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KSM call to global civil society to join the End the Korean War Campaign.

작성자/Author
관리자
작성일/Date
2020-09-02 11:20
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664
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1. We call out to members of global civil society to join with us in the End the Korean War Campaign. We make this call in the knowledge that there are many regional emergencies and tragic conflicts around the world ongoing today. We understand that other peace processes, alike the Korea conflict, are also constrained by regional and global powers’ policies. We call for global civil society to join us in demanding that narrowly defined “national security interests” no longer control the destiny of those living in areas of protracted conflict. All those living in conflict regions must be able to exercise their agency to peacefully transform the conflicts that envelop them. Ordinary people in conflict areas everywhere must have the opportunity to engage in processes of developing relationships across conflict boundaries. This is promoted on the understanding that the futures of all those involved in conflict regions, including the Korean Peninsula, exist in an unbreakable web of relational interdependency.


2. In the name of peace on the Korean Peninsula and humanitarianism in the DPRK, sanctions and pressure must be replaced with dialogue and cooperation.


We know that the ongoing inter-Korean and DPRK-US conflicts are the justification used for the nuclear weapons program in the North and increasing defense budgets in the South. We also know that the conflict has been used to justify authoritarianism previously in the South and continuously in the North. We can undermine this justification through inter-Korean peacebuilding and the promotion of relations between the DPRK and the rest of the world.


The humanitarian situation in the DPRK is acute. 40% of the population, over ten million people, is in urgent need of food assistance. Only 27% of UN funding requests for the DPRK was met in 2019. We understand that some humanitarians feel it appropriate to separate politics and the conflict from assistance projects. However, this is impossible when each aspect of the situation has become securitized. We know that the humanitarian situation in the DPRK is exasperated by the conflict and sanctions. Increases in tensions see humanitarian projects suspended and monitoring access curtailed. International sanctions exacerbate the humanitarian situation, prevent the procurement of materials needed for humanitarian projects, divert necessary resources into timely exemptions requests, and prevent banking remittances required for international agencies’ daily operations.


Sanctions are not proportionate in that they jeopardize the food security of millions of innocents and amount to collective punishment. They have been ineffective in preventing the North’s nuclear program. Claims of necessity are unfounded in that dialogue to tackle nuclear proliferation has not been sufficiently explored. In Korea and around the world, peace can only be achieved through peaceful means. 


3. South Korean civil society is a vital part of the inter-Korean peace process. That is why we are participating in this citizen led campaign to demand an end to the Korean War.


Our experience shows us that civil society plays a key role in mediating between the South Korean government and ordinary people that facilitates and strengthens voices of engagement. This in turn helps to build a consensus regarding the peace process. Despite seventy years of inter-Korean hostility permeating social structures across the peninsula, the Korean Sharing Movement has helped to create a new discourse espousing peace among Koreans.


Our experience from the late nineties onwards shows us that civil society maintains momentum for engagement and also opens doors for dialogue to resume the peace process. This is especially important when there is impasse at the top leadership level.


Our experience shows us that South Koreans and North Koreans can cooperate together, acknowledge our differences and develop relationships based on trust. This people to people peacebuilding is the only viable way to transform relations from enmity and distance to understanding and partnership.


We ask you to join the Korea Peace Appeal in calling to;


WEB_EnglishKoreans cannot do this alone. Through international pressure and solidarity we can push for a move away from national security dominated discourses towards an empowerment of people to people peacebuilding becoming central in transforming the conflict in Korea and also other conflicts around the world.