U.S. Special Envoy Stephen W. Bosworth made a historic trip to North Korea this December, as Koreans and those concerned about the Korean Peninsula hoped that this was a step towards real diplomacy with the D.P.R.K. The first high-ranking U.S. official from the Obama administration to meet with the North Koreans, Bosworth arrived after years of bilateral bitterness, sanctions and nuclear tests.

There were many in the U.S., Japan and South Korea who were against the trip, claiming that Pyongyang hadn’t agreed to U.S.-stipulated prior conditions. Human Rights Watch, on the other hand, asked Bosworth to pressure Pyongyang to include human rights along with food aid monitoring and the treatment of people who migrate across the border in any subsequent bilateral talks.

As members of the National Campaign to End the Korean War, we feel that this is an optimal time to move towards bilateral dialogue with North Korea. Both the U.S. and North Korea have failed earlier agreements, and while the U.S. blames the D.P.R.K., much of the time, as Leon Sigal of the Social Science Research Council has stated, “Pyongyang was not alone in failing to keep its agreements. Unfortunately, Washington, Tokyo, and Seoul didn't manage to keep theirs either.”

And while we would agree that human rights issues need to be addressed, we would assert that one of the most important and basic human right is that of security – to be able to live in peace. As long as North Korea feels under the threat of war – because in fact, we are still technically in a state of war – there is no real incentive for Pyongyang to disarm and denuclearize the country – much less change anything else. Concrete steps towards removing this state of war would include security guarantees, diplomatic recognition and regular exchanges in order to reduce tensions and build mutual trust on both sides. This diplomatic process could pave the way for both the U.S. and North Korea to cross the threshold towards signing a peace treaty.

The U.S. and both Korean states have spent over half a century in a militarized standoff. More than 75 million Korean people have suffered the trauma of an unfinished war, the separation of families, and a divided peninsula that used to be one country. Christine Ahn of the Korea Policy Institute has stated “Amid the changing political dynamics in Northeast Asia landscape, one thing remains constant: the Korean peoples' desire for peace and reunification.”

Bosworth’s visit to Pyongyang and the Obama administration’s next actions will hopefully start a real effort towards peace in the region – but we have to do our part as well. We need to demand an end to this war, along with our demands to end the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. With 2010 marking the 60th Anniversary of the Korean War, we’re calling on all of you to join us in this effort.

JT Takagi,
New York Working Group of the National Campaign to End the Korean War

About the National Campaign to End the Korean War
The National Campaign to End the Korean War is a collaboration of more than 50 leading Korean-American, veterans, and human rights organizations working to promote a U.S.-Korea policy that will bring about a lasting peace on the Korean peninsula. Our goal is to finally end the 1950-1953 Korean War through the signing of a peace treaty between the United States and North Korea. For more information, please visit: http://www.endthekoreanwar.org.

About Nodutdol eNews

Nodutdol eNews is the monthly e-mail newsletter of Nodutdol.Through grassroots organization and community development, Nodutdol seeks to bridge divisions created by war, nation, gender, sexual orientation, language, classes and generation among Koreans and to empower our community to address the injustice we and other people of color face here and abroad. Nodutdol works in collaboration with other progressive organizations locally, nationally and internationally as part of a larger movement for peace and social change.

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