We have amplified our message on major global platforms, including at the United Nations, in the halls of the U.S. Congress, and at the Nobel Peace Summit, as well as in the headlines of every major news media. We have addressed thousands of people on college campuses, in churches, synagogues, community centers, bookstores, and private homes in more than 30 major cities worldwide.
In 2017, when President Trump threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea, we organized online teach-ins to provide much-needed historical context and analysis to understand how the U.S. and North Korea were on the brink of war. In 2018, Christine Ahn joined Sen. Bernie Sanders for a MoveOn teach-in commemorating the 15th anniversary of the U.S. war on Iraq, with 80,000 online viewers. We’ve released reports by global experts on topics such as how sanctions harm innocent lives, how a peace-first approach can resolve the security crisis on the Korean Peninsula, and how the Korean Peninsula has become the fault line for rising U.S.-China tensions. We’re harnessing the powerful documentary Crossings, by Emmy-award-winning filmmaker Deann Borshay Liem about our historic journey across the DMZ in 2015, to educate audiences about the impact of the unresolved Korean War and how women are building the political will for peace in Korea.
Through our Feminist Peace Initiative, with partners MADRE and Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, we engage diverse audiences about the need for a movement-driven US foreign policy that privileges the voices and experiences of those most impacted by US wars and militarism.
Using feminist framing that centers women’s voices and prioritizes inclusivity, sustainable development, and social justice, WCDMZ aims to open people’s minds and hearts that peace through step-by-step diplomacy is the only solution for resolving the Korean conflict.
Christine Ahn addresses panel of South Korean parliamentarians at the Council of Foreign Relations, Washington, D.C.
“WCDMZ has injected new energy and vision into the struggle to end the division on the Korean peninsula and promote peace and security.”
—Ramsay Liem, Professor Emeritus, Boston College
Women Cross DMZ is building the political will for a peace-first approach in the U.S. and beyond, by advocating to Congress and the State Department for a transformative, bold approach to North Korean relations. Our main legislative vehicle in Congress is the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act, H.R.1369. We have organized delegations to the White House, including Korean Americans separated from their families in North Korea, children of U.S. soldiers still searching for their fathers’ remains from the Korean War, humanitarian aid organizations working in North Korea, and U.S. veterans for peace. We also maintain lines of communication with the South Korean and North Korean governments as we urge all parties to include women peacemakers to ensure the success of the peace process towards the signing of a durable peace agreement.
With partners like the DC North Korea Legislative coalition and the Korea Peace Network, WCDMZ, and Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network members have urged members of Congress to support the peace process. Working with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), we provided substantial input on the first Congressional resolution to end the Korean War in the 116th Congress, which 52 members of Congress co-sponsored. That was followed by the success of H.R.3446, the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act, introduced by Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) in the 117th US Congress. Nearly 50 members of Congress co-sponsored the pivotal legislation calling for an end to the Korean War, the establishment of liaison offices, and a review of travel restrictions. The bill was reintroduced in March 2023.
In collaboration with members of the global campaign Korea Peace Now!, we led a delegation of women lawmakers from South Korea to dialogue with members of Congress on how to push the Korea peace process forward and include women.
In Ottawa and Vancouver, with our Canadian sister organizations, we urged the Trudeau administration to pursue a more constructive approach that aligned with its feminist foreign policy. In Seoul, our delegation met with diplomats from the U.S., U.K., Japanese, Swedish, and Canadian embassies to discuss women’s critical role in supporting the Korea peace process.
Women Cross DMZ delegation meets with Stephen Biegun, U.S. Special Representative on North Korea, at the State Department, Washington, D.C.
“Real, successful diplomacy requires step-by-step reciprocal actions and confidence-building, not ‘grand bargains’ and all-or-nothing demands.”
—Gloria Steinem, Christine Ahn, Abigail Disney, Suzy Kim, Jody Williams in an op-ed for TIME Magazine
In 2019, Korea Peace Now! launched the Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network to organize communities in the United States to call for a shift in U.S. policy for lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. Through the KPNGN, Women Cross DMZ aims to mobilize: Korean Americans, anti-war/peace activists and progressives, college students, and allied organizations (peace, disarmament, humanitarian, social justice, etc.).
We have built a formidable grassroots movement for peace with eleven chapters around the country plus caucuses for Korean speakers, Christian members, and “under 35” members. They collect signatures on postcards, organize house meetings, meet with their Congressional representatives, show up at town hall meetings, write letters to the editors, and tell their personal stories about why ending the Korean War is important to them. Using this model, we recently launched the Korea Peace Now Campus Network as a formal way to bring the next generation into the Korea peace movement. We are getting a lot of interest from the younger generation. So far we have student leaders in Boston, San Francisco Bay Area, and Hawaii.
Our primary tool for educating, mobilizing, and expanding our grassroots base is through the new documentary film Crossings, by Emmy-award winning filmmaker Deann Borshay Liem, about our 2015 DMZ crossing and grassroots movement to end the Korean War. Our goal is to organize 100 screenings of the film in 2023, targeting activists, policymakers, students, and educators. This will include a nationwide PBS broadcast in July for the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War Armistice.
Women Cross DMZ delegates at Gwanghwamun Square outside of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea.
“It’s time to move forward and finally bring closure to seven decades of war. A brighter future for Koreans, Americans and the world depends on it.”
—Christine Ahn, Executive Director, Women Cross DMZ