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
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
Across the globe, feminists are confronting authoritarianism, gender backlash, and violence, and they are winning, even as backlash intensifies. From Kenya to Latin America to Korea, women organizers are changing laws, shifting public understanding, and building power for a more just future.
In a world that often feels like it is on fire, join the Inclusive Global Leadership Initiative (IGLI) for an International Women’s Day webinar to hear these stories of hope, courage, and persistence. Hear from WCDMZ Executive Director Cathi Choi, Ruth Mumbi, Catalina Martínez Coral, Julia Zulver, and Marie Berry.
Dear Friend,
As a nonprofit, Women Cross DMZ relies on the generous support of individuals like you to help us sustain our movement to officially end the Korean War and realize lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
This Giving Tuesday, help us realize our bold vision of a peaceful and just future for all. Your contribution directly supports our work for peace in Korea and beyond. Donate $25, $50, $100, or whatever amount is meaningful to you — and invest in peace today!
Read what three feminist leaders say in our latest Annual Report:
You play a vital role in ensuring that Women Cross DMZ continues to lead the movement for peace in Korea. As Giving Tuesday approaches, we invite you to make an end-of-year gift that will sustain and deepen our impact for peace and justice.
Here’s what one of our funders said about our 10-Year Anniversary Solidarity Trek to Korea:
“As a women’s peace leader in my home country, Liberia, I know firsthand how critical women’s leadership is in building peace. Joining the 2015 crossing forever changed how I view Korea and the tragic 85-year division. For the past decade, Women Cross DMZ has brought new champions to Korea peace. I am honored to support them for the decade to come!” — Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Laureate, Peace Activist, and 2015 Crossing Delegate
“As an attorney and law professor, I have seen firsthand how reparative justice and intergenerational healing are critical parts of peace advocacy. Women Cross DMZ has developed an incredible model of intergenerational healing, peacebuilding, and cross-collective activism that champions grassroots change for peace and justice in Korea and the U.S.” — Miyoko Petit-Toledo, Professor of Law, William S. Richardson School of Law
“Women Cross DMZ demonstrates what principled, community-rooted advocacy looks like — amplifying grassroots voices and building intergenerational leadership. As a co-sponsor of the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act and Founder and Co-Chair of the Global Migration Caucus, I recognize the critical work they do to strengthen peace through diplomacy and reunite families divided by the Korean War. I commend Women Cross DMZ for their consistent feminist leadership in paving a new way of diplomacy, women’s leadership, and lasting peace.” — U.S. Representative Delia Ramirez (D-IL)
Our latest 2024-2025 Annual Report reflects the enormous strides we have made toward peace, including the 10-Year Anniversary Solidarity Trek to Korea, 10th Annual Korea Peace Advocacy Week, national grassroots organizing and education, and the launch of two major reports of groundbreaking feminist peace analysis: Women’s Rights Under the Division System in Korea and the Feminist Peace Playbook.
Donate today! Your contribution directly supports our women-led work for peace in Korea and beyond. You can also purchase a holiday gift, with all proceeds going to support Women Cross DMZ.
In peace,
Everyone at Women Cross DMZ
Join us on Tuesday, September 2 at 5pm PT/8pm ET (Sept. 3 at 9am KST) for a webinar debriefing South Korean President Lee Jae-myung’s first meeting with U.S. President Trump. We’ll hear from speakers Youngmi Cho (PEACEMOMO), Paul Liem (Korea Policy Institute), and Dae-Han Song (International Strategy Center), moderated by Cathi Choi (Women Cross DMZ).
In his August 15 Liberation Day address, President Lee Jae-myung vowed to ease tensions and restore diplomacy with North Korea. However, Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, rebuffed Lee’s statements stating that South Korea “cannot be a diplomatic partner” of North Korea.
Lee’s administration has also proposed transferring wartime operational control of its troops from the U.S. to South Korea by 2030. But in July, the U.S. Senate passed a bill barring spending on the transfer of wartime operational control and the reduction of U.S. troops in South Korea below 28,500. As Congress returns from August recess, the House will consider these issues in voting on the National Defense Authorization Act.
These coming weeks represent a critical time. Join us!
Join Women Cross DMZ for a webinar discussing the key findings of the newly released report, “Women’s Rights Under the Division System in Korea.” The report sheds light on the often overlooked consequences of Korea’s division, exposing the militarization, human rights violations, and family separations that continue to impact women’s lives today. Read the report here.
