations of U.S. foreign policy, even when there are national security concerns.  In other words, Congress’ bold action in enacting these “Berman Amendment” exemptions to U.S. sanctions won the day based on an acceptance of modest short-term risks in the interest of positioning U.S. policy for longer-term success in the DPRK and other comprehensively sanctioned countries.

An example of important people-to-people contact that is not currently permitted under the SVP policy is family reunions.  An estimated 100,000 Korean Americans with family members in the DPRK have not seen or heard from their loved ones in decades.  While the South and North Korean governments have facilitated 21 reunions and 7 video reunions since they began implementing family reunions in 1985, Korean Americans with family members in the DPRK have been left out of this process entirely.  Days before his election, President Biden pledged “to reunite Korean Americans separated from loved ones in North Korea for decades.”  The United States has a moral obligation to facilitate these reunions as quickly as possible, as time is running out, especially for elderly Korean Americans.

Another example of a currently prohibited activity is a peacebuilding trip, such as the one in 2015 when American women traveled to the DPRK for a peace symposium and peace walks with North Korean women.  It is not clear that such a trip would fall within the current and more limited “compelling humanitarian considerations” policy and therefore may not be given an SVP authorization.  Even if the Department ultimately granted such an authorization under the existing language of the SVP, on its face the policy as stated does not appear to allow this type of travel as it is not directly tied to “humanitarian” (i.e., immediately life-saving) purposes.  Therefore, would-be SVP requesters are deterred from even engaging with the Department for this type of trip.  This example underscores the importance of explicitly listing the various policy grounds that would allow the Department to issue SVP authorizations.  This type of peacebuilding trip is consistent with the travelers’ constitutional rights, and with the NKSR’s exemptions for informational exchanges.

We believe restricting such travel is inconsistent with the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens, and, equally important, acts as an impediment to U.S. foreign policy interests through engagement.

The longer that these types of human contact and free expression are restricted by the Department’s SVP policies, the more distance grows between our U.S. and DPRK societies.  Isolation may increase the risks associated with misunderstanding, atrophying of relationships, and the ultimate erosion of any trust that remains or can be achieved in the bilateral relationship.   While the Department has to date been focused on the immediate national security-related risks of travel, we assert that the time has now come, particularly if the travel ban will not be subject to a sunset in the near future, to more fully weigh the risk of years-long restrictions on travel to humanitarian efforts supported by the Treasury Department’s NKSR, and the longer-term risks to U.S. foreign policy interests rooted in engagement and value leadership.

Finally, and returning to trust, the current U.S.-DPRK diplomatic relationship appears to be in stasis, which in turn has paralyzed the goals of regional stability and containing nuclear proliferation.  The equities of the engagement stand-off could be changed with one or more low-level signals from the State Department.  One such signal would be to let the travel ban expire, or in the alternative to implement the policy changes proposed above, and make these known to DPRK counterparts.  Reforming existing SVP policies would be low-hanging fruit, and a politically palatable way to serve U.S. interests that could create momentum for desired engagement.

We thank you for your careful consideration of our views and proposals, and urge that changes be made in the interests of humanitarian support, democracy building (even if a long road), and people-to-people engagement, all of which we believe are core objectives of our government vis-à-vis the DPRK.

 

Sincerely,

 

Individual Signatories

Christine Ahn, Executive Director, Women Cross DMZ & Co-Coordinator, Korea Peace Now!

Elizabeth Beavers, Quincy Institute, Vice President of Public Affairs

Mickey Bergman, on behalf of Governor Bill Richardson Center for Global Engagement

Cathi Choi, Director of Policy & Organizing, Women Cross DMZ & Co-Coordinator, Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network

Abigail Disney, filmmaker, philanthropist and social activist
Rick Downes, President, Coalition of Families of Korean & Cold War POW/MIAs

Suzy Kim, Amnesty International USA (South) Korea Country Specialist

Orin O’Brien, Double Bass, New York Philharmonic (retired)

Kee B. Park, MD. Lecturer, Harvard Medical School

Jack Rendler, Amnesty International USA Country Specialist for North Korea & Founding Member, International Campaign to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea

Chahee Stanfield, Founder and Executive Director, National Coalition for Divided Families

Gloria Steinem, author and activist

Ann Wright, US Army Colonel and US Diplomat (retired), Veterans for Peace

 

Organizational Signatories

National Association of Korean Americans

Korea Peace Now

Korean American Peace Fund

Mennonite Central Committee U.S.

