“This war must end”

 

More than 130 female activists from 38 countries pressed Ban Ki Moon, secretary general of the United Nations on Sep. 27 to fulfill a goal he declared after assuming the job a decade ago; a permanent peace treaty to end the Korean War.

Open letter says as following:

Dear Secretary-General Ban

We are women leaders from 38 countries, including many from nations that fought in the Korean War. We are from academia, business, civil society and the military, and represent a diversity of ethnicities, nationalities, religions, and political views. We are united by our belief that diplomacy is the only way to end the Korean War.

On July 27, 1953 the United States, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and China signed the Armistice Agreement to halt the Korean War. They promised to re-convene within three months to replace the ceasefire with a binding peace agreement. This never occurred and an entrenched state of war has ever since defined inter-Korean and U.S.-D.P.R.K. relations. This war must end.

We urge you as the leader of the UN, which was established “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,” to fulfill a promise you made in a 2007 speech where you stated, “Beyond a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue with North Korea, we should aim to establish a peace mechanism, through transition from armistice to a permanent peace regimen.”

Korea is the only nation to remain divided after WWII. For three generations, millions of families have been separated by the world’s most militarized border. We urge you to lead the process of bringing formal closure to the longest standing war before you leave your post in the United Nations.

During your remaining time as Secretary-General, we urge you to:

1.Initiate a peace process, together with the UN Security Council President, to replace the 1953 Armistice Agreement with a binding peace treaty to end the Korean War.

2.Aim to conclude this peace process by 2018, the 70th anniversary of Korea’s division into two.

3.Ensure that women are significantly represented in the peace process in accordance with the spirit of UNSCR 1325.

On both sides of the De-Militarized Zone, the absence of a binding peace accord fuels fear, violations of human rights, and economic deprivation caused by diverting resources in preparation for war.

Since 1950 Korea has been threatened with nuclear weapons by the U.S. and U.S.-south Korean military exercises. Furthermore, the recent decision to install the U.S. THAAD missile defense system in south Korea is viewed by countries in the region as a highly provocative and potentially destabilizing move.

Peace is the most powerful deterrent of all.

As the Secretary-General of the UN with the mandate to maintain international peace and security, we urge you to take steps now to help formally end the Korean War with a peace treaty. Doing so would lead to greater peace and security in the world by countering the escalating militarization in the region and the proliferation of nuclear weapons worldwide.

The global community can no longer ignore the tragedy suffered by the Korean people. We look to you to leave behind a legacy of diplomacy for peace in Korea, Northeast Asia and our world, and to continue your active engagement for peace in Korea in your private capacity.

We would appreciate acknowledgment of your receipt of this letter to info@womencrossdmz.org.

Sincerely Yours,

1.Abigail Disney, USA, Filmmaker and Philanthropist

2.Aiyoung Choi, USA, Steering Committee Member, Women Cross DMZ

3.Alice Slater, USA, Coordinating Committee Member, World Beyond War

4.Alice Walker, USA, Author and Activist

5.Amina Mama, Nigeria/USA, Professor, University of California, Davis

6.Amira Ali, Ethiopia, Author and Activist

7.Ana Oliveira, USA, Philanthropist

8.Anasuya Sengupta, India, Feminist author and activist, co-founder Whose Voices?

9.Ani DiFranco, USA, Singer, Songwriter, Poet, Multi-instrumentalist & Businesswoman

10.Anne Delaney, USA, Artist and Philanthropist

11.Anuradha Mittal, USA, Executive Director, Oakland Institute

12.Ann Patterson, Northern Ireland, Peace People

13.Ann Wright, USA, Retired US Army Colonel & Diplomat

14.Anne Beldo, Norway, Lawyer and Partner of Hegg & Co. Law Firm

15.Annette Groth, Germany, Member of Bundestag

16.Annie Isabel Fukushima, USA, Professor, University of Utah

17.Audrey McLaughlin, Canada, Former President, Socialist International Women

18.Betty Reardon, USA, Founding Director of the International Institute on Peace Education

19.Brinton Lykes, USA, Professor, Boston College

20.Charlotte Wiktorsson, Sweden, Swedish Physicians Against War

21.Christine Ahn, USA, International Coordinator, Women Cross DMZ

22.Chung-Wha Hong, USA, Executive Director, Grassroots International

23.Cindy Wiesner, USA, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance National Coordinator

24.Coleen Baik, USA, Twitter @Design Alumna

25.Cora Weiss, USA, Founder, Hague Appeal for Peace

26.Cynda Collins Arsenault, USA, Philanthropist, Secure World Foundation

27.Cynthia Enloe, USA, Professor, Clark University

28.Deann Borshay Liem, USA, Filmmaker

29.Don Mee Choi, USA, Poet & Translator, International Women’s Network Against Militarism

30.Dorchen A. Leidholdt, USA, Attorney, Professor, Feminist

31.Ekaterina Zagladina, Russia, Permanent Secretariat, Nobel Peace Summit

32.Elaine H. Kim, USA, Professor, University of California, Berkeley

33.Eleana J