The webinar will include:
– A discussion of the gendered consequences of Korea’s division, including landmines and unexploded ordnance, U.S. military base expansion, and sexual violence at military camptowns.
– Firsthand insights from experts, activists, and contributors to the report on how militarization and geopolitical tensions disproportionately affect women.
– Policy recommendations and actionable steps for how governments, policymakers, and the international community can support women’s rights and peace efforts on the Korean Peninsula.
Speakers:
This webinar is a must-attend for policymakers, activists, scholars, journalists, and anyone passionate about human rights, peace, and gender justice. RSVP here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 3, 2024
Women Cross DMZ calls on President Biden, President-elect Trump, U.S. lawmakers, and democratic leaders around the world to condemn the illegal imposition of martial law by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, and join growing South Korean calls to safeguard their hard-won democracy by calling for President Yoon’s resignation.
Thanks to a swift vote by the South Korean National Assembly and thousands of South Koreans who poured into the streets in protest, President Yoon was forced to revoke martial law. As we celebrate the power of the people to fight back, we should all be alarmed that a single individual can unilaterally endanger democracy, the safety of ordinary people, and peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.
On December 3, 2024, President Yoon abruptly declared emergency martial law in South Korea in an unplanned national television broadcast, citing “threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements.” In the weeks leading up to this, opposition party leaders and thousands of South Koreans were calling for Yoon’s impeachment. In response to this growing outcry and in an attempt to quash dissent, Yoon declared martial law. Within two hours, 190 National Assembly Members (including members of Yoon’s own People Power Party) fought back armed special warfare soldiers who tried to seize the legislature, and unanimously voted to overturn the martial law.
Since Yoon took power in 2022, tensions between South Korea and North Korea have remained high with growing threats of renewed fighting on the Korean Peninsula. South Korea has also witnessed historic democratic backsliding as Yoon’s administration targeted critics, journalists, labor unions, and peace and reunification activists. In two years, the Yoon administration has been embroiled in a series of endless scandals including political corruption and alleged election interference. His approval rating sank to 17 percent last month. Yoon also gutted the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, blaming feminism for South Korea’s low birth rates instead of the systemic patriarchy where women earn 31 percent of their male counterparts. Last month, the Yoon administration banned Women Cross DMZ Founder Christine Ahn from entering South Korea where she was to deliver the keynote speech at an international youth peace summit in Gyeonggi Province with no explanation or due process.
President Biden has previously touted an “ironclad” alliance with Yoon’s government as his legacy. However, Yoon’s attempt to suspend democracy and human rights in South Korea demonstrates that President Biden’s close ally is unfit to govern one of Asia’s biggest democracies and puts the Korean peninsula at further risk of an outbreak of war. Before Yoon further exploits military tensions on the peninsula, Biden and world leaders must condemn Yoon’s dangerous actions and support the South Korean people and their elected officials calling for Yoon’s resignation.
Assistant Secretary of State
Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
August 2, 2024
Dear Assistant Secretary Kritenbrink:
This letter is for purposes of continuing our dialogue concerning the current travel ban restricting U.S. citizens from traveling freely to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). We have previously corresponded on this topic via letters dated September 6, 2022, and July 25, 2023, and in follow-up discussions with members of the State Department.
Since our first letter in 2021, our coalition has only grown. We write on behalf of a robust community of leaders from humanitarian aid, cultural, activist, legal advocacy, and civil society organizations. In light of the fact that the travel ban will be considered for renewal in the coming months, we wish to reiterate what we believe are deeply compelling reasons why the State Department should end the travel ban at this time, or at a minimum make modifications to allow for bona fide humanitarian and people-to-people engagement. With this letter, we also point out additional considerations that we urge the State Department to take into account for purposes of ending or modifying the existing travel ban. To the extent that the ban is based on concerns that U.S. citizens will be unlawfully detained, mistreated, or held hostage, we have offered information (see our July 25, 2023 letter) that strongly suggests this risk to be low, especially in comparison to other countries where the use of a U.S. passport for travel is not restricted. Suffice it to say that of the thousands of U.S. citizens (including dual U.S.-Korean citizens) who have traveled to or resided in the DPRK prior to the travel ban being instituted in 2017, only 20 were detained by or deported from North Korea.
