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Panmunjom Declaration three years on, back to the inspiration - Joint Statement

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2021-04-29 14:51
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April 27 marked the third anniversary of the 2018 Panmunjom Declaration. The Korea NGO Council for Cooperation with North Korea (of which KSM is a vice-chairing organization), the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, Civil Society Organizations Network in Korea, and the Korean Conference of Religions for Peace jointly hosted an event to mark the occasion. The event, taking place at the Gyeongui railway line Inter-Korean Transit Office, was held to promote an improvement in strained inter-Korean relations and to reiterate calls to implement the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration promises and thereby restart the peace process on the Korean Peninsula.

Attending the ceremony, Minister of Unification Lee In-young, stated, "We need to institutionalize peace on the Korean Peninsula, we need to take peace to a level where it becomes irreversible." Lee said he would push for parliamentary ratification of the Panmunjom Declaration and calling to restart talks with the North emphasized, "We are willing to talk to the North anytime, anywhere, and on any agenda no matter what the format."
 
The civil society organizations that hosted the ceremony issued an statement reflecting on what the desire to create peace was in 2018 and contemplating how to rekindle that.

The statement follows below,

Joint Statement


Panmunjom Declaration three years on, back to the inspiration


Today, as we celebrate the third anniversary of the Panmunjom Declaration, we temporarily put our concerns to one side and instead focus on hope.

We hope because we cannot erase the memories of that day when the whole world watched and cheered as the leaders of the two Koreas crossed the military demarcation line hand in hand and suggested in the Panmunjom declaration a future of peace and prosperity for the Korean Peninsula.

The Panmunjom Declaration was followed by the first ever summit between the DPRK and the U.S. As a result, the stable and permanent peace regime promised in the Panmunjom Declaration came one step closer.

At that summit held in Singapore, the DPRK and the U.S. agreed to normalize relations, establish a peace regime, and denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. Recognizing the reality of hostile relations, the talks in Singapore acknowledged a change in relationship was required and that this would be followed in turn by a peace regime and denuclearization.

That is why we still advocate for North Korea and the United States to use Singapore as the basis for their interaction.

The Panmunjom Declaration also led to another inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang in September the same year. As a result the “Comprehensive Military Agreement” for the implementation of the historic Panmunjom Declaration was signed. This was aimed at easing military tensions and substantially reducing the threat of war on the peninsula.

Returning from the first ever inter-Korean summit in 2000, President Kim Dae-jung declared that from that point on there would be no war on the Korean Peninsula. The Panmunjom Declaration was in affect the detailed pledges necessary to make that declaration true.

For us, the Declaration is a collection of vivid scenes imprinted in our memories. Scenes such as guard posts, which had previously loomed large over the border, being removed and of soldiers from South and North shaking hands over the armistice line.

However, on the third anniversary of the Panmunjom Declaration, the reality is that those images are fading. After the failure of DPRK-U.S. talks in Hanoi there has been a clear reversal that we cannot ignore.

The fact that South-North and U.S. leaders did manage to meet again briefly in Panmunjom months after Hanoi only serves to make us reflect on what might have been if only South and North had tried a little harder, got a little further.

When planned inter-Korean health cooperation faltered and when a World Cup qualifier in Pyongyang between South and North descended into on and off pitch squabbling, the two Koreas should have moved more responsibly, more proactively. As each side did not do quite enough, the all too familiar criticisms of the other resurfaced. Change was forestalled by hesitancy, neither side expressed trust.

For our reflections today, it is necessary to contemplate on the source of our desire that did create peace and spread empathy in 2018.

We believe that the first seeds for 2018’s peace process were sown when President Moon Jae-in proposed the suspension of all military action during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. That proposal radiated as it served as the background to the North's declaration of a freeze on all nuclear and missile testing. This was the pretext.

The suspension of ROK-U.S. joint military exercises and the suspension of all military tests by North Korea became the pretext for the actions that came after contributing to the peace process. The international community responded positively, and the United States followed. This was despite some opposition in the U.S. We still remember the stony demeanor of the U.S. Vice President as he watched the opening ceremony at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

We have to face up to the reality of regrets about DPRK-U.S. dialogue.

At that time, the United States was not sufficiently prepared and had little trust in North Korea. We have to remember how many people in the United States attacked Donald Trump for meeting with the North even as we cheered on the very same scenes. As Trump's actions toward North Korea were regarded in the States as a ploy to save himself from domestic political crises, we must face up to the need to build trust regarding the DPRK in the entire democratic establishment of the U.S. and not just with individuals.

As we start over again we need to make sure these reflections are ingrained in our practices from the outset. If the North only explains from their perspective, and we only from ours, then the empathy that supported the whole peace process will continue to gradually collapse.

We appeal to the authorities of the South and the North and to the countries concerned with the five following points:

First, the leaders of the two Koreas should return to the spirit of the 4.27 talks and agree to meet without preconditions. 

Second, all parties must refrain from statements that have a negative impact on the atmosphere required for conversation.

Third, an inter-Korean consultative body to implement the agreements of the Panmunjom Declaration and the Pyongyang Joint Declaration of September 2018 must be formed immediately. We appeal for more active cooperation from the authorities in the South and North.

Fourth, the South and North Korean authorities must no longer block exchanges and cooperation at the civil society level. They should instead actively facilitate it.

Fifth, we request full support for such efforts to improve inter-Korean relations from all related countries including the U.S. and China.

We make this statement in the name of all those on the Korean Peninsula who hold dear the values of peace inherent in the Panmunjom Declaration. We implore the authorities of South and North to reflect deeply on our sentiments.

Marking the third anniversary of the Panmunjom Declaration.

April 27, 2021

Korean Conference of Religions for Peace

Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation

The Korea NGO Council for Cooperation with North Korea

Civil Society Organizations Network in Korea