Women Cross DMZ Statement on Mounting Tensions Between Two Koreas
June 23, 2020
Posted in: Press Releases
Tensions between the two Koreas reached a boiling point on June 16, 2020, when North Korea destroyed the inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong to symbolize the end of an era of inter-Korean reconciliation. In a series of statements released by the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea expressed frustration with South Korea for failing to adhere to commitments made in inter-Korean agreements, including halting activist groups from sending propaganda leaflets across the border.
While many proponents claim that these activists are simply expressing their right to freedom of expression and speech, the leaflets raise military tensions, and more than 60 percent of South Koreans oppose them. They’re also a form of psychological warfare; for example, leaflets in the past have offered a bounty for the assassination of Kim Jong Un. Many of these activist groups are funded by the US government via the National Endowment for Democracy.
Furthermore, the leaflets violate the April 27, 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, in which the two Koreas agreed to cease loudspeaker broadcasts and propaganda leaflets, as part of measures to cease all hostile acts in the air, land and sea. Unfortunately, activist groups have continued sending propaganda leaflets: In 2019 alone, there were reportedly 10 incidents of leaflet drops, and in 2020, there have been three incidents so far. According to the ROK Ministry of Unification, since 2010, activist groups have conducted 94 propaganda launches, dropping close to 20 million leaflets over the DMZ. Despite the fact that the DMZ is among the world’s most militarized borders, with over 1 million landmines within the 2.5-mile-wide barbed-wire stretch of land, it is one of the world’s most diverse and pristine ecosystems. Imagine the pollution caused by all this paper and balloons strewn across this ecological reserve.
Ultimately, the destruction of the Joint Liaison Office is North Korea’s protest of a long stalemate in relations with South Korea. Pyongyang is accusing Seoul of being complicit in the US’ maximum pressure campaign against the North. There has been little progress since the September 2018 summit in Pyongyang, where North and South committed to ending the war and transforming the peninsula into a land of peace through cooperation on peace, economic projects and military confidence-building, including a military agreement that began the process of demilitarizing the DMZ and the eastern and western corridors.
Unfortunately, much of these commitments were blocked by the Trump administration, which informed the Moon administration that advancements on inter-Korean relations hinged on progress between the US and North Korea on denuclearization. When Seoul tried to implement certain economic projects, for instance, Trump stated publicly: “They won’t do that without our approval. They do nothing without our approval.” The US has blocked South Korea from pursuing joint economic projects and an inter-Korean train project with North Korea. By insisting on maximalist demands from North Korea, the Trump administration failed to broker a deal with North Korea that would advance denuclearization, leaving inter-Korean relations stuck in a precarious situation.
The two Koreas have a right to determine their own future. The US should step back and allow them to pursue reconciliation and cooperation on their own terms, and return to the peace process with North Korea. Both Koreas agreed in the Panmunjom Declaration of 2018 to replace the Korean War Armistice with a formal peace agreement together with the US. We need to end the Korean War.
Democratic lawmakers in South Korea just introduced a resolution calling for an end-of-war declaration, and a similar resolution has been introduced in the US Congress.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Korean War, and it’s become clear that ending the war with a peace agreement is the precondition for denuclearization, not the other way around.
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