The United Methodist Church, Church & Society

The United Methodist Church, Global Ministries

The Peace Committee, the Korean Association of the United Methodist Church

Veterans for Peace

Women Cross DMZ

 

CC:

Kurt Campbell, National Security Council Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific

Wendy Sherman, Deputy Secretary of State

Kin Moy, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, East Asia and Pacific Affairs Bureau

Sung Kim, US Special Representative for North Korea

Enclosures

[1] Unfortunately, many such NGOs are compelled to seek specific licenses from OFAC, even when conducting activities falling within the scope of Section 510.512, due to the potentially broad but in any case highly ambiguous restriction in Section 510.512 on “partnerships and partnership agreements” with DPRK government parties.

 

[2] Aptheker v. Secretary of State, 378 U.S. 500 (1964) (restrictions on the right to travel must be narrowly tailored and justified by a compelling government interest); Kent v. Dulles, 357 U.S. 116 (1958) (right to travel abroad is a fundamental right that is protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment);  Bauer v. Acheson, 106 F. Supp. 445 (D.D.C. 1952) (although the conduct of foreign affairs is within the discretion of the Executive Branch, such conduct must not be in conflict with any individual’s constitutional rights).

Rep. Barbara Lee to Host 7/27 Media Briefing to Mark the 70th Anniversary of the Korean Armistice

Top military, geopolitics experts and Korea peace advocates join Reps. Barbara Lee, Jan Schakowsky, and Judy Chu to call for a formal peace agreement with North Korea

Location: House Triangle, Washington, D.C.

With tensions rising dangerously on the Korean Peninsula—including a sharp escalation of U.S.-South Korea joint military drills and U.S. plans to deploy a nuclear-capable submarine to South Korea—top experts will join hundreds of Korea peace advocates from across the country to call on the Biden administration and Congress to replace the Korean War Armistice with a formal peace agreement.

On July 27, at 11:30 AM, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12) will host a press conference at the House Triangle in support of the H.R.1369, the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act, which is now backed by 33 Members of Congress. Rep. Lee is a longtime Korea peace champion whose father served in the Korean War, an experience that influenced her brave vote against the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. She will be joined by fellow Korea Peace Champions Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-9) and Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA-28), who will also speak.

The press conference is expected to gather at least 200 people from a broad coalition of groups representing Korean Americans, separated family members, veterans, faith groups, and humanitarian aid workers with firsthand experience in North Korea.

The following individuals will also speak at the press conference:

  • Joy Gebhard, a 90-year-old Korean American woman whose last wish is to reunite with her family in North Korea;
  • Rick Downes, of the Coalition of Families of Korean and Cold War POW/MIAs, who has been searching for his fallen father’s remains from the Korean War;
  • Dan Leaf, retired three-star general, a former Air Force fighter pilot and former deputy commander of the U.S. Pacific Command;
  • Joyce Ajlouny, Secretary General from AFSC; and
  • Hana De Vitton, 14-year Korean American youth from a separated Korean family.

The press conference kicks off the two-day Korea Peace Action: National Mobilization to End the Korean War, co-convened by a national coalition of organizations working for peace on the Korean Peninsula:

American Friends Service Committee

Global Ministries— The United Methodist Church

Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network

Korean American Peace Fund

Mennonite Central Committee

National Association of Korean Americans

Veterans for Peace

Women Cross DMZ

The national convening is cosponsored by the following groups. 