Our recommendations are as follows:
I. The SVP policy should reflect the most recent updates to OFAC regulations.
On February 16, 2024, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published and effective that date, amendments to the North Korea Sanctions Regulations (NKSR) found at 31 C.F.R. Part 510. See https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/02/16/2024-03255/north-korea-sanctions-regulations.
The overall effect of the changes was to further expand the ability of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to engage in humanitarian activities vis-à-vis North Korea, by increasing the scope of activities now subject to a general license. For example, OFAC reduced the scope of the limitation related to activities involving a “partnership [with the North Korean government].” This was a welcome and necessary change that acknowledged the practical necessity of involving certain North Korean governmental institutions in engaging in sanctions-permitted humanitarian transactions.
In addition, the amendments expanded the permissible scope of items not subject to U.S. jurisdiction that can be provided by NGOs. Also of particular note, OFAC expanded the scope of authorized humanitarian activities to include:
While OFAC noted that a strict travel permission program remains in place for those using U.S. passports, the new amendments evince broadening support for NGO activity in North Korea, which, in most cases, necessitates traveling to North Korea to responsibly plan, implement and monitor these authorized activities. We believe it is in the interest of the U.S. government that U.S. citizens, who are otherwise delivering or arranging the delivery of authorized humanitarian aid to North Korea, be able to travel and implement the necessary control and monitoring of the delivered aid for its intended purpose.
Therefore, we urge the State Department, at the very least, to adopt explicit modifications to the travel ban, including visibly articulating policies that would permit individuals undertaking authorized activities under the North Korea Sanctions Regulations to be allowed to travel to implement those activities. As we previously noted, this should include activities authorized under section 510.512, as well as other activities that are authorized under or exempt from OFAC’s North Korea Sanctions Regulations (e.g., as discussed below, activities relating to the exchange of “information or informational materials” is an exemption from the regulations and is grounded in First Amendment protections reflected in a longstanding statute that removes OFAC’s regulatory authority in this area). We urge the Department to implement this policy by making clear that lawful activity under the NKSR is automatically deemed to be “justified by compelling humanitarian considerations” for the purpose of the special validation passport (SVP) authorization standard. The regulatory policies of agencies within the U.S. government should be aligned with each other, otherwise the travel ban policy risks undermining the permissions provided under the sanctions themselves.
Beyond this, we continue to urge the Department to amend its special validation passport (SVP) policy for the DPRK to explicitly allow travel for the purpose of constitutionally protected speech and, in particular, for the purpose of democracy-building, peace advocacy activities, and people-to-people initiatives. In light of the strong constitutional protection associated with the right to travel, we believe travel that would include First Amendment free speech in aid of such initiatives is compelling. Indeed, these types of OFAC-authorized activities are at their core exercises of free speech for the benefit of the civilian population. We believe that now is the time to consider appropriate amendments to the SVP policy to make it a more coherent part of the overall U.S. regulatory structure for the DPRK, and also more fully reflective of U.S. laws and values.
II. SVP policy should be updated to explicitly allow family reunions.
Finally, we ask that the State Department take an additional step to more explicitly incorporate a family reunion component into the SVP program, making clear that those wishing to travel to North Korea to engage in a family reunion would be eligible for SVP authorization. While we were pleased to note the update to the FAQ section in 2023 specifying that family visits would be considered potential grounds for receiving an SVP, we would like to see stronger support for family member reunions under humanitarian considerations, including those arranged by long-standing non-governmental and humanitarian organizations that have historically facilitated family reunions, and reunions for second- and third-generation Korean American family members.
In our July 2023 letter, we noted that an estimated 100,000 Korean Americans have family members in the DPRK whom they have not seen or heard from in decades. While the South Korean and North Korean governments have facilitated 21 in-person reunions and 7 video reunions since they began implementing family reunions in 1985, Korean Americans have been left out of this process entirely. Days before his election, President Biden pledged “to reunite Korean Americans separated from loved ones in North Korea for decades.” Instead, he has renewed the State Department’s travel ban on North Korea every year since he has been in office, prolonging one of the most restrictive policies from the Trump administration.
