Category: Press

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May 24 is International Women’s Day for Peace and Disarmament. On May 24, 1981, 49 women from 11 European countries gathered to proclaim the day “International Women’s Day for Peace and Disarmament,” and on May 24, 1983, about 1 million women gathered to speak out against nuclear weapons and the arms race and to call for peace. Since then, May 24 has been observed as a day when women convey their collective desire for peace and disarmament.

In Korea, Women Making Peace marked the day for the first time in 1997, and has consistently made demands for peace and disarmament from the perspective of women. On May 24, 2015, a group of 30 international women peace activists staged a historic crossing of the DMZ on the divided peninsula from North to South. Since then, the global women’s peace movement has made ending the Korean War and the signing of a peace agreement a key part of their agenda, which has led to the launch of the global campaign Korea Peace Now! Women Mobilizing to End the War.

This year, International Women’s Day for Peace and Disarmament comes amid an unprecedented global pandemic, creating huge challenges to Korea’s women, peace and civic movements. COVID-19 exacerbates conditions for the most vulnerable among us, with women often in charge of caring and nurturing, and part-time workers and those exposed to violence further subjected to harm. Due to gender discrimination structure, women face challenges in various sectors such as labor, social security, and health care, but the government does not consider gender in its response to COVID-19.

However, we welcome the positive changes that have been made as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The concept of “human security” that women, peace and civic movements has continuously urged for was reflected in the special address by President Moon Jae-in to mark three years in office. At the same time, the government also reduced the national defense budget by 1.46 trillion won in the process of supplementing the nation’s finances to provide emergency disaster support and to revitalize the economy. Although this is not a real cut in the arms acquisition budget because the schedule for payments, such as F-35 payments, has been postponed and the costs of overseas test evaluations is expected to be canceled, this could be a very meaningful start.

In order to improve human security and civil safety, we must create concrete changes in policy, especially toward peaceful disarmament.

To this end, we demand:

To South Korean Government

The South Korean government has set aside more than 50 trillion won in its defense budget in 2020, making South Korea the sixth-largest country in global military strength. However, the COVID-19 crisis shows us that military security does not protect the safety and livelihoods of citizens, and we should build society around a spirit of solidarity and cooperation, including strong quarantine measures, the protection of the vulnerable class, and the expansion of the economic safety net, while simultaneously managing and preventing the spread of the virus. Therefore, the South Korean government should make efforts to create a national financial structure that is suitable for the basic philosophy and values of human security mentioned by the president. The funding of the third supplementary budget to counter COVID-19 should be raised through drastic cuts in defense spending.

To the U.S. Government

Despite the COVID-19 crisis, the U.S. government has taken no action to lift sanctions on North Korea, exacerbating conditions that could lead to a humanitarian crisis. Also, the U.S. government is demanding the South Korean government pay an excessive share of U.S. military defense costs. The 6 trillion won allegedly demanded in the first place far exceeds the combined budget of 5.5 trillion won for the 2020 Ministry of Unification/Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the $1.3 billion recently demanded is also an excessive amount that is hard for the South Korean government to accommodate as we face a fiscal tightening due to COVID-19. Moreover, the U.S. has continued its reconnaissance flights with North Korea until recently, heightening tensions on the Peninsula. Therefore, the U.S. should stop its excessive demand for defense cost-sharing from South Korea while immediately halting military actions that create a crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

To the international community, including the United Nations

The international community, including the United Nations, should strive to end the Korean War. At the same time, efforts should be made to lift sanctions on North Korea, which further exacerbate the humanitarian crisis. In particular, in the face of the COVID-19 crisis, the United Nations and the international community should focus on mutual support for human security and civil safety, not arms proliferation and competition. At the same time, Northeast Asian countries should overcome the current crisis together through solidarity and cooperation through human security and joint security beyond militarism.

We women, peace and civil society organizations, gathered on May 24 to commemorate International Women’s Day for Peace and Disarmament, will work together for peace, unification and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula. To this end, we will join forces to ensure a formal end to the Korean War, the prevention of armed conflicts in the two Koreas and in Northeast Asia, the peaceful disarmament for this purpose, and sustainable peace through human security and common security. We will work to create peace not through military power but through the realization of citizens’ safety, women’s well-being, young people’s futures, and the transition of militarized areas to peace zones.

Organizations of the Press Conference on the occasion of May 24 International Women’s Day for Peace and Disarmament

Korean Women’s Movement for Peace (Korea Women’s Alliance, Women Making Peace, Korean Women’s Association United, National YWCA of Korea), Civil Peace Forum, Gangjung&Jeju Women Organizations, Gangjeong Peace Network, Jeju Women’s Association, Jeju Provincial Association of Korean Women Peasants’ Association(KWPA), Jeju Association for Women’s Rights, National Women’s Committee of PeaceRailWay, People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, Solidarity for Camptown Women’s Right in USAFIK, Teenager Movement Union Nalda, Women’s Division of The Southern Committee on June 15th Joint Declaration, Women Peace Readers

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UPDATE, MARCH 2, 2020: Due to the global COVID-19 situation, all side events at the 43rd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva have been canceled. (effective 3 March 2020 until the end of the session)

For immediate release:

February 24, 2020

Panel to Address the Link Between Peace and Human Rights on the Korean Peninsula

UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the DPRK will be among the speakers

Geneva, Switzerland—As the unresolved Korean War enters its 70th year, a panel discussion will explore the connection between peace and human rights, the impact of sanctions on human rights, and the role of women peacebuilders in resolving the crisis on the Korean Peninsula. Tomás Ojea Quintana, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), will be among the speakers.