Coalition of Koreans in America

Code Pink

DSA International Committee

Global Impact Rotary Club

Good Friends USA

Grassroots Global Justice Alliance

Gyopo

Hampton Institute

Han Pan Korean American Cultural Center

Hawai’i Peace and Justice

June 15 U.S. Committee for Reunification of Korea

Korea Policy Institute

Korea Queer and Trans National Network

Korean American National Coordinating Council

Madre

Nodutdol

Peace Action

Peace Action New York State

Peace Committee of the Korean Association of the United Methodist Church

Presbyterian Church of USA

Quincy Institute

President of Rotary Club of Global Impact

Rotary Satellite Club of International Peace World, District 5000

Women Against Military Madness (Minnesota)

National Mobilization to Call for Peace on the 70th Anniversary of the Korean Armistice 

Media Contact: Jungwon Kim jungwon@womencrossdmz.org 917-547-8363

Korea peace advocates from across the United States will convene in Washington, D.C., on July 26-28, 2023, to call on President Biden and Congress to support a formal peace agreement with North Korea

Washington, D.C. — With tensions rising dangerously on the Korean Peninsula — including the U.S. and South Korea holding the largest ever live-fire drills and a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine arriving in South Korean waters a day after North Korea resumed missile tests — hundreds of Korea peace advocates from across the country will gather in the nation’s capital on the 70th anniversary of the Korean Armistice for Korea Peace Action: National Mobilization to End the Korean War, July 26-28, 2023. The three-day convening in Washington, D.C., is being organized by Women Cross DMZ and the Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network and a broad coalition of peace advocates, humanitarian aid groups, and organizations representing veterans, POW-MIAs, faith traditions, and Korean Americans whose families remain divided by the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that bisects the peninsula. This action will coincide with similar peace mobilizations in South Korea, organized by our Korea peace partners there.

Organizers have planned a compelling program of events and speakers to showcase growing momentum for a peace-first approach to North Korea diplomacy among Congress, civil society, geopolitical and military experts and scientists. Many experts agree this approach is critical to safely addressing the world’s most urgent risk of nuclear conflict: the Korean Peninsula. One of the primary goals of the convening is to mobilize support for the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act (H.R. 1369), which calls for a peace agreement with North Korea and has support from nearly 30 Members of Congress. The convening will include:

  • July 27 at 9AM: A congressional press briefing with US members of Congress and Korea peace champions at the House Triangle;
  • July 27 from 1-3 PM: A participatory, community grief ceremony featuring renowned Korean American performance artist Dohee Lee and author Joseph Han, author of the acclaimed novel Nuclear Family;
  • July 27 from 5-6PM: A rally at Lafayette Park with Women Cross DMZ Executive Director Christine Ahn, TikTok creator Nick Cho (“Your Korean Dad”), and other prominent Korea peace supporters;
  • July 27 from 6-7PM: March
  • July 27 from 7-8PM: Vigil
  • July 28 from 9AM-3PM: conference at George Washington University featuring renowned Korea scholars and peace strategists:
    • Siegfried Hecker, Stanford University nuclear scientist
    • Kee Park (Harvard Medical School faculty, Director of the North Korea Program at the Korean American Medical Association)
    • Joy Gebhart, member of a divided family, humanitarian and peace activist
    • Lt. Gen. Dan Leaf, retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant general, former deputy commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
    • Bruce Cumings, University of Chicago Korea scholar
    • Jennifer Deibert, DPRK program director at the American Friends Service Committee

Korea peace advocates have made significant strides in challenging the mainstream narrative about the “Forgotten War,” as it is often referred to in U.S. history textbooks. That war — which killed 4 million people in just three years, mostly civilians — remains the defining trauma of the Korean people, both on the peninsula and in the diaspora. Most Americans don’t realize that the Korean War never technically ended, or that the Korean War is the longest-running overseas U.S. military conflict.

The broad coalition of organizations involved in this mobilization are calling for a permanent peace agreement between the United States and North Korea—the only two parties to the war that have not declared peace or normalized relations—to replace the 70-year armistice. The current U.S. approach toward North Korea, defined by hostility and isolation, has failed to achieve positive outcomes and has only prolonged continuing tensions and hostilities between the two parties. This has resulting in the extreme militarization of the Korean Peninsula and continued division of families.

