JOY ELLEN YOON — 9th Year of Korea Peace Advocacy

For one week in March 18-24, more than 200 people participated in the ninth year of coordinated advocacy for peace on the Korean Peninsula. This year’s Korea Peace Advocacy Week was hosted by American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), and the Church & Society and Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church, in addition to Korea Peace Now! and Women Cross DMZ. Meetings were held both online and in-person as Americans from around the country advocated for an end to the Korean War.

Peace advocacy comes at a critical time as tensions are running dangerously high on the Korean Peninsula. This is perhaps the most dangerous situation since 1950. At the new year, Chairman Kim Jong Un announced that North Korea will no longer pursue peace or reconciliation with South Korea. Large joint military exercises with U.S., South Korean, and Japanese troops are also contributing to these increased tensions. As the Korean War continues in a perpetual unresolved state, the absence of a peace treaty is the root cause for ongoing tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. Unfortunately, U.S.’s approach of pressure and isolation has proved fruitless in stabilizing the region. Alternatively, a peace-first approach could prove more effective in resolving both military threat and the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

Due to these escalating tensions, U.S. constituents visited 175 Congressional offices in 32 states to advocate for H.R. 1369, the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act. This bill calls for an urgent diplomatic pursuit in formulating a peace agreement and ending the Korean War. It also calls for a review of the U.S. travel ban on North Korea that complicates both humanitarian aid workers and Korean Americans from visiting the country. Thanks to this advocacy, the number of co-sponsors for the bill is climbing with currently 40 co-sponsors for the bill.

“Advocacy Week is an important moment to join with other organizations and advocates from around the country to tell Congress that the people of the U.S. want a different relationship with the D.P.R.K.,” said Jennifer Deibert, D.P.R.K. Program Director for American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). Indeed, through the Harris Poll, 69% of the American public indicated that they agreed with the U.S. president holding meetings with the North Korean leader, and close to half of Americans (48%) agreed with officially ending the Korean War.

Continued efforts for advocacy are highlighting this sentiment from the American public to Congress. Colleen More, Director of Peace and Justice at the General Board of Church and Society within the United Methodist Church stated, “Especially as tensions continue to escalate, Korea Peace Advocacy Week is an opportunity for faith in action to advocate to Congress to pursue peace.” Many of the individuals and organizations calling for peace are from Christian roots, including not only AFCS and the United Methodist Church but also Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) as well as other Christian groups. MCC Director of International Program, Rebecca Burkholder added, “Engaging this divide in a time of rising hostility may be one of our most important forms of holy witness in a world of increasing polarization which is desperate for signs of hope.” 

As the world’s conflicts continue to increase, now is an important time to be ambassadors of reconciliation. Over ten million people have been displaced due to the ongoing conflict in Sudan with 38% of those refugees migrating to Chad. Up to 80% of Gazans now face famine or catastrophic hunger due to the Israel and Hamas War and consequential blockades on food and water. Russia and Ukraine’s conflict is reaching critical causalities as Russia has lost at least 442,170 troops and sustained more than 335,000 casualties. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Kyiv has also sustained 383,000 casualties since February 2022.

The goal for 2024 should not just be for the absence of violence and war but also for reconciliation, restoration, and wholeness. It is important to end conflict and war so that both entities can claim their own identities and define the narratives that make them the nations that they are. Therefore, it will be important to continue to fight for justice in this unjust world and encompass restorative resolutions to long-entrenched conflicts across the globe, including peace on the Korean Peninsula.