7.27정전 협정 70주년을 맞아 워싱턴 디시에서 미국평화대회 진행 예정

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작성자 편집국 작성일23-07-21 09:00 댓글0건

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7.27정전 협정 70주년을 맞아 워싱턴 디시에서 미국평화대회 진행 예정

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7.27정전 70주년을 맞이하여 미 전국 각지의 평화 옹호자들이 수도 워싱턴 디시에 모여서 7월 26일부터 28일까지 평화대회를 진행할 예정이다.

이 삼일간의 대회는 Women Cross DMZ와 Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network 그리고 평화 옹호자들, 인도주의 지원 단체, 종교 기관, 그리고 한국계 미국인들로 구성된 평화단체들이 협력하여 기획하였다.

미국평화대회에서 바이든 대통령과 미의회에 코리아 전쟁을 공식적으로 종료하고 정전 협정을 평화협정으로 대체하도록 촉구할 예정이다. 대회에는 또 한국의 평화 옹호자들과 함께 하는 기자회견, 전사자 추모식, 백악관 앞 코리아평화 촉구 시위, 그리고 코리아 평화를 위한 전략가들과 활동가들로 구성된 컨퍼런스 등이 포함되어 있다.

주최측은 의회, 시민 사회, 지정학 및 군사 전문가와 과학자들 사이에서 평화우선 접근방식의 대조선 외교에 대한 지지가 높아가고 있다는 것을 보여주기 위해 강력한 행사 및 강연들을 계획하였다고 한다. 많은 전문가들은 평화우선 접근방식이 세계에서 가장 위험한 핵 분쟁 지역인 코리아반도의 안전을 해결하는 데 중요하다고 보고 있다고 하였다. 또 이 대회의 주요 목표 중 하나는 조선과의 평화 협정을 요구하고 약 30명의 의원들의 지지를 받고 있는 한반도 평화법(H.R. 1369)에 대한 지지를 모으는 것이라고 하였다.

재미동포전국연합회는 지난 4월 초 회의에서 7.27 70돐을 성대히 기념하기 위해 이 대회의 후원단체로 등록하고 재정과 인력을 지원하기 위한 소위원회를 구성하였다. 워싱턴 디시 지역회의 임원들을 주축으로 한 소위원회가 모금운동을 비롯하여 대회 진행과정을 재미련회원들에게 신속히 알리는 등 대회의 성공을 위한 다양하고 적극적인 활동을 펼쳐왔다.

재미동포전국연합회에서는 워싱턴지역회 회원들을 포함하여 김현환 회장, 윤길상상임고문, 리준무 수석부회장, 정신화서부광역회 회장, 조명지 워싱턴디시회장 등 전국에서 20여명의 회원들이 참가할 예정이다. 뉴욕 뉴저지 지역회에서는 55인용 전세버스를 준비하고 참가를 독려하고 있다. 시카고 지역회에서는 참가자들이 시위때 입을 하얀색 티셔츠를 준비하였다.

7월 27일과 28일의 행사순서는 다음과 같다.

• July 27 at 11:30AM: A congressional press briefing with Rep. Barbara Lee, an early supporter of Korea peace legislation,\and other congressional Korea peace champions at the House Triangle;

• July 27rom 1-3PM: A participatory, communal grief ceremony featuring renowned Korean American performance artist Dohee Lee\and author Joseph Han, author of the acclaimed novel Nuclear Family;

• July 27rom 5-6PM: A rally at Lafayette Park with Women Cross DMZ Executive Director Christine Ahn, TikTok creator Nick Cho (“Your Korean Dad”),\and other prominent Korea peace supporters;

• July 27rom 6-7PM: Marchrom the White House to the Korean War Memorial

• July 27rom 7-8PM: Interfaith Vigil at the Lincoln Memorial steps, acrossrom the Korean War Memorial

• July 28rom 9AM-3PM: conference at George Washington University featuring renowned Korea scholars\and peace strategists:

o Siegfried Hecker, nuclear scientist\and former director of Los Alamos National Laboratory

o Kee Park, Harvard Medical School faculty, Director of the North Korea Program at the Korean American Medical Association

o Joy Gebhart, member of a divided family, humanitarian\and peace activist

o Lt. Gen. Dan Leaf, retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant general, former deputy commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command

o Bruce Cumings, University of Chicago Korea scholar

o Jennifer Deibert, DPRK program director at the American Friends Service Committee

다음은 주최측의 언론 보도 자료이다.