Geopolitical and military experts agree that an official end to the Korean War would reduce tensions and build confidence, providing the foundation upon which to more effectively engage on issues such as denuclearization and improved human rights. It would be a step toward shifting resources away from endless wars and toward more basic human needs at home, including housing, healthcare, food security, and climate action.

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QUOTES FROM EXPERTS AND COALITION MEMBERS

“As a two-war combat veteran who served four years in the Republic of Korea and as former Deputy Commander and Acting Commander of U.S. Pacific Command, I believe Congress must act now to push for the end of America’s longest war, reduce the risk of a nuclear catastrophe, and set the conditions through peace for addressing denuclearization and human rights.” ~ 3-star Lt. Gen. Dan Leaf, former commander of the Indo-Pacific 

“I came away from the war realizing that war is not the answer. I saw myself in my enemy….In connection with this anniversary, I am appealing to all parties to finally end the lingering U.S. war in Korea. The ROK (South Korea), the DPRK (North Korea), and the United States should take steps that would serve the mutual interests of the Korean and American peoples who strongly desire ‘permanent peace and friendship’ between the two nations.”  ~ John (“Jack”) Doxey, 92, U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War and member of Veterans for Peace

“As a peace-loving organization of Korean-Americans, we demand a peace treaty. Seventy years of war is enough! Secondly, we want a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. Thirdly, the joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea must be contained. Finally, we call on the U.S. government to stop spending so much on the military and allocate more resources for economic recovery and other safety nets for all.” ~ Yu Soung Moon, president of the Korean American Peace Fund

“I was stationed in South Korea in the U.S. Army in 1980 at Camp Humphreys when it was just big, not the mega-base it is now. I knew even then, as a largely ignorant 20-something, that we tens of thousands of troops were there as occupiers to maintain hegemony and threats to China, with absolutely nothing to do with protecting either Koreans or the United States.”  ~ Ellen Barfield, veteran and member of Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network, Washington, D.C., chapter

“The unended war continues to have profound impacts on people living on the Korean Peninsula and U.S. policy toward the DPRK, hindering cooperation and people-to-people exchange on multiple levels. The human cost of the war is rising with each decade that passes—families do not have the opportunity to reunite, servicemembers from the war are still missing, and civil society engagement with DPRK partners is hindered by a continued state of war. In the experience of the American Friends Service Committee, dialogue and people-to-people exchange are necessary to work toward peaceful resolutions to conflict. Ending the war will open up new opportunities to reimagine relationships and forge a new path forward based on mutual thriving and human security.” ~ Jennifer Deibert, DPRK Program Director of the American Friends Service Committee 

“In 2015 when I joined Christine Ahn and a group of women crossing the DMZ, I was inspired by the opportunity to put our bodies where our hopes are: the reunification of families and a nation still divided by the Korean war of more than seventy years ago.  We felt that it was important to do with our physical selves what we hope could be done politically.  Engagement and dialogue are way more likely to achieve the kinds of goals we want than isolation and silence.  Women Cross DMZ is still leading the movement to end America’s longest war. Join us!”  ~ Gloria Steinem

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Korea Peace Action: National Mobilization to End the Korean War is co-convened by a national coalition of organizations working for peace on the Korean Peninsula:

National Association of Korean Americans

American Friends Service Committee

Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network

Mennonite Central Committee

Minkwon Center for Community Action

National Korean American Service & Education Consortium

Veterans for Peace

Women Cross DMZ

The co-convenors are grateful to the following co-sponsoring organizations:

Coalition of Koreans in America

Code Pink

Good Friends USA

Grassroots Global Justice Alliance

Gyopo

Hampton Institute

Han Pan Korean American Cultural Center

Hawai’i Peace and Justice

June 15 U.S. Committee for Reunification of Korea

Korean American National Coordinating Council

Korea Policy Institute

Madre

Nodutdol

Peace Action

Peace Action New York State

Peace Committee of the Korean Association of the United Methodist Church

Presbyterian Church of USA

Quincy Institute

President of Rotary Club of Global Impact

Rotary Satellite Club of International Peace World, District 5000

Women Against Military Madness (Minnesota)

