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| National Campaign to End the Korean War |
We can build on overtures for peace, work to end state of
war ─ or return to Cold War …
Editing, brief comment by
Carolyn Bennett
Carolyn Bennett
END KOREAN WAR now
The National Campaign to End the Korean War is a coalition
of concerned Korean American, veterans, human rights organizations, and
individuals in the United States who are working together to promote permanent
peace on the Korean peninsula and a new U.S. policy toward Korea by informing,
educating, and mobilizing American people at both local and national levels.
The group is calling on the government in Washington “to secure
a lasting peace.” And, recognizing past contributions of the American people in
ending the U.S. war in Vietnam, the group also calls on the American people “to
end the lingering Korean War—the longest and costliest war the U.S. government
has waged in its history.
“
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After more than a half century, it is high time for the
United States to end the Korean War finally and officially by replacing the
outdated, broken Armistice Agreement of 1953 with a peace treaty.
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| National Campaign to End the Korean War |
The United States must engage with
North Korea by restarting multilateral (Six Party) and bilateral talks.
Dialogue is the first step to
peace.
Late last year the National Campaign to End the Korean War
condemned the release of the film ‘Red Dawn’ (2012) as the film features stock content
showing “North Korean villains” that reinforces “deep ignorance [underlying] current
hostile relations between the United States and North Korea (a.k.a. DPRK, Democratic People's Republic of Korea).”
2
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013 marks the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Korean
War Armistice Agreement, the group wrote in its statement denouncing the film. “It
is high time for us to end the lingering, costly Korean War now, instead of
continuing or escalating it senselessly between the United States and North
Korea.
“For the sake of a permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula
as well as healing the old wounds between the two peoples, we reject and
boycott Red Dawn (2012) as war-mongering propaganda, and urge other Americans
to do likewise.”
Attack, counter-attack
News sources reported at the end of last year that North
Korea (DPRK) had successfully launched a satellite into orbit. The launch seems
to have been timed for the first-year anniversary of the December 2011 passing
of Kim Jong Il, the former leader and father of current leader Kim Jong Un, and
as part of the centennial celebration of founding leader Kim Il Sung.
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| North Korea's Nuclear test |
“Although North Korea appears to have followed protocol, as
specified in international accords, for launching objects into space,” the
National Campaign to End the Korean War notes, “some UN Security Council
members view the satellite launch as part of North Korea’s plan to expand its
missile technology and have called for fortified sanctions against the country.
However ─
This launch has also taken place
within the context of growing military activity on the part of the United
States and allies in the region, with joint war exercises at increased levels
in 2012;
South Korea building longer range
ballistic missiles and developing its own satellite launch capability;
Japan increasing its militarization;
The United States opening more
military bases in the Pacific region as part of its plan for America’s ‘Pacific
Century’
R
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ussia Today reported February 12, 2013, “N. Korea conducts
3rd nuclear test, warns more ‘measures’ may come”
Pyongyang said the Tuesday morning explosion ─ confirmed nuclear
test “carried out at a high level in a safe and perfect manner using a
miniaturized and lighter nuclear device with greater explosive force than
previously, not posing negative impact on the surrounding ecological
environment” (North Korea’s KCNA state news agency) ─ “was part of an effort to
protect its national security and sovereignty, citing U.S. opposition to the
recent North Korean space launch.”
Reputed to be the oldest city in
Korea, Pyongyang is the capital of North Korea, located in the west-central
part of the country on the Taedong River about 30 miles (48 km) inland from
Korea Bay of the Yellow Sea [Britannica
note].
The United Nations Security Council whose permanent members
are Russia, China, the United States, United Kingdom and France, as expected, condemned
the test, calling it a “‘great violation of Security Council resolutions,’
which poses ‘continuously a clear threat to international peace and security.’”
The RT report said, “Pyongyang threatened that if the United
States responds to the test ‘with hostility,’ then unspecified ‘second and
third measures’ may follow. … North Korean diplomat Jon Yong Ryong told the UN
disarmament forum in Geneva that his country ‘will never bow down to any
resolution.’”
How many wars will Washington launch (drone strikes,
sanctions, landmines, on-the-ground battles all constitute present and
continuing warfare) in this decade (Name them alphabetically: Afghanistan, Bahrain,
Congo, Iran, Iraq, Korea, Libya, Mali, Pakistan, Palestine, Somalia, Syria, Tunisia)? It seems U. S. officials entrenched in Washington consider no option except violence.
The NCEKW warns, modestly it seems to me: “the potential for war ─ even accidental war ─ is at one of its highest
levels in a decade; and the choice is clear:
We can either build on overtures
for peace and work to end the state of war on the Korean peninsula ─ or return
to a Cold War arms race. …
T
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he National Campaign to End the Korean War renews its call
for peace and apropos the week’s continuing U.S. distracting hysterics and decades-long
hostility toward North Korea, the group has recalled earlier words by Ploughshares Fund president Joe Cirincione:
Don’t underestimate North Korea.
Don’t count on this regime
disappearing anytime soon.
But don’t panic: Don’t start an arms race that
undermines your greater strategic stability goals.
[Don't further isolate North Korea] We need to take a deep breath and
work with our allies to get North Korea back to the bargaining table and off
the test ranges.
