The 2018 has been a year of historic change on the Korean Peninsula. The leaders of North and South Korea met three times, and President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un also held their first summit in Singapore in June.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has invited Chairman Kim to visit South Korea, and President Trump has expressed willingness to meet Chairman Kim in a second summit. We welcome these positive developments for permanent peace in Korea.
In particular, we support the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration and the September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration signed between the leaders of South and North Korea, as well as the June 12 Singapore Summit Joint Statement signed between the leaders of the United States and North Korea.
These agreements lessen the danger of war on the Korean Peninsula and create a foundation for a lasting and stable peace regime. The Panmunjom and Pyongyang Declarations signed between the two Koreas opened the door to family reunions, civil society engagement, and concrete steps towards demilitarization.
Likewise, the Singapore Joint Statement emphasized the “establishment of new U.S.-DPRK relations,” away from war and hostility towards normal diplomatic recognition. We applaud the leaders of South Korea, North Korea and the United States, who, on the brink of nuclear war last year, boldly chose the path toward peace.
As concrete steps in the spirit of the Singapore Joint Statement, North Korea has:
- Suspended its nuclear and missile tests, including destroying the Punggye-ri nuclear test site and inviting outside inspectors to verify that it has been destroyed;
- Agreed to “permanently dismantle the Dongchang-ri missile engine test site and launch platform under the observation of experts,” as well as dismantle its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon if “the United States takes corresponding measures”; and
- Returned the remains of fifty-five U.S. servicemen who had died there during the Korean War of 1950-1953.
On the other hand, the United States, thus far, has:
- Temporarily suspended major war drills with the South Korean military.
While commendable, this U.S. action is insufficient to sustain the normalization process.
In line with the important steps North Korea has taken toward peace and denuclearization and in support of unprecedented peace-building engagement between North and South Korea – demilitarization of the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom, preparations to reconnect highways and railroad lines across the DMZ, and the establishment of a joint liaison office in the northern city of Kaesong – we urge the U.S. government to take the following steps as further confidence-building measures with North Korea:
1) Issue a joint declaration to end the Korean War and negotiate a Peace Treaty to replace the outdated and broken Armistice Agreement. The continuing state of war on the Korean Peninsula is at the root of recurring war threats in Korea. In the Panmunjom Joint Declaration, the two Korean leaders declared as follows:
During this year that marks the 65th anniversary of the Armistice, South and North Korea agreed to actively pursue trilateral meetings involving the two Koreas and the United States, or quadrilateral meetings involving the two Koreas, the United States and China with a view to declaring an end to the war and establishing a permanent and solid peace regime.
Ahead of another summit with North Korea, the United States should commit to declaring an end to the Korean War and demonstrate a willingness to pursue a formal Peace Treaty. Only a genuine and verifiable Peace Treaty between the main parties to the Korean War and the Armistice Agreement can drastically reduce the risk of nuclear and conventional war in Korea. It is the foundation for lasting and stable peace on the Korean Peninsula.
2) Lift broad-based U.S. sanctions against North Korea that harm the most vulnerable and ordinary Koreans as a concrete step toward establishing “new U.S.-DPRK relations.” Further, halt international pressure campaigns to isolate North Korea as this is contrary to the spirit of the Singapore Joint Declaration.
3) Lift the travel ban on U.S.citizens from visiting North Korea. The ban blocks U.S. humanitarian aid projects in North Korea, impedes people-to-people exchanges, and prevents thousands of Korean-Americans, who have family members in North Korea, from visiting them.
4) Establish a liaison office in Pyongyang to facilitate diplomatic engagement between the two countries towards mutual trust and understanding.
December 6, 2018
Signed,
Endorsing U.S. Organizations (In alphabetical order, 133 total)
416 Global Networks—San Diego
416 Human Rights & Peace Global Network
615 U.S. Midwest Committee
615 U.S. Seattle Committee
615 West Cost Committee
Action One Korea (AOK) Action One Korea (AOK)
Alliance for Global Justice
American Friends Service Committee
Atlanta SaSaSe
Baltimore Nonviolence Center
Brooklyn For Peace
Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security
Center for Human Rights & International Justice, Boston College
Channing and Popai Liem Education Foundation
Chicagoans in Solidarity with Sewol Ferry Victims and Families
Citizen for Equality Peace And Liberation
Coalition for Peace Action
Coalition of Civic Action for Cheonahnham’s Truth in U.S.A.