National Mobilization to Call for Peace on the

70th Anniversary of the Korean Armistice

Amid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, top military, nuclear, geopolitics experts\and Korea peace advocatesrom across the United States will convene in Washington, D.C., on July 27-28, 2023, to call on President Biden\and Congress to support a formal peace agreement with North Korea

Washington, D.C. — With tensions rising dangerously on the Korean Peninsula — including a sharp escalation in U.S.-South Korea joint military drills\and U.S. plans to deploy a nuclear-missile-armed submarine to South Korea — top experts\and hundreds of Korea peace advocatesrom across the country will gather in the nation’s capital on the 70th anniversary of the Korean Armistice for Korea Peace Action: National Mobilization to End the Korean War, July 26-28, 2023. The three-day convening in Washington, D.C., is being\organized by Women Cross DMZ\and the Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network and a broad coalition of peace advocates, humanitarian aid groups,\and organizations representing veterans, POW-MIAs, faith traditions,\and Korean Americans whose families remain divided by the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that bisects the peninsula. This action will coincide with similar peace mobilizations in South Korea,\organized by our Korea peace partners there.

Organizers have planned a compelling program of events\and speakers to showcase growing momentum for a peace-first approach to North Korea diplomacy among Congress, civil society, geopolitical\and military experts\and scientists. Many experts agree this approach is critical to safely addressing the world’s most urgent risk of nuclear conflict: the Korean Peninsula. One of the primary goals of the convening is to mobilize support for the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act (H.R. 1369), which calls for a peace agreement with North Korea\and has supportrom nearly 30 Members of Congress. The convening will include:

July 27 at 11:30AM: A congressional press briefing with Rep. Barbara Lee, an early supporter of Korea peace legislation,\and other congressional Korea peace champions at the House Triangle;
July 27rom 1-3PM: A participatory, communal grief ceremony featuring renowned Korean American performance artist Dohee Lee\and author Joseph Han, author of the acclaimed novel Nuclear Family;
July 27rom 5-6PM: A rally at Lafayette Park with Women Cross DMZ Executive Director Christine Ahn, TikTok creator Nick Cho (“Your Korean Dad”),\and other prominent Korea peace supporters;
July 27rom 6-7PM: Marchrom the White House to the Korean War Memorial
July 27rom 7-8PM: Interfaith Vigil at the Lincoln Memorial steps, acrossrom the Korean War Memorial
July 28rom 9AM-3PM: conference at George Washington University featuring renowned Korea scholars\and peace strategists:

Siegfried Hecker, nuclear scientist\and former director of Los Alamos National Laboratory
Kee Park, Harvard Medical School faculty, Director of the North Korea Program at the Korean American Medical Association
Joy Gebhart, member of a divided family, humanitarian\and peace activist
Lt. Gen. Dan Leaf, retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant general, former deputy commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
Bruce Cumings, University of Chicago Korea scholar
Jennifer Deibert, DPRK program director at the American Friends Service Committee

Korea peace advocates have made significant strides in challenging the mainstream narrative about the “Forgotten War,” as it is often referred to in U.S. history textbooks. That war — which killed 4 million people in just three years, mostly civilians — remains the defining trauma of the Korean people, both on the peninsula\and in the diaspora. Most Americans don’t realize that the Korean War never technically ended,\or that the Korean War is the longest-running overseas U.S. military conflict.

