Women Cross DMZ Statement on Kamala Harris’ Visit to the DMZ
September 29, 2022
Posted in: Press Releases
As a women-led organization that advocates for peace on the Korean Peninsula, we are greatly disappointed in Vice President Kamala Harris’ recent visit to the DMZ. While Harris stated, “Our shared goal, the United States and the Republic of Korea, is a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” the Biden administration continues to take actions and make statements that heighten military tensions and the risk of war.
Next year marks the 70th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that halted but did not permanently end the Korean War. American and North Korean military commanders who signed that agreement recommended that both sides negotiate a permanent settlement to the war within six months, but 70 years later, such a settlement remains elusive. The tragic consequences of this forever war are the ongoing separation of families, the extreme militarization of the Korean Peninsula, and tens of millions of people living under the constant threat of renewed war. The unresolved Korean War remains the root cause of the security crisis on the Korean Peninsula.
Furthermore, the U.S. strategy of sanctions, isolation, and military buildup has failed to resolve this crisis or achieve goals such as denuclearization or improved human rights. In fact, sanctions harm ordinary people in North Korea, with particular impacts on women.
It is time for a bold new approach — specifically, a peace-first approach that puts ending the Korean War at the beginning, and not the end, of the process. Ending the Korean War by replacing the armistice with a peace agreement would go a long way toward reducing tensions and averting another potentially devastating conflict on the Korean Peninsula.
We urge the Biden administration to prioritize diplomacy and take immediate steps to reduce tensions and build trust. That includes stopping joint military exercises, which do not deter North Korea but instead incite them to take provocative actions. Following the Singapore Declaration, when the leaders of the United States and North Korea pledged “to establish new U.S.–DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity” and “to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula,” the United States canceled a joint military exercise with South Korea, which North Korea responded to by blowing up a nuclear testing site and self-imposing a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests. Pyongyang also released three detained Americans and repatriated the remains of U.S. service members from the Korean War.
Since negotiations between the United States and North Korea have stalled, and the United States and South Korea have resumed joint military exercises, North Korea has ended its self-imposed moratorium on long-range missile and nuclear tests and affirmed its right to possess nuclear weapons.
The people of the United States and Korea do not want another war. As women peace activists, we urge you to take the best — and perhaps only sustainable — path forward by ending the Korean War and replacing the armistice with a peace agreement.