Biden breaks his promise to Korean Americans (again)
August 23, 2023
Posted in: Newsletters
Dear friend,
We have some bad news. On Tuesday, the State Department announced that the Biden administration will extend the U.S. travel ban to North Korea for another year. This draconian ban was initially instituted in 2017 under President Donald Trump and prevents thousands of Korean Americans from reuniting with family in North Korea. We’re heartbroken and angry that the Biden administration is ignoring our pleas and disregarding the last wishes of elderly Korean Americans.
Joy Lee Gebhard, who was separated from her family in North Korea during the Korean War, urges the Biden administration to lift the travel ban in front of the U.S. Capitol on July 27, 2023. “I cannot visit my own flesh and blood; I cannot visit the graves of my parents one last time; I cannot even send a letter to say hello.”
Days before his election, President Biden pledged “to reunite Korean Americans separated from loved ones in North Korea for decades.” But his administration is continuing to take actions that directly contradict that promise.
Here are three reasons why continuing the travel ban is harmful:
The travel ban is unjust and inhumane. Thousands of Korean Americans remain separated from their loved ones in North Korea. While the two Koreas have facilitated a handful of brief “reunions,” Korean Americans have been left out of this process. Elderly Korean Americans who became separated during the war are running out of time to be reunited with their loved ones. The travel ban also impedes the delivery of humanitarian aid and the recovery efforts of U.S. servicemen remains.
The travel ban prevents crucial people-to-people initiatives. These exchanges — such as our 2015 women’s peace walk and symposium in North Korea and DMZ crossing — are some of the only opportunities for fostering relations between our two countries, as there are no official channels of communication between Washington and Pyongyang. This is especially important in cases like Private Travis King, who willfully crossed the military demarcation line and is currently in North Korea. Lifting the travel ban would allow people-to-people exchanges that help to open paths for policymakers that are necessary for defusing dangerous tensions.
The travel ban sends the wrong message to North Korea. While the Biden administration has repeatedly stated its willingness to meet with North Korea “anywhere, anytime, without preconditions,” renewing the ban sends a clear signal to Pyongyang that the U.S. is disingenuous about wanting to engage, especially as the U.S. sends nuclear submarines to the Korean Peninsula and conducts massive joint military exercises with South Korea that include rehearsing a preemptive strike on North Korea.
Despite this setback, we’re not giving up hope. Here are four things you can do:
Sign our petition calling on the Biden administration to lift the travel ban.
Join us this Thursday, Aug. 24, at 8pm ET/5pm PT for our Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network national monthly call to learn more about how we can fight back, as well as reflect on our Korea Peace Action last month in Washington, DC. Join the call here.
Support our efforts to help lift the travel ban.
Watch our panel discussion on the human costs of this ongoing travel ban and unended war.
We will see this ban lifted! But it will require our movement taking action. Thank you for your support.