The broad coalition of organizations involved in this mobilization are calling for a permanent peace agreement between the United States\and North Korea—the only two parties to the war that have not declared peace\or normalized relations—to replace the 70-year armistice. The current U.S. approach toward North Korea, defined by hostility and isolation, has failed to achieve positive outcomes\and has only prolonged continuing tensions\and hostilities between the two parties. This has resulting in the extreme militarization of the Korean Peninsula\and continued division of families.

Geopolitical\and military experts agree that an official end to the Korean War would reduce tensions\and build confidence, providing the foundation upon which to more effectively engage on issues such as denuclearization\and improved human rights. It would be a step toward shifting resources awayrom endless wars\and toward more basic human needs at home, including housing, healthcare, food security,\and climate action.

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QUOTESrom EXPERTS\and COALITION MEMBERS

“As a two-war combat veteran who served four years in the Republic of Korea\and as former Deputy Commander\and Acting Commander of U.S. Pacific Command, I believe Congress must act now to push for the end of America’s longest war, reduce the risk of a nuclear catastrophe,\and set the conditions through peace for addressing denuclearization\and human rights.” ~ 3-star Lt. Gen. Dan Leaf, former commander of the Indo-Pacific

"I came awayrom the war realizing that war is not the answer. I saw myself in my enemy....In connection with this anniversary, I am appealing to all parties to finally end the lingering U.S. war in Korea. The ROK (South Korea), the DPRK (North Korea),\and the United States should take steps that would serve the mutual interests of the Korean\and American peoples who strongly desire 'permanent peace\and friendship' between the two nations." ~ John ("Jack") Doxey, 92, U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War\and member of Veterans for Peace

“As a peace-loving organization of Korean-Americans, we demand a peace treaty. Seventy years of war is enough! Secondly, we want a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. Thirdly, the joint military exercises between the United States\and South Korea must be contained. Finally, we call on the U.S. government to stop spending so much on the military\and allocate more resources for economic recovery\and other safety nets for all.” ~ Yu Soung Moon, president of the Korean American Peace Fund

“I was stationed in South Korea in the U.S. Army in 1980 at Camp Humphreys when it was just big, not the mega-base it is now. I knew even then, as a largely ignorant 20-something, that we, tens of thousands of troops, were there as occupiers to maintain hegemony\and threats to China, with absolutely nothing to do with protecting either Koreans\or the United States.” ~ Ellen Barfield, veteran\and member of Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network, Washington, D.C., chapter

“The unended war continues to have profound impacts on people living on the Korean Peninsula\and U.S. policy toward the DPRK, hindering cooperation\and people-to-people exchange on multiple levels. The human cost of the war is rising with each decade that passes—families do not have the opportunity to reunite, servicemembersrom the war are still missing,\and civil society engagement with DPRK partners is hindered by a continued state of war. In the experience of the American Friends Service Committee, dialogue\and people-to-people exchange are necessary to work toward peaceful resolutions to conflict. Ending the war will open up new opportunities to reimagine relationships\and forge a new path forward based on mutual thriving\and human security.” ~ Jennifer Deibert, DPRK Program Director of the American Friends Service Committee

“In 2015 when I joined Christine Ahn\and a group of women crossing the DMZ, I was inspired by the opportunity to put our bodies\where our hopes are: the reunification of families\and a nation still divided by the Korean war of more than seventy years ago. We felt that it was important to do with our physical selves what we hope could be done politically. Engagement\and dialogue are way more likely to achieve the kinds of goals we want than isolation\and silence. Women Cross DMZ is still leading the movement to end America’s longest war. Join us!” ~ Gloria Steinem

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Korea Peace Action: National Mobilization to End the Korean War is co-convened by a national coalition of\organizations working for peace on the Korean Peninsula:

American Friends Service Committee

Global Ministries— The United Methodist Church

Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network

Korean American Peace Fund

Mennonite Central Committee

National Association of Korean Americans

Veterans for Peace

Women Cross DMZ

The co-convenors are grateful to the following co-sponsoring\organizations:

Coalition of Koreans in America

Code Pink

DSA International Committee