We speak on behalf of the majority of the U.S. public that supports peace and engagement. Activists have taken to directly petitioning for the lifting of the DPRK travel ban through postcard mailing efforts and online signature petitions. As of today’s date, the petition calling for lifting the travel ban has over 1,400 signatures from individuals across the United States. With Julie Turner, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights, recently calling the issue of reuniting Korean Americans with their families in North Korea a matter of “utmost urgency,” the Biden administration should facilitate family reunions as quickly as possible, as time is running out, especially for elderly Korean Americans. We again note that the regulations administered by OFAC contain an exemption for travel and personal communications which is consistent with a policy of more routinely issuing SVPs for family reunion travel.
Again, we thank you for your consideration of our recommendations for ending or modifying substantially the travel ban directed at U.S. citizens who wish to pursue bona fide humanitarian and people-to-people activities in North Korea, fully consistent with U.S. economic sanctions.
Furthermore, we would welcome the opportunity for a meeting to discuss this important topic for NGOs and Korean Americans, and for those of us who are identified below. We would be happy to meet anytime between August 19 and August 23 to discuss or review these demands.
Sincerely,
Individual Signatories
Christine Ahn, Founder and Co-Director, Women Cross DMZ
Mickey Bergman, on behalf of Governor Bill Richardson Center for Global Engagement
Cathi Choi, Co-Director, Women Cross DMZ & Co-Coordinator, Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network
Jennifer Deibert, DPRK Program Director, American Friends Service Committee
Abigail Disney, filmmaker, philanthropist and social activist
Rick Downes, President, Coalition of Families of Korean & Cold War POW/MIAs
Joy Lee Powell Gebhard, Divided Family Member
Austin Headrick, Asia Regional Advocacy Coordinator, American Friends Service Committee
Suzy Kim, Amnesty International USA (South) Korea Country Specialist
Dan Leaf, Lt. General of U.S. Air Force, former Deputy Commander of Pacific Command
Lora Lumpe, CEO, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft
Orin O’Brien, Double Bass, New York Philharmonic (retired)
Kee B. Park, MD. Lecturer, Harvard Medical School
Jack Rendler, Amnesty International USA Country Specialist for North Korea & Founding Member, International Campaign to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea
Chahee Stanfield, Founder and Executive Director, National Coalition for Divided Families
Gloria Steinem, author and activist
Ann Wright, US Army Colonel and US Diplomat (retired), Veterans for Peace
Joy Yoon, Co-Founder of IGNIS Community
Organizational Signatories
American Friends Service Committee
National Association of Korean Americans
Korea Peace Now
Korean American Peace and Education Fund
Mennonite Central Committee U.S.
The United Methodist Church, Church & Society
The United Methodist Church, Global Ministries
The Peace Committee, the Korean Association of the United Methodist Church
Veterans for Peace
Women Cross DMZ
CC:
Kurt Campbell, Deputy Secretary of State
Julie Turner, Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Kin Moy, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, East Asia and Pacific Affairs Bureau
Seth Bailey, Director for the Office of Korean and Mongolian Affairs
Karen Castro, Desk Officer – DPRK Unit
Dear friend,
Join us for Korea Peace Advocacy Week June 5-9, 2023!
During Korea Peace Advocacy Week, hundreds of people around the country meet with their members of Congress to advocate for legislation supporting peace in Korea. It’s one of the most meaningful, direct, and impactful ways to take action for peace in Korea.
2023 marks the 70th anniversary of the armistice that halted but did not officially end the Korean War, so it’s an especially important time to remind Congress about the human costs of this unresolved war and the urgent need to avoid a nuclear conflict on the Korean Peninsula.
Together, we must collectively raise our voices to let our elected officials know it’s time to end the Korean War. Can we count on you to share your story and make our voices heard?
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May 12 is the deadline to register! All you have to do is attend an optional training session (or watch the recording) and two to three 30 min meetings with your Congressional offices during the week of June 5. All meetings are held via Zoom. Please do one small act now for Korea peace and register today!
Korea Peace Advocacy Week is organized by American Friends Service Committee, Mennonite Central Committee, and Women Cross DMZ. For more info, contact Colleen Moore at colleen@womencrossdmz.org.
Crossings to Premiere in San Francisco May 13
We’re also excited to announce that Crossings will premiere in San Francisco as part of CAAMFest 2023 on Saturday, May 13 at 5:30 pm! Filmmaker Deann Borshay Liem and Women Cross DMZ Executive Director Christine Ahn will be in attendance and participate in a post-screening Q&A. Buy your tickets now!