Coalition of Koreans in America
Codepink
Community Organizing Center
Concerned Citizens for Change
Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety
D.C. Methodist Church
Deoham Korean American Community Church
Environmentalists Against War
FCNL Peterborough Advocacy Team
Fight For Voter’s Rights(F4VR)
FreedomTrainers
GABRIELA USA
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
Good Friends USA
Granny Peace Brigade, New York
Greater Brunswick PeaceWorks
Green Party of the United States Peace Action Committee
Hawai’i Peace and Justice
HOBAK (Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans)
Hope Coalition of New York
Houston Sewol HAMBI
INOCHI/NoWarWithNorthKorea.org
Institute for 21st Century International Relations
International Action Center
Kaua`i Alliance for Peace and Social Justice
Kazakh Foundation
Korea Culture & Heritage Society of LA
Korea Culture & Heritage Society of NY
Korea is One
Korea Peace & Unification Action of Boston
Korea Policy Institute
Korean American Alliance for Peace on the Korean Peninsula
Korean American Civic Action Atlanta
Korean American National Coordinating Council
Korean Americans for Social Justice – Chicago
Korean Book Club of Riverside
Korean Peace Alliance
LA SASASE
LEPOCO Peace Center (Lehigh-Pocono Committee of Concern)
Maine Green Independent Party
Maine War Tax Resistance Resource Center
Malu ‘Aina Center for Nonviolent Education & Action
Massachusetts Peace Action
Maui Peace Action
Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office
Military Families Speak Out
minjok.com
Minjung Solidarity of New York
Missy 100
Mundo Obrero / Workers World Party
Muslim Peace Fellowship
NANUM Corean Cultural Center
National Association of Korean Americans
National Coalition to Protect Student Privacy
National Institute of Hahm Seokhon Philosophy, DC, Indianapolis, NY, Hahm Seokhon Peace Center
Network for Peace and Unification in USA
New Hampshire Peace Action
New Hampshire Veterans for Peace
New Jersey Peace Action
New York Campaign for Peace in Korea
NJ Sewol Truth Seekers
Nodutdol for Korean Community Development
North Carolina Peace Action
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Ohana Ho`opakele
One Corea Now One Corea Now
One Heart for Justice
Out of My ultari Now
Oversea Supporters Korean School in Japan
Pan-Korean Alliance for Reunification in USA
Party for Socialism and Liberation – New Hampshire
Peace & Prosperity Forum
Peace Action
Peace Action Maine
Peace Action Michigan
Peace Action New York State
Peace Action Wisconsin
Peace21.org
Peaceworkers
Peoples Budget Campaign
Philadelphia Committee for Peace and Justice in Asia
Popular Resistance
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Presbyterian Peace Network for Korea
PressArirang.org
Progressive Asian Network for Action (PANA)
Rainbow PUSH Coalition
Resources for Organizing and Social Change
S.F. Rohjjang lovers
Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
San Diego Central Committee of the Peace and Freedom Party of California
SD SASASE
Seattle Evergreen Coalition
SolidarityINFOService
Support Committee for Korean Prisoners of Conscience in U.S.
The Moon keeper in America
The Peace Committee of the Korean Association of the United Methodist Church
The Peace Farm
The United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society
TRACE Collective (Transracial Adoptees Creating Empowerment)
Tri-Valley CAREs
United for Justice with Peace Boston
United for Peace and Justice
United Nations Association of Greater Milwaukee
US Peace Council
Veterans For Peace
Veterans For Peace – NYC Chapter 034
War Prevention Initiative
Washington DC Remembers Sewol
Western States Legal Foundation
Women Against War
Women Cross DMZ
Woori Madang Chicago
World BEYOND War
Young Korean Academy of New York
19 Organizations from US, Europe and Asia
416 Canlelights JKT 416
416 Global Networks 416
416 Global Networks – Ottawa
416 Global Networks – Toronto
416 Network Paris 416
Edmonton Hope Network
Gangjeong UK
Ireland Candlelight Action
June 15 Joint Oceania Committee For One COREA
Korean New Zealanders for a Better Future
National Institute of Hahm Seokhon Philosophy, London, UK headquarters
PEN International San Miguel Center, Mexico
Pika
RemeberingSewol UK
Remenbering Sewol Germany (NRW)
SASASE OTTAWA
Solidarity of Korean People in Europe
STOP the War Coalition Philippines
Vienna Culture Factory
59 Individuals
Ann Wright, Retired U.S. Army Colonel, Veterans for Peace
Ayumi Temlock, New Jersey Peace Action
Barbara Nielsen, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, United States Section
Bok-dong Yoon, Korean Adoptees of Hawai’i
Bonnie J Ruggiero, Elder, Presbyterian Church USA
Caleb Carman, Bard College
Carolyn Cicciu, New Hampshire Peace Action
Charles Ryu, Pastor, St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Middletown, New York
Choon Shik Lim, Regional Liaison for East Asia, Presbyterian Church USA
Christine A. DeTroy, Women’s Intenational League for Peace & Freedom, Maine Branch
Clara Lee, PhD student, University of Colorado Boulder
Danielle Saint Louis, Executive Director, Brooklyn Zen Center
Debbie Kim, Gangjeong UK
Debbie Leighton, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Diane Nahas, LaGuardia Community College
Donna San Antonio, Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology, Lesley University
Frederick Carriere, Research Professor, Syracuse University
Gar Smith, Co-founder, Environmentalists Against War
Garrett Walker, Party for Socialism and Liberation, New Hampshire
Haeinn Woo, New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine
Hwanhee Kim, George Washington University
Jacquelyn Wells, Entrepreneur/Artist, Oohjacquelina
Jacqui Deveneau, Senior Advisor, Maine Green Independent Party
James Nordlund, Communications Director, National Action Network, Kansas
Joan Roelofs, New Hampshire Peace Action
John Arnold, Alliance for Global Justice
John Bernard, Maine People’s Alliance
John Feffer, Director of Foreign Policy in Focus, Institute for Policy Studies
John MacDougall, Veterans for Peace
John Raby, Nuclear weapons Working Group of New Hampshire
Joyce Bressier, Stony Point Center/Community of Living Traditons
Judith Bello, United National Antiwar Coalition
Katherine Griswold, Presbyterian Church USA
Kilsang Yoon, President, Korean American National Coordinating Council
Lawrence Wittner, Professor of History Emeritus, State University of New York/Albany
Leif Rasmusen, Student, Point Arena High School
Lindis Percy, Co-Founder, Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases
Liza Maza, Chairperson Emerita, GABRIELA, Women’s alliance Phils.
Marcus Christian Hansen, Board member, New Hampshire Peace Action
Martha Bartlett, Presbyterian Church USA
Martha Spiess, Chair, Peace Action Maine
Michael Eisenscher, National Coordinator Emeritus, U.S. Labor Against the War
Mike Hearington, Veterans for Peace
Ngovi KITAU, First Kenyan Ambassador to the Republic of Korea (2009-2014)
Noam Chomsky, Professor, University of Arizona
Pamela Richard, Peace Action Wisconsin
Paul Shannon, Co-coordinator, Peoples Budget Campaign
Pete Shimazaki Doktor, Hawai’i Okinawa Alliance
Rajendra Sahai, Institute for Critical Study of Society
Reverend Jesse L Jackson Sr, Founder and President of Rainbow PUSH Coalition
Roger Leisner, Women in Black
Seri Lee, Chicago Organizer, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum
Sofia Woman, Northeast Regional Executive Committee Member, American Friends Service Committee
Sungju Park-Kang, Adjunct Professor, University of Turku, Finland
Tae Lim, PhD student, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Theodore Wilcox, Peace Action and Education
Unzu Lee, Co-convener, Presbyterian Peace Network for Korea
William H. Slavick, Pax Christi Maine
Young Han, Dr. Of Ministry Candidate, Claremont School of Theology
