Join us for a webinar on the nomination hearing of Michelle Park Steel for U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea. We’ll hear from speakers including Sandy Shan (Justice Is Global), Mark Tseng-Putterman (New York University), Youngmi Cho (Sejong Cyber University), Goo Lee (Evergreen Coalition), and moderator Cathi Choi (Women Cross DMZ) on Steel’s political record and potential influence as next U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea on the prospects for Korea peace.
As Congresswoman, Steel took a staunchly conservative, hardline approach to China and North Korea, including her firm opposition to efforts to end the Korean War. She has advocated for a more aggressive military posture and spending with the justification of “deterring North Korea” and “countering China.” Additionally, in her reelection campaigns, Asian American and immigrant advocates criticized Steel for promoting divisive rhetoric and weaponizing inflammatory “McCarthyist” imagery.
Speakers will discuss Steel’s nomination as Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, the implications of her track record and recent congressional nomination hearing in the context of current global events – including the May 2026 Xi-Trump summit. We will hear from speakers about the implications of Steel’s nomination for U.S. relationships with the Republic of Korea, China, and countries across Asia and the Pacific.
Dear Friend,
Every year, Korea Peace Advocacy Summer brings hundreds of people from across the country to meet with their members of Congress and advocate for legislation supporting peace in Korea. Participants join virtual and in-person meetings with members of Congress to share personal stories and urge members to support policies focused on Korea peace. In addition to the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act, this year’s programming will include advocacy to challenge bloated U.S. military spending and justice for victims of militarized gender-based violence. Registration closes June 12. Register today!
This year marks 73 years since the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed, making the Korean War the United States’ longest running overseas conflict. We must call for serious, urgent diplomacy in pursuit of a binding peace agreement to formally end the Korean War today. Join peace advocates across the country to share and strategize for this year’s advocacy summer!
Register ASAP to receive information about:
Finally, join our first KPNGN meeting of the summer this Thursday, June 11 at 5pm PT/8pm ET! We’ll discuss our Korea Peace Advocacy Summer and more! RSVP here. We will also resume our three-part Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network Orientation. The June orientation will feature a Q&A session on the movement and political updates. Please stay from 9 pm ET to 10 pm ET after the June KPNGN meeting.
Power Hour for Korea Peace | Virtual Events | June 22 at 12 pm ET and 8 pm ET
Join our first program of 2026 Korea Peace Advocacy Summer! We’re hosting two Online Power Hour Phone-Banking Sessions on Monday, June 22 at 12 pm ET and Monday, June 22 at 8 pm ET. We will also organize in-person and virtual meetings with congressional offices according to constituents’ availability. Registration closes on June 12. Sign up to secure your spot today!
Expanding the Public Interest Toolbox: Litigation and Beyond at the Justice in Action Conference | Fordham Law School, New York City | June 17 at 1:45-3pm ET
Some of the most transformative victories for Asian American and immigrant communities never saw the inside of a courtroom-they came through transactional work, policy advocacy, and coalition-driven campaigns. Building on earlier sessions about partnerships between lawyers and community organizers, this session examines how lawyers can support community organizing using a range of legal strategies. WCDMZ Executive Director Cathi Choi and other speakers will draw on their own practice to discuss how and when to deploy each of these tools in service of community power. Through case studies and discussion, participants will leave with a broader and more flexible understanding of what community lawyering can look like. RSVP and learn more here.
Webinar: “America First” in the Asia Pacific: Debriefing Michelle Steel’s Nomination | Virtual Event | Wednesday, June 24 at 5pm PT/8pm ET (June 25 at 9am KST)
Join us for a webinar on the nomination of Michelle Park Steel for U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea. We’ll hear from speakers Sandy Shan (Justice Is Global), Mark Tseng-Putterman (New York University), Youngmi Cho (Sejong Cyber University), Goo Lee (Evergreen Coalition), and moderator Cathi Choi (Women Cross DMZ) on Steel’s political record and potential influence as next U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea on the prospects for Korea peace. RSVP here.
As Congresswoman, Steel took a staunchly conservative, hardline approach to China and North Korea, including her firm opposition to efforts to end the Korean War. Additionally, in her reelection campaigns, Asian American and immigrant advocates criticized Steel for promoting divisive rhetoric and weaponizing inflammatory “McCarthyist” imagery. Speakers will discuss Steel’s nomination as Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, the implications of her track record on Korea peace and nomination in the context of current global events – including the May 2026 Xi-Trump summit.
July 26, 2026 at 5 pm | Armistice to Peace Rally | Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC
This year marks 73 years since the United States and North Korea signed the Korean Armistice Agreement, which temporarily halted but did not formally end the Korean War. This unresolved war has kept families separated and is the root cause of tensions on the peninsula. Rally with us at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC and join our call to end the Korean War! Everyone is welcome to join.
From the Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network Education Committee:
80 Groups to Congress: Trump’s Astronomical Military Spending Requests Should Be Stopped in Committee. Women Cross DMZ joined Public Citizen, CODEPINK, and dozens of other organizations to demand that Congress reject increases to the Pentagon’s budget in the upcoming 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
✌️Follow Women Cross DMZ and Korea Peace Now! on Instagram! Say hello and check out our accounts!
🛍 Support the Korea Peace Movement: Show your support for Korea peace with one of our tote bags, hats, baby onesies, and clothing, available here. All funds 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.
In peace,
Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network
The Korean Resource Center LA (KRCLA) is hosting an evening of conversation and food on Tuesday, April 28 at 6pm PT, as we reflect on Saigu and renew our spirit and purpose as people of the Korean diaspora. We’ll be joined by community activists who have been on the frontlines challenging the systems that sowed the seeds for Saigu.
Panelists:
🌺 Cathi Choi, Women Cross DMZ Executive Director
🌺 Dr. Min Yang, Justice for Yong Yang
🌺 Anna Cho-Sun, LA Tenants Union
🌺 Richard J. In, KACE
🌺 Asian Youth Collective
Tuesday, April 28, 2026 from 6:00 – 8:00 PM
📍KRC Crenshaw, 900 Crenshaw Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90019
We’ll have plenty of food to go around, but feel free to bring a dish to share!
This is an in-person public event and registration is not required. Reach out to isaac@krcla.org for questions.
Based on our “Apology & Reparation: The Jeju 4 3 Retrials and the Japanese American coram nobis Cases webinar in April 2025. Please note: discussion of disturbing state violence and mass killings.
On April 3, 1948, U.S.-backed ROK security forces began a brutal anti-communist “suppression operation” on Jeju Island, massacring, torturing, inflicting sexual violence upon, and imprisoning thousands of villagers. ROK military, paramilitary, and police forces, with the backing of the U.S., killed an estimated 30,000 of the 200,000 Jeju residents between 1948-50. These forces also destroyed 40,000 homes and burned entire villages to the ground.
Part of the devastation brought on by South Korean security forces was the forced detention, torture, and sham convictions of thousands of Jeju villagers who were falsely convicted and criminalized as “traitors” by kangaroo military courts at the time. Survivors testified that some falsely convicted villagers were immediately executed, while others were imprisoned for 1-15 years.
Jeju communities, Korean and U.S. scholars, and international human rights groups have led an ongoing 20-year reconciliation initiative calling on the U.S. to engage in the social healing process.
Last year, we invited legal scholars Eric Yamamoto and Miyoko Pettit-Toledo to share how survivors and their descendents achieved redress through transnational legal advocacy efforts. Yamamoto and Pettit-Toledo have been involved in Jeju 4.3 justice issues for over a decade, working across Jeju, Seoul, Hawai’i, and Washington DC. They’ve also drawn important connections between legal advocacy led by Jeju 4.3 survivors and Japanese American survivors of World War II incarceration camps.
Survivor-led efforts shed light on the impact of and possibilities for legal advocacy in processes of redress, healing, and social justice. In particular, they show how a national court system can respond to and correct egregious wrongs committed by the government against its own citizens.
Dear Friend,
Our April KPNGN meeting is happening on Thursday, April 9 at 5pm PT/8pm ET! We’ll share past and upcoming activities in our movement: come ready to share updates! We’ll also resume our three-part Orientation with a Korean War 101 presentation provided by the Education Committee. RVSP here.
Thank you to everyone we met in Seattle, Washington DC, and NYC! This past weekend, KPNGN members mobilized at No Kings Protests in NYC, Washington DC, and across the country, joining millions of people around the country to protest immigration crackdowns, war, and authoritarianism.
In NYC, we held our parallel event at the UN 70th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), “Social Healing through Advocacy: Women’s Leadership in Historical Redress.” WCDMZ Executive Director Cathi Choi (moderator), WCDMZ Board Chair and scholar Ji-Yeon Yuh, MADRE Senior Director of Advocacy and Policy Diana Duarte, legal scholar Miyoko Pettit-Toledo, and Inclusive Global Leadership Initiative Program Manager Carly Paul explored women-led efforts to address historic wrongs through advocacy, legal recourse, community organizing, and creative practices across Korea, Haiti, Iraq, Colombia, and Guatemala.
In Washington DC, we organized a strategic planning retreat with our partner organizations in the Korea Peace Network where we cultivated a new path forward for a peace-first policy and legislative advocacy strategy to meet the current political moment. Partners included Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network, Women Cross DMZ, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, United Methodist Church Global Ministries, and the American Friends Service Committee.
And in Seattle, we attended the University of Washington’s Partition & Solidarity Symposium on March 6. WCDMZ Executive Director Cathi Choi spoke at the Anticolonial Struggles in the Colonial Present panel on “Women’s Rights Under Division: Challenging U.S. Forever War and Militarism in Korea.” We also held a spirited Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network regional gathering with local community members and grassroots organizers.
Thank you again and see you at our next programming!
From the Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network Education Committee:
The Case for Enabling Nongovernmental Engagement with North Korea. This article argues for opening opportunities for humanitarian engagement with North Korea and discusses how U.S.-based NGOs are currently being blocked from engaging by administrative restrictions.
April 23 at 8 pm ET | | KPNGN Faith-Based Caucus Presents Korean Christian Zionism: History, Theology, and Its Impact on Peace in Korea | Virtual Event
The Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network Faith-based Caucus will host a learning and discussion space on the history and theology of Korean Christian Zionism and its impact on the Korea peace movement. Professor Keunjoo Christine Pae will trace connections between Korea’s wartime collective memories and modern Israeli history, show how those memories have been politically mobilized, and discuss why some non-Christian Koreans embrace Zionism. Professor Keunjoo Christine Pae, Ph.D. is the Chair of the Department of Religion and Professor of Religion/Ethics and Women’s and Gender Studies at Denison University. RSVP here.
April 23-24 | “U.S.-China Rivalry and the Militarization of the Pacific” at the Futures Beyond Militarism conference | Thompson Conference Center, University of Texas Austin | In-Person Event
WCDMZ Executive Director Cathi Choi will be speaking at the Futures Beyond Militarism conference, a convening of scholars and activists to examine global alternatives to militarism and ways communities envision and enact sustainable and interdependent futures. Cathi will join WCDMZ Founder Christine Ahn (moderator), Kyle Kajihiro, and Mark Tseng-Putterman on the “U.S.-China Rivalry and the Militarization of the Pacific” panel event on Friday, April 24 at 9:45am. RSVP and learn more here.
Tuesday, April 21 at 7pm ET | “Have You Heard Our Cries?”: Program on Korea Peace Journey hosted by the Presbyterian Peace Network for Korea | Virtual Event
The Presbyterian Peace Network for Korea, a major partner of KPNGN Faith-Based Caucus, is hosting a special program for attendees to share reflections on their recent Korea Peace Journey.
Last October, over a dozen people joined the Korea Peace Journey to travel to Korea to meet peacemakers from churches in Korea and grassroots activists, hear their stories, and understand their support for peace. The group traveled to Seoul, Jeju Island, Pyeongtaek, and the DMZ, listening, learning, and discussing how best to be in solidarity with partners working for peace on the Korean Peninsula. Join the meeting here.
✌️Follow Korea Peace Now! and Women Cross DMZ on Instagram! Say hello and check out our accounts!
🛍 Support the Korea Peace Movement: Show your support for Korea peace with one of our tote bags, hats, baby onesies, and clothing, available here. All funds 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.
In peace,
Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network
Dear Friends,
After a decade of founding and leading Women Cross DMZ, I am stepping down at the end of this year, and as of January 1, 2025, my Co-Director, Cathi Choi, will become our second-ever Executive Director. I will join the Institute for Policy Studies as a Fellow and continue to serve as Strategic Advisor to Women Cross DMZ.
Some of you may be wondering why I’m stepping down now, at this crucial moment for democracy in South Korea and peace on the Korean Peninsula. Here’s my answer: We’ve built a solid organization and our movement is growing, and now we have a smart, courageous and inspiring leader — our beloved Cathi Choi — who can take us to new heights. As a member of a divided family, Cathi understands the trauma of the unresolved Korean War. And as a Harvard-trained lawyer who has defended victims of police brutality and workers’ rights, she brings the intellect and determination needed to lead us through the many challenges that lie ahead. I also believe strongly in the leadership and power of the next generation, which is crucial for our continued success.
On a personal note, I need to devote more time to my family, especially my daughter, who has been with me throughout this journey, including on the trip to Pyongyang when Hye-Jung Park and I went to negotiate the DMZ crossing. And frankly, my nervous system also needs to rest.
Though deeply meaningful, this work is extremely hard on the body, mind, and spirit. As anyone who has led a nonprofit can attest, the demands are endless. But it has also been challenging, to say the least, to be on the receiving end of racist, misogynistic, and McCarthyist attacks for taking a stand for peace and justice. While I consider it a badge of honor to have been banned from entering South Korea — now twice — by authoritarian leaders Park Geun-hye and Yoon Seok-yeol, it’s still painful not to be able to visit my family, friends, fellow activists, parents’ burial site and birthplace.
What has sustained me all these years, however, is all of you — our diverse, multi-generational transnational movement — working together for peace on the Korean Peninsula and in our world. I’ve been blessed to work with the most dedicated and savvy staff and board who make Women Cross DMZ a small but truly powerful advocacy and organizing force. I’m deeply moved by our community of advisors and allies who have shared analyses, insights and opportunities, and to our hundreds of generous donors who have sustained our grassroots, women-led movement for years — some for a decade. And I am deeply grateful for the extraordinary pro bono legal support from Steptoe LLP, and for IT/digital security from Tiny Gigantic.
Challenging a 70-plus-year-old state narrative that has kept the Korean War as the United States’ oldest, ongoing war has indeed been a herculean task. But together, we have made an indelible impact, and I believe under Cathi’s leadership we will continue to make waves.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime to carry out my dream — literally — that women will end the Korean War. It has been my honor to lead and grow Women Cross DMZ and help midwife two trailblazing collaborations with our feminist partners, the Korea Peace Now! campaign and the Feminist Peace Initiative.
None of this would have been possible without the faith and support of each of you. Your belief in this movement has strengthened our global, peace-loving community, one that dares to envision a brighter future for all. In just the past few weeks, since Yoon’s martial law declaration, our team has proven its resilience, swiftly mobilizing to provide incisive analysis in global media and organizing grassroots actions nationwide. I am confident that under Cathi’s leadership, Women Cross DMZ will remain the leading voice for peace on the Korean Peninsula. Please join me in supporting this work by making a donation today.
Like the generations of courageous Korean Americans who came before me, I will always be part of the movement for Korean independence, peace, and reunification — the movement that sparked my political activism and continues to fuel my fire brightly.
‘Til our next action together…
With deep gratitude and in friendship,
Christine Ahn
Dear Friend,
On Tuesday, Yoon Suk Yeol issued a grave and serious threat to South Korea’s democracy.
By declaring martial law, South Korea’s president attempted to quash dissent, endangering the safety of ordinary people as well as peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. The National Assembly voted swiftly to revoke the declaration and thousands of protesters took to the streets, forcing Yoon to rescind his decision.
In the days since, Women Cross DMZ has issued a statement and provided analysis in the media:
We have also led and joined grassroots rallies across the country, from Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, all the way to Honolulu.
On Monday, we participated in the webinar “What Does the Trump Presidency Mean for the Korean Peninsula?” and discussed Trump and Yoon’s militaristic policies, the current U.S. legislative landscape, and the then-looming threat of martial law in South Korea. Tomorrow (Dec. 7), we’ll be on WBAI radio at 1pm ET for a roundtable discussion on Korea. On Sunday (Dec. 8), we’re co-sponsoring the webinar, “Martial Law Interrupted: Views from South Korea.” Follow more coverage of our analysis here, including an op-ed tomorrow in USA Today.
We are fighting back, educating, and building our mass grassroots movement of people power!
But, we need your support to continue. Here are some things you can do TODAY:
Thank you for supporting this movement for peace and democracy!
In peace,
Cathi Choi
Dear Friend,
We are at a moment of crisis and opportunity.
Although there is much uncertainty about how the next administration will impact U.S. foreign policy, Women Cross DMZ is well-positioned to pivot our grassroots movement — either to prevent a new hot war or to engage with policymakers to ensure a sustainable peace. As we brace ourselves for the next administration, we know that it is crucial for Women Cross DMZ to remain strong during this period. In advance of Giving Tuesday, please donate to support our work.
Here’s what one of our funders said about our impact:
“Five years ago, congressional advocacy on Korea peace issues simply did not exist. Now, there is a thriving coalition of groups who legislatively promote ending the war, reuniting divided families, and using diplomacy to roll back the North Korean nuclear weapons program. Women Cross DMZ helped build this robust activist infrastructure, which is now in place to address future moments of crisis and possibility.” — John Carl Baker, Nuclear Field Coordinator and Senior Program Officer, Ploughshares Fund
Our many accomplishments in the last year — which you can read about in Women Cross DMZ’s 2023-2024 Annual Report — reflects the enormous strides we have made toward peace, made possible thanks to your support: building a feminist peace movement; growing grassroots political power; changing the narrative on the Korean War; healing intergenerational trauma; and cultivating Korea Peace Champions in Congress.
Next year will mark an exciting new chapter for Women Cross DMZ, as Cathi Choi will become Executive Director in January 2025. Christine Ahn will transition into a strategic advisor role, and become a Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies.
Cathi plans to expand Women Cross DMZ’s visibility and reach, and cultivate a new generation of Korea peace activists for the long-term viability of our global peace movement.
In this next chapter, we will need your continued support to ensure that Women Cross DMZ can meet this moment and play a central role to end this longest U.S. war. Your tax-deductible contribution, in whatever amount is meaningful to you, ensures we can effectively respond to today’s global challenges. Donate here.
To find out more about what we’ve accomplished and what we’re planning in the year ahead, read our Annual Report.
Again, thank you for your support.
In peace,
Women Cross DMZ