Noam Chomsky in Conversation with Korea Experts Including Christine Ahn
On April 26 at 4pm PST/7pm EST, join a critical discussion with Noam Chomsky on the
disastrous implications of Washington’s military encirclement of China
on the future of the Korean Peninsula. Women Cross DMZ Executive Director Christine Ahn will be among the featured speakers. Register: https://bit.ly/3ljXUPh / YouTube Live: https://youtu.be/MWd7G42-uHs
Korea Peace Week at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa
This week, the University of Hawai’i chapter of Korea Peace Now! will host Korea Peace Week. The activities will include:
Dialogue: How Peace/War in Korea Affects the World
– Discussion with Christine Ahn (Women Cross DMZ), Kyle Kajihiro (Ethnic Studies),
Joseph Han (author of Nuclear Family), and Harrison Kim (History).
– Thursday, April 27, 3-5pm, Campus Center Rm 307
Film: Crossings
– Screening of the documentary Crossings by Deann Borshay Liem about women peacemakers crossing the DMZ from North to South Korea in 2015.
– Friday, April 28, 3-5pm, Campus Center Rm 307
We hope to see you at one of these upcoming events!
We’re excited to announce two upcoming events on Korea Peace:
On April 26 at 7:30 pm ET/4:30 pm PT, join us for “LIFTing Voices for Peace: Korean American Authors on the Un-Ended Korean War.”
Writers Grace M. Cho and Gary Pak will share their work and engage in a conversation about separated families, the traumas of war, and the importance of lifting the ban on travel to North Korea.
Click HERE to register.
Grace Cho, who most recently is the Winner of the 2022 Asian/Pacific American Award in Literature, was a Finalist for the 2021 National Book Award for Nonfiction, and whose book Tastes Like War was A TIME and NPR Best Book of the Year in 2021. She is a professor of sociology at CUNY; her previous book, Haunting the Korean Diaspora, was published in 2008 and she is an active scholar.
Gary Pak was a professor of English at the University of Hawaii until his recent retirement. He is the author of many works, including The Watcher of Waipuna and Other Stories, A Ricepaper Airplane, Children of a Fireland, Language of the Geckos and Other Stories, Brothers Under a Same Sky, Chon-go Ma-bi / High Sky, and Horse Fattening: Essays on Contemporary Korean Culture. He co-edited Yobo: Korean American Writing in Hawai‘i (Bamboo Ridge Press, 2003). He has published a children’s play, Beyond the Falls, which was produced by the Honolulu Theater for Youth in 2001. This event is hosted by LIFT (Let Individuals Freely Travel), a campaign to reinstate the long-standing US policy that allowed US citizens to travel freely to Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (aka North Korea).
This campaign is a joint initiative of the Korea Peace Network, the Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network, and Peace Treaty Now.
Secondly, for those in the Los Angeles area, CROSSINGS will have its West Coast premiere at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival on May 10! Filmmaker Deann Borshay Liem and Christine Ahn will appear in-person. Ticketing for the general public will be available starting Friday, April 15 at 5pm PT here.
Watch the trailer for CROSSINGS by clicking on the image below:
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We hope you’ll join us!
TAKE ACTION:
Call for Peace, Not Military Threats
Later this month, the US and South Korea are set to conduct combined large-scale military exercises. We call on the governments of South Korea and the United States to suspend the combined military exercises and instead actively pursue a path to peace. Urge your Member of Congress to cosponsor H.R.3446, the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act, in order to support peace and reconciliation, not military confrontation and pressure.
Contact your member of Congress here.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
April 23, 11:40am-1:30pm ET: Human Chain to Unite 2 Koreas: The 6.15 NY Committee for Reunification of Korea will stage a human chain from the North Korean to South Korean UN Missions in New York to symbolize our dream of bringing the two Koreas together. Meet at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza at 2nd Ave/47th St. For questions, email soobokkim000@gmail.com or mjang_us@yahoo.com.
May 2, 12pm PT/3pm ET: Unmute Yourself: Peace Now on the Korean Peninsula! An online conversation hosted by Ploughshares President Emma Belcher, with guests Christine Ahn, Abigail Disney, and Deann Borshay Liem. Register here.
May 10, 7:30pm PT: CROSSINGS West Coast premiere at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Tickets on sale on 4/15 here.
RECENT MEDIA:
