News Release: 80 Million Hearts Broken as June 12 Talks Cancelled But Women Say Peace is Unstoppable
May 25, 2018 by Women Cross DMZ
Posted in: Press Releases
For Immediate Release: May 25, 2018
80 Million Hearts Broken as June 12 Talks Cancelled But Women Say Peace is Unstoppable
Today, 80 million Korean hearts across the Peninsula are broken by the news of the cancellation of the June 12 Summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim. But the drive for peace by the people of both North Korea and South Korea is unstoppable.
“Even though President Trump has unilaterally withdrawn from the June 12 meeting, the momentum for peace cannot be stopped,” said Christine Ahn, founder of Women Cross DMZ. “Peace isn’t just up to two men. It’s up to the people and the leaders of North and South Korea, and that peace train has long left the station.”
Ahn and Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire are in South Korea this week leading an international delegation of 30 women peace and security experts and activists. They are calling for the United States and North Korea to return to the peace table.
“Every day you hesitate, someone dies and will not get a chance to be reunited and to see their families” said Maguire. “I say to President Trump and Chairman Kim: be courageous and sit down and work for peace and reunification for Korean families and the Korean peninsula.”
The women delegates are calling for June 12 to be a Global Day of Solidarity with the Korean people for peace. They are calling for President Moon and Chairman Kim to meet on June 12 and to fulfil the commitments outlined in the April 27 Panmunjeom Declaration, including resuming talks on the political and military levels. “A hot-line phone exists between Kim and Moon,” said Maguire. “They should pick up the phone and use it.”
The thirty delegates are calling for women to be included in the peace process by having a seat at the negotiating table. “The deep mistrust from seven decades of hardened relations has produced very frail lines of communication,” says Ahn. “Our delegation stands ready to play a constructive role in the diplomatic peace process between the U.S. and North Korea.”
A return to a rhetoric of nuclear annihilation and destruction is unacceptable. The people of both North and South Korea, and especially women, have worked too long and have come too close to see the talks collapse. Everyone around the world wants this peace process to succeed.
For more information contact:
Katia Gianneschi
Nobel Women’s Initiative
613-614-9740