December KPNGN Newsletter
Next week, join us for our last Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network gathering of 2024, where we will celebrate all the heart and energy we put towards advocating for peace on the Korean Peninsula and an end to U.S. wars and militarism this year. Come festive! Bring a drink!
RSVP: Thursday, December 12, at 5pm PT/8pm ET
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🔔 UPDATE: Lift the Ban on Christine Ahn’s Travel to South Korea
Thank you to everyone who signed our petition demanding that the Yoon Suk Yeol government lift the ban on Christine Ahn’s travel to South Korea! We collected over 1,200 signatures (and counting) from prominent activists, academics, cultural workers, diplomats, and more. Despite many inquiries, Christine, WCDMZ’s Founder and Co-Director, still has not received any official response or explanation from South Korean officials on why she was recently denied entry to South Korea. We are continuing to gather signatures to keep pressuring the South Korean government to overturn the ban on Christine. A free press is crucial to prevent democratic backsliding, and we appreciate everyone who has covered this story, including in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Korean Quarterly, Japan Forward, Hyperallergic, and Hankyoreh.
Sign and share the petition at bit.ly/liftingtheban!
✍️UPCOMING EVENTS:
TOMORROW! What Does the Trump Presidency Mean for the Korean Peninsula? | Monday, December 2 at 5pm PT/8pm ET (Tuesday, December 3 at 10am KST)
Join us for a moderated panel discussion and strategy session on the incoming administration’s plans for Korea.
Under Biden, Washington engineered a new war alliance (JAKUS) between the U.S., Japan, and the R.O.K., with the aim of coordinating military aggression against the D.P.R.K. The number of U.S.-R.O.K. military exercises has significantly increased, with hundreds of days of war games conducted in Korea annually. This summer, these exercises included rehearsing plans for a nuclear strike on the Korean Peninsula. So what does a return to a Republican presidency under Donald Trump mean for Korea?
Co-hosted by Nodutdol and Korea Peace Now!, this panel will feature Cathi Choi (Women Cross DMZ), KJ Noh (Pivot to Peace), Colleen Moore (United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society), and Dae Han Song (International Strategy Center). The discussion will be in English and Korean interpretation will be provided.
In Hope with Palestinian Liberation Theology: A Delegation with Sabeel, hosted by KPN Faith-Based Caucus | Thursday, December 5 at 5pm PT/8pm ET
In August, twelve U.S. Christian leaders returned from Palestine-Israel as the first in a wave of delegations hosted by Sabeel, which is the grassroots, ecumenical Palestinian liberation theology movement rooted in the universal ethic of nonviolence. The goals of the trip were to:
- Be with and encourage the people who are under attack
- Expose human rights violations
- Strengthen and encourage U.S. Christian advocacy for a just peace
From standing in the rubble of illegal home demolitions in East Jerusalem for which the Israeli Occupation Forces bill the indigenous Palestinians, to praying at the militarized Gaza border with the Israeli peace activist co-resistors Rabbis for Human Rights, to weeping in the charred homes where U.S. weapons precision bombed densely populated residential areas in the Balata Refugee Camp ghetto that holds eight generations of internally displaced Palestinian refugees, Pax Christi member Jessica Sun will be reporting back on the unspeakable horrors and violence she saw wreaked by the U.S.-funded, genocidal state of Israel, and the astounding tales of heroic Palestinian integrity and resilience in spite of it all. Join us on Thursday, December 5 at 5pm PT/8pm ET! RSVP at bit.ly/sabeel24.
📚 READ: From the Education Committee:
- A contrived myth? North Korean troops battling the Ukrainians in Kursk | Tim Beal from the Korea Policy Institute offers critical analysis on the rumors of D.P.R.K. troops fighting in Ukraine.
- Trump picks ex-N. Korea policy official as his principal deputy national security adviser | Song Sang-ho from Yonhap News Agency writes about Trump’s nomination of Alex Wong, who previously served as a lead negotiator in denuclearization talks with the D.P.R.K., to principal deputy national security adviser.
🛍️ NEW! Support the Korea Peace Movement: Show your support for Korea peace with one of our newly added 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.
Looking forward to seeing you at these upcoming gatherings!
Sincerely,
Cathi Choi and Echo