US, South Korean, and International Civil Society Groups Call for Immediate De-Escalation of Military Tensions on the Korean Peninsula

We, the undersigned civil society groups from the United States, South Korea, and around the world, are deeply concerned about the dramatic rise in military tensions on the Korean Peninsula. To avoid a potentially catastrophic war that would impact millions of people, we urge the governments of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, aka North Korea), the Republic of Korea (ROK, aka South Korea), and the United States to immediately suspend all missile tests and war drills that escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula and instead return to the negotiating table and pursue a step-by-step diplomatic approach to build trust, address nuclear risk, and normalize relations.

As history has shown, diplomacy is the only way to resolve this conflict. Past agreements have resulted in the freezing of North Korea’s nuclear program, the suspension of war drills, and other actions that have de-escalated tensions. They have also led to reunions of separated families, the repatriation of remains of fallen soldiers, and the creation of joint economic zones and liaison offices. What has caused these agreements to fail is a fundamental mistrust driven by the unresolved Korean War. Now is the time for renewed diplomacy between all sides that aims to both reduce tensions and lay the groundwork for a formal end to the Korean War.

The unresolved Korean War is the root cause of the security crisis on the Korean Peninsula. We call on the United States, North Korea, and South Korea to engage in talks toward formally ending the 73-year-old Korean War by signing a peace agreement, which is the most crucial step toward the ultimate goal of building a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. The lack of peaceful resolution to the Korean War has resulted in increasing militarization and the risk of renewed conflict at any time. The human costs of this unresolved war have included the division of families, the death and mutilation of people due to landmines, forced military conscription, the destruction of farmland and the environment for military bases, and the redirection of resources away from basic human needs towards weapons of death.

We urge President Joseph Biden, Chairman Kim Jong Un, and President Yoon Suk-Yeol to stop the destructive arms race, take steps now to prevent a potentially catastrophic war, and set the table for peace talks. The year 2023 will mark 70 years of the Korean Peninsula and its people living under the armistice state. It’s time to replace the fragile armistice agreement with a lasting peace agreement. We demand peace in Korea now!

우리 미국, 한국, 그리고 전 세계의 시민사회단체들은 한반도의 군사적 긴장이 극도로 높아지는 것을 깊이 우려하고 있습니다. 수백만 명의 사람들에게 재앙적인 영향을 미칠 수 있는 전쟁을 피하기 위해 남과 북 그리고 미국 정부는 한반도의 군사적 긴장을 고조시키는 미사일 발사와 전쟁 연습을 즉시 중단해야 합니다. 군사 행동이 아니라 협상의 장으로 돌아와 단계별 외교적 접근을 통해 신뢰 구축과 핵위험의 해결, 관계 정상화를 향해 나아갈 것을 촉구합니다.

역사가 보여 주듯이 외교는 갈등을 해결하는 유일한 방법입니다. 과거의 합의들은 북한의 핵 프로그램을 동결시켰고, 전쟁연습의 중단과 긴장 완화 등 여러 행동으로 이어졌습니다. 또한 이산가족 상봉과 전사자 유해 송환, 공동 경제협력 구역과 공동연락사무소 개설로 이어졌습니다. 이러한 합의들이 실패하게 된 원인으로는 아직 해결되지 않은 한국전쟁으로 인한 근본적인 불신이 있습니다. 지금이야말로 외교의 장을 다시 열어 긴장을 완화하고 한국전쟁을 공식적으로 끝내기 위한 기틀을 마련해야 합니다.

해결되지 않은 한국전쟁은 한반도 안보위기의 근본 원인입니다. 우리는 한반도의 항구적이며 안정적인 평화체제 구축이라는 궁극적 목표로 나아갈 수 있도록 남과 북, 미국이 평화협정을 체결하여 70년에 이르는 정전상태의 한국 전쟁을 공식적으로 끝내는 대화에 나설 것을 촉구합니다. 한국전쟁의 평화적 해결을 이루지 못한 상태는 군사화를 심화시키고 어느 때라도 무력충돌이 재개될 위험을 초래합니다. 평화적 해결의 부재는 이산가족, 지뢰 피해로 인한 사망과 부상, 징병제, 군사 기지로 인한 농지와 환경의 파괴, 사람들의 기본 욕구 충족을 위한 자원을 죽음의 무기 개발과 구입으로 전환 등의 문제들을 낳고 있습니다.

우리는 바이든 대통령과 김정은 위원장, 윤석열 대통령이 파괴적인 군비 경쟁을 중단하고 재앙을 몰고 올 수 있는 전쟁을 막기 위한 조치를 취하며, 평화를 위한 협상에 나설 것을 촉구합니다. 2023년은 한반도에서 전쟁이 끝나지 않은 정전 상태의 삶이 이어져온 지 70년이 되는 해입니다. 취약한 정전협정을 평화협정으로 대체하여 항구적인 평화의 길로 나서야 할 때입니다. 우리는 지금 당장 한반도의 평화를 요구합니다!

Signed

Tomás Ojea Quintana

Action One Korea

All Saints’ Episcopal Korean Church

America Korea United Society

Atlanta SaSaSe

Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security

CODEPINK

Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR-USA)

Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)

gyeole-uigil minjoggwangjang

Global Zero

Hawai’i Peace and Justice

International Fellowship of Reconciliation – IFOR

International No to war – no to NATO network

Just Foreign Policy

KANCC-Washington Regional Association

KAPAC

Korea Peace Now!

Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network – PNW Chapter

Korean American National Coordinating Council, Inc

Korean New Zealander for a better future

Koreans for woorischools

MADRE

Massachusetts Peace Action (MAPA)

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)

National Council of Churches in Korea

New England Korea Peace Campaign

OC Korean Open Forum

Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence

Parallax Perspectives

Peace Action New York State

Peace Depot Inc. Japan

Peace Philosophy Centre

Quincy Institute

Rail of Hope

Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group

Stop the War Coalition Philippines

United for Peace and Justice

Urinuri Peace Corp.

Veterans For Peace, Chapter 35

Veterans For Peace, Chapter 113-Hawai’i

Veterans For Peace – NYC Chapter 34

Veterans For Peace Phil Berrigan Memorial Chapter

Win Without War

Women Against War

Women Cross DMZ

Women Transforming Our Nuclear Legacy, NuclearWakeUpCall.Earth

World BEYOND War

World Resource Center

Young Christian Academy 기독청년아카데미

6.15공동선언실천 엘에이위원회

경기평화교육센터

대한민국 민족문학 연구회

도쿄민주실천연대

미주 함석헌 사상연구회

미주동포전국협회 (NAKA)

미주지역 5.18 광주민중항쟁 동지회

미주한미여성 평회넷웤

미주희망연대

민주시민네트워크

법치민주화를 위한 무궁화클럽

생명평화정의 전북기독행동

생명평화포럼 / Life and Peace Forum

시드니 평화의 소녀상 연대

시애틀늘푸른연대

애틀란타행동

이스크라21

일본군위안부할머니와함께하는마창진시민모임

자유언론실천재단  이사장

전교조전남지부

정상추 네트워크

진보 3.0

평택평화센터

한국에클레시아생명학연구원(ISEL)

한미 에큐메니칼 평화정의넷웤

한민족유럽연대 Solidarity of Korean people in Europe

한사상연구소

함석헌 사상연구회

흥사단 뉴욕지부

A Letter to the State Department to Lift the Travel Ban

The Honorable Antony J. Blinken

Secretary of State

U.S. Department of State

2201 C Street, NW

Washington, DC 20520

September 6, 2022

Dear Secretary Blinken:

We, the undersigned individuals, write to express our disappointment in the State Department’s August 23, 2022 decision to renew the 2017 travel ban to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) instituted by the Trump administration and urge you to make modifications to the ban while working to sunset it.

As those who have traveled to North Korea for humanitarian activities, family reunions, the repatriation of U.S. service member remains, and peace and reconciliation initiatives, we understand the importance and urgency of continuing people-to-people engagement in North Korea, especially as tensions mount on the Korean Peninsula. We believe the ban—which is the only such ban on the freedom of movement by U.S. citizens—is not only unnecessary but harmful.

For over thirty years, thousands of Americans have traveled safely and without incident to North Korea to reunite with loved ones, engage in educational and cultural activities, and deliver life-saving humanitarian aid. From 2000 to 2017, an estimated 6,000 Korean Americans traveled to North Korea, many seeking to reunite with family members from whom they became separated due to the Korean War. Since the early 1990s, U.S. humanitarian organizations safely sent hundreds of aid workers to North Korea, including outside of the capital city of Pyongyang. These people-to-people exchanges and humanitarian activities are crucial to advancing the U.S. national interest and building trust with North Korea but have been largely halted as a result of the 2017 travel ban.

We urge the Biden administration to lift or amend the North Korea travel ban for these reasons:

1. First, it would fulfill decades of U.S. promises to allow Korean Americans to reunite with their family members in North Korea. An estimated 10 million Koreans became separated from their families as a result of the Korean War. In 2001 U.S. officials estimated that approximately 100,000 Korean Americans still had loved ones in North Korea. Days before his election, President Biden pledged to reunite “Korean Americans separated from loved ones in North Korea for decades.” The United States has a moral obligation to facilitate these reunions as quickly as possible, as time is running out for many of these elderly Korean Americans. By sunsetting the 2017 travel ban, the Biden administration will help thousands of Korean Americans reunite with their loved ones and end the longest humanitarian crisis in the world.

2. Secondly, ending the travel ban will enable civil society efforts and people-to-people exchanges that will help break down barriers and build trust between the people of our two nations. For example, in 2015, representatives of Women Cross DMZ, a U.S.-based women’s peacebuilding organization, traveled to North Korea for a women’s peace symposium and peace walks. The historic meeting of American and North Korean women, which included retired U.S. Army Colonel and U.S. Diplomat Ann Wright and a five-star North Korean general, would not have otherwise been possible. These exchanges help transform 70 years of enmity between the peoples of two nations still technically at war and are vital to fulfilling U.S. commitments in the 2018 regime on the Korean Peninsula.”

3. Thirdly, ending the travel ban will help facilitate the repatriation of the remains of the U.S. servicemen in North Korea, particularly in negotiating permission for non-governmental research teams to access known Korean War U.S. air loss sites to learn the fate of still-missing crewmen. By ending the travel ban, a crucial non-governmental channel would reopen and contribute to building trust between the two nations, potentially advancing future negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea.

4. Finally, ending the North Korea travel ban will allow U.S. humanitarian organizations to resume their work, enabling the delivery of life-saving aid to the most vulnerable populations in North Korea. For decades, reputable U.S. aid organizations with long-standing programs in North Korea were our strongest, most well-informed, and trusted channels of communication between the United States and North Korea. The travel ban, however, has greatly restricted and, at times, entirely shut down U.S.-based humanitarian and development projects in North Korea. While the State Department’s travel ban has exemptions for humanitarian and Red Cross workers, journalists, and those acting in the “national interest,” virtually every aid organization has reported that the process of applying for these Special Validation passports is cumbersome and unpredictable, greatly hindering their operations. The application process provides no clear timeline, and it can take up to 55 days for NGOs to receive a determination. This has undeniably obstructed vital work, causing delays in life-saving aid and treatment.

By lifting the U.S. travel ban to North Korea, the Biden administration would help heal the wounds of the 71-year-old Korean War and uphold the constitutionally protected right of travel.

 

Thank you for your consideration, and we look forward to your timely response.

Sincerely,

Christine Ahn, Executive Director, Women Cross DMZ

Joyce Ajlouny, General Secretary, American Friends Service Committee

Mickey Bergman, on behalf of Governor Bill Richardson Center for Global Engagement

Abigail Disney, filmmaker, philanthropist and social activist

Rick Downes, President, Coalition of Families of Korean & Cold War POW/MIAs

Suzy Kim, Amnesty International USA (South) Korea Country Specialist

Orin O’Brien, Double Bass, New York Philharmonic (retired)

Kee B. Park, Director, Korea Health Policy Project, Harvard Medical School

Jack Rendler, Amnesty International USA (North) Korea Country Specialist

Chahee Stanfield, Founder and Executive Director, National Coalition for Divided Families

Gloria Steinem, author and activist

Ann Wright, US Army Colonel and US Diplomat (retired), Veterans for Peace

 

CC: Kurt Campbell, National Security Council Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific

Wendy Sherman, Deputy Secretary of State

Kin Moy, Senior Bureau Official of the East Asia and Pacific Affairs Bureau

Sung Kim, US Special Representative for North Korea

Ian Brownlee, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Consular Affairs

Korean Americans Across the Country Mobilize to End the Korean War

As tensions increase between the United States and North Korea, more than 170 people across the country — mostly Korean Americans — will participate in Korea Peace Advocacy Week, June 13-17, 2022.

This nationally coordinated action is particularly timely as North Korea has ramped up testing of ballistic missiles, and South Korea elected a hawkish president who is further inflaming tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Talks between the United States and North Korea have been stalled since 2019, with no progress on denuclearization. Many experts are concerned that the risk of renewed military conflict remains high due to the lack of a formal resolution to the Korean War and increasing military tensions between the US and China.

Korea Peace Advocacy Week will consist of virtual lobby visits with 139 Congressional offices in 28 states to advocate for H.R.3446, the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act, which calls for serious, urgent diplomacy in pursuit of a binding peace agreement to formally end the Korean War, and H.R.1504/S.690, the Enhancing North Korean Humanitarian Assistance Act, which aims to ease the impact of sanctions on much-needed humanitarian aid to North Korea. Constituents will also encourage their Senators to support S.2688, the Korean War Divided Families Reunification Act, to facilitate the reunion of Korean Americans and their family members in North Korea.

This year marks the seventh year of coordinated advocacy days for the cause of peace in Korea, and the third year of it being online due to the pandemic. When it first started in 2015, just 12 people participated; the effort has now grown to include nearly 200 people. The Korean War was only halted by an armistice in 1953, and constituents participating in this action see it as the root cause of ongoing tensions between the United States and North Korea, fueling the extreme militarization of the Korean Peninsula.

“With negotiations stalled between the United States and North Korea, and increasing military tensions on the Korean Peninsula, it’s time for members of Congress to step up and let the Biden administration know that it’s time for a bold new approach — a peace-first approach — to engage Pyongyang,” said Christine Ahn, Executive Director of Women Cross DMZ.

“The COVID-19 outbreak in North Korea underscores the urgency for Congress to pass the Enhancing North Korea Humanitarian Assistance Act (ENKHA), which will address many key hurdles for humanitarian aid programs,” said Dan Jasper with the American Friends Service Committee. “Given the country’s borders have largely been closed for over two years, supplies are running low and aid workers may need to respond quickly when the borders do re-open. ENKHA will set aid workers up to act fast.”

“Too often, strict sanctions impact the flow of humanitarian aid to the North Korean people,” said Katerina Parsons, Legislative Associate for Mennonite Central Committee, “As humanitarians and peacebuilders, we want to ensure that U.S. policy is not an obstacle to meeting human need or to the engagement and dialogue that contributes to peace.”

Korea Peace Advocacy Week is organized by the Korea Peace Partnership, which consists of the Korea Peace Network (which includes American Friends Service Committee, Peace Action, Mennonite Central Committee, and others), Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network (led by Women Cross DMZ), and Peace Treaty Now.

 

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