“Peace on the Korean Peninsula as a Human Rights Issue: War, Sanctions, and Women Peacebuilders,” a side event to the 43rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, will also include several co-authors of the Oct. 2019 report The Human Costs and Gendered Impact of Sanctions on North Korea, the first comprehensive assessment of the adverse consequences of sanctions for ordinary North Koreans. The panel is being organized by the global campaign Korea Peace Now! Women Mobilizing to End the War, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), and the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, World Council of Churches, and will take place ahead of an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the DPRK and an oral update on the DPRK at the Human Rights Council.

“A declaration on peace and development in the Korean Peninsula, and a swift resolution of the armistice status, would create the atmosphere and space needed for further discussions on denuclearization, less isolation, more access, and respect for human rights,” said Tomás Ojea Quintana, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“The unresolved Korean War has perpetuated a worsening security and human rights crisis on the Korean Peninsula,” said Ko YouKyoung, a consultant for Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), one of four women’s peace groups that launched the Korea Peace Now! global campaign in 2019. “But in order to get to peace, women must be included in the process.”

“Sanctions have not only been ineffective at convincing the DPRK to denuclearize, but in their current form may be in violation of international law, in particular humanitarian and human rights norms,” said Henri Feron, a co-author of The Human Costs and Gendered Impact of Sanctions on North Korea and a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy.

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Nina Maria Hansen, Communications Manager, WILPF, nina[dot]hansen[at]wilpf[dot]org.

What: Panel discussion on“Peace on the Korean Peninsula as a Human Rights Issue: War, Sanctions, and Women Peacebuilders”

Where: Room VII, Palais Des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland

When: 5 March 2020, 11:00 a.m.-12:00pm

Speakers:

• Peter Prove, Director, Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, World Council of Churches (moderator)
• Ewa Eriksson, former Head of Country Delegation in the DPRK for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (retired)
• Kevin Gray, Professor of International Relations, University of Sussex
• Youkyoung Ko, Consultant, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
• Henri Feron, Senior Fellow, Center for International Policy
• Tomás Ojea Quintana, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK

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Effective immediately, Liz Bernstein has been named Co-Coordinator of the global campaign Korea Peace Now! Women Mobilizing to End the War.

Bernstein is the founding Director and Executive Director of the Ottawa-based Nobel Women’s Initiative, one of four organizations — including Women Cross DMZ, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), and the Korean Women’s Movement for Peace — that launched the Korea Peace Now! campaign in March. She brings with her decades of experience in growing the global women’s peace movement and amplifying the messages of grassroots activists from conflict countries. She is a master campaigner and has led many successful global campaigns, including the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Bernstein joins Christine Ahn, Executive Director of Women Cross DMZ, as Co-Coordinator of Korea Peace Now!

“I’m honored to be named the co-coordinator of the women-led Korea Peace Now! campaign,” said Bernstein. “Ending the Korean War is one of the important pressing issues for global peace and security, and women’s leadership is key to ensuring a successful peace process. I look forward to working with our campaign partners to achieve these goals.”

Korea Peace Now! Women Mobilizing to End the War is a global campaign to educate, organize and advocate for a Korea peace agreement. It is a growing movement of civil society organizations working for an end to war, lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, and women’s inclusion in the peace process.

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NEW YORK—As talks between the United States and North Korea remain at an impasse, a new report shows that sanctions imposed on North Korea are having adverse consequences on humanitarian aid and economic development in the country, with a disproportionate impact on women.

The Human Costs and Gendered Impact of Sanctions on North Korea (PDF), which was produced by an international and multidisciplinary panel of independent experts, is the first comprehensive assessment of the human impact of sanctions against North Korea. Drawing on often neglected information from UN agencies on the ground as well as the authors’ combined expertise in public health, law, economics, history, and gender studies, the report also shows that existing UN mechanisms to exempt humanitarian-related items are insufficient to prevent these negative impacts, and, in fact, delays and funding shortfalls may have resulted in the deaths of thousands of people.

“As one of the few American physicians who has worked to deliver humanitarian aid and improve health care in North Korea, I have seen how sanctions have restricted the access to the most basic medicines and medical equipment in the isolated country,” said Kee Park, a lecturer at Harvard Medical School, the director of the DPRK Program at the Korean American Medical Association, and one of seven authors of the report. “This has made treating infectious diseases, chronic diseases, and injuries much more difficult.”

“Sanctions delayed the delivery of life-saving treatment for children with disabilities due to the ban on importing metal in medical and rehabilitation equipment,” added Joy Yoon, a co-author of the report and co-founder of the nonprofit organization Ignis Community, which treats children with developmental disabilities such as cerebral palsy and autism at its Pyongyang Spine Rehabilitation Center. “Without immediate and timely medical intervention, many North Korean children with cerebral palsy and other developmental disabilities do not survive.”

Henri Feron, a co-author of the report and a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, said, “The findings in this report raise concerns that sanctions in their current form may be contrary to international law, in particular humanitarian and human rights norms. Sanctions also raise moral questions, as they effectively take the entire country’s population hostage.”

The Human Costs and Gendered Impact of Sanctions on North Korea was commissioned by Korea Peace Now! Women Mobilizing to End the War, a global campaign to educate, organize, and advocate for a Korea peace agreement, led by Women Cross DMZ, Nobel Women’s Initiative, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), and Korean Women’s Movement for Peace.

To schedule an in-person interview with report authors, or to get more information, contact Kathleen Richards.

WHAT: Press conference featuring several authors of The Human Costs and Gendered Impact of Sanctions on North Korea

WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019, 10:30 a.m.-noon

WHERE: UN Church Center, 2^nd Floor, 777 United Nations Plaza, New York