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| Stop the wars Veterans for Peace |
The United
States must engage with North Korea by restarting multilateral (Six Party) and
bilateral talks, the NCEKW says. Dialogue is
the first step to peace.
Sources and notes
http://peacetreaty.wordpress.com/
http://www.endthekoreanwar.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26&Itemid=16
http://www.endthekoreanwar.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18&Itemid=13
http://endthekoreanwar.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61:the-national-campaign-to-end-the-korean-war-renews-call-for-peace-not-sanctions&catid=1:articles&Itemid=23
“Statement on ‘Red Dawn 2012’ by National Campaign to End
the Korean War
December 6, 2012 by Peace Treaty ─ As a national coalition
of concerned peace, justice, and academic groups working for an official end to
the tragic Korean War, which lingers on today some sixty years after the
signing of the ceasefire agreement in 1953”
http://www.endthekoreanwar.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60:statement-on-red-dawn-2012&catid=1:articles&Itemid=23
The National Campaign to End the Korean War
Core organizations leading the coalition:
National Association of Korean Americans (NAKA)
National Committee for Peace in Korea (NCPK)
National Lawyers Guild, Korean Peace Project
North American Network for Peace in Korea (NANPK)
Veterans for Peace, Korea Peace Campaign
More than 50 major national, state and local organizations
along with leading figures support the movement for peace in Korea ─ National
Associations, Organizations, and Community Based Organizations
Agglobe Services International, Plymouth, Minnesota and
Fairfax, Virginia
Alliance of Scholars Concerned about Korea (ASCK)
American Friends Service Committee, National
American Friends Service Committee, Peace & Economic
Security Program, New England
American Friends Service Committee - Hawai'i Area Program
ANSWER Coalition, Hudson Valley, New York
Asia Pacific Freeze Campaign, USA
Boston Korea Friendship Association, Boston, Massachusetts
CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities, New York City, New York
Channing and Popai Liem Education Foundation, Boston, MA
Code Pink: Women for Peace, Washington, DC
Congress for Korean Reunification in USA (CKR)
DMZ-Hawai'i / Aloha 'Aina, Hawaii
Eclipse Rising, Zainichi Koreans in the Bay Area
Fellowship of Reconciliation, Nyack, New York
Forum For Peaceful Reunification Of Korea, Los Angeles,
California
Good Friends, USA: Center for Peace, Human Rights and
Refugees
International Action Center, National
June 15 Korean American Committee for Peace and Unification
of Korea
Korea Policy Institute, Los Angeles, California
Korea Truth Commission, Three Rivers, California
Korean American Cultural Center of Virginia
Korean American League, Michigan
Korean American National Coordinating Council, New York
City, New York
Korean Americans for Korea Democratic Labor Party, Torrance,
California
Korean Americans United for Peace (KAUP), San Francisco Bay
Area, California
Korean Community Center of the East Bay, Oakland, California
Korean Peace Network, USA
Korean Society of Maryland
Koreatown Immigrant Worker Advocates (KIWA), Los Angeles,
California
Malu 'Aina Center of Nonviolent Education and Action,
Honolulu, Hawaii
Nanum Corean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, California
Nodutdol for Korean Community Development, Queens, New York
Oakland Institute, Oakland, California
One Korea LA Forum, Los Angeles, California
Pan-Korean Alliance for Reunification in USA, Glendale,
California
Peace Action and Peace Action Education Fund, Silver Spring,
Maryland and National
Proposition 1: Convert Industry from Nuclear Arms to
Humanitarian Aims, Washington, DC
Sahngnoksoo, Seattle, Washington
Tri-Valley CARES, Livermore, California
United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), USA
United Methodist Church, Global Ministries
US-DPRK Medical Science Exchange Committee, Rochester,
Michigan
Women of Color Resource Center, Oakland, California
Women for Genuine Security, San Francisco, California
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, U.S.
Section
Women's International League for Peace & Freedom, DC
Branch
YouthSpeaks, San Francisco, California
Businesses & Media
Hodgepictures, Half Moon Bay, California
Korean Center, San Francisco, California
Korean Quarterly, St. Paul, Minnesota
Korea Report, Washington, DC
DMZ/38, Los Angeles, California
Minjok Tongshin, Los Angeles, California
Korea Scholars
Bruce Cumings, Professor, University of Chicago
Henry Em, Professor, New York University
Cynthia Enloe, Professor, Clark University
Martin Hart-Landsberg, Professor, Lewis and Clark University
Ramsay Liem, Professor, Boston College
Katharine Moon, Professor, Wellesley College
Peter Rachleff, Professor, Macalester College
J.J. Suh, Professor, Johns Hopkins University
Grace Jeanmee Yoo, Professor, San Francisco State University
Theodore Jun Yoo, Professor, University of Hawai`i at Manoa
Ji-Yeon Yuh, Professor, Northwestern University
Nan Kim, Professor, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
http://rt.com/news/north-korea-artificial-earthquake-981/
Author of Bomb Scare:
The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons and Deadly Arsenals: Nuclear,
Biological and Chemical Threats, Joseph Cirincione is President of
Ploughshares Fund, a global security foundation and former member of former Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton’s International Security Advisory Board and the
Council on Foreign Relations, http://www.ploughshares.org/who-we-are/staff/joseph-cirincione
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Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy
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