June 2004

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

Korean-Americans Promote Peace

Sanghyuk Shin a public health researcher and a member of Korean Americans United for Peace in the San Francisco Bay Area (koreansforpeace@yahoo.com).

"It was terrifying. We really thought that a US attack on North Korea was imminent," said Mimi Kim, a Korean-American community organizer in Oakland, California. In fact, July 2003 was a tense time for many Koreans. After President Bush labeled North Korea as one of the members of the "axis of evil," conflict and hostility between the US and North Korea escalated, triggering widespread fear among Korean communities that North Korea was next in line after Iraq for a US preemptive strike.

In October 2002, the US accused North Korea of violating previous agreements by secretly developing nuclear weapons. A few months later, Washington released plans detailing a military strike on Yongbyun, the site of North Korea's alleged nuclear program. The US also announced its intention to reposition its troops in South Korea, a tactic that would allow for a first strike on North Korea while minimizing US casualties from North Korean retaliation. Another disturbing development was the push within the US to explore building a new form of nuclear weapons, or "mini-nukes," using the "imminent threat" of North Korea as primary justification. These and numerous other indications of war alarmed Korean communities worldwide.

The threat of war followed a time of tremendous hope among Koreans. After 50 years of bitter separation and hostility between North and South Korea, a historic summit in 2000 between the presidents of both countries inspired millions of Koreans to be optimistic about peace for the first time. With 11 million Koreans still separated from their families after one of the most devastating wars in the 20th century, the intense longing for peace and reunification in Korea was finally becoming reality. "We saw pictures of incredibly emotional family reunions on the news, and it seemed like every day there was another report of cultural exchange or business engagement between North and South Koreans. These events were unthinkable just a few years ago," recalled Daehan Song, a youth organizer in Oakland. Sadly, renewed US aggression threatened years of painstakingly achieved progress towards peace among Koreans.

Korean-Americans across the US responded by launching a peace campaign highlighting July 27th, 2003, the 50th anniversary of the signing of a temporary armistice that ended the active combat phase of the brutal Korean War. They called for the US and North Korea to finally sign a long overdue peace treaty and normalize relations. In the San Francisco Bay Area, a candlelight vigil was held at UN Plaza to remember the 3 million casualties of the Korean War. The event included traditional Korean drumming, dance, and songs and drew participation from youth groups, religious leaders, and even US veterans. Similar events promoting peace in Korea occurred in Washington D.C., New York, and Los Angeles. As part of the campaign, members of Korean-American organizations also collected petitions and visited legislators to advocate for peaceful engagement. From the start, it was clear that even the broader Korean-American community overwhelmingly supported a peaceful resolution to the US-North Korea conflict. Regardless of their opinions on the North Korean regime, the prospect of another war in Korea was unacceptable to Koreans.

Today, the Bush administration has largely abandoned rhetoric threatening preemptive military strikes on North Korea, but continues to pursue regime change through economic isolation, including attempts to tighten economic sanctions. The US policy of restricting the North Korean economy has been devastating to the North Korean people, who continue to suffer from successive years of widespread food shortage.

The latest challenge for Korean-American activists is the recent efforts by conservative organizations and legislators to use reports of human rights abuses in North Korea as justification for derailing peaceful negotiation and increasing economic isolation. Koreans worldwide have been alarmed by the growing evidence of abuse in prisons and labor camps in North Korea. In addition, the regime's policy of restricting migration at a time of severe food shortages is a grave violation of the North Korean people's fundamental right to food. Many Korean-Americans believe that these and other reported abuses deserve urgent attention and that a fundamental change in the North Korean government is imperative. However, dozens of Korean peace and human rights groups in the US and South Korea have recently issued statements opposing the use of human rights issues as a political tool for regime change. They believe that further isolation of North Korea will only increase the hardship of North Koreans by impeding their efforts to recover from the famine and jeopardizing progress towards peace and true democratic change. Mimi Kim wrote in her recent letter to legislators, "As a daughter of a North Korean refugee… I could not forgive myself for allowing the US to further policies adding to North Korean misery in the name of human rights." Kim and other Korean-Americans have begun to collect petitions, visit legislators, write letters, and organize forums to oppose economic isolation and to encourage the US to adopt policies towards North Korea based on mutual respect.

Mobilizing popular support for peaceful policies on North Korea continues to be a daunting task. "Millions of people worldwide hit the streets to protest the war on Iraq. How are we going to get the American public to protest war on Korea when they are so clueless about what's going on?" asks Yuni Cho, a kindergarten teacher in Hayward, California. However, after finally having tasted a tiny amount of hope for peace and unification, a growing number of Koreans find it impossible to simply watch promising progress crumble due to foreign intervention. They believe that Koreans themselves must be at the forefront of the movement to establish enduring peace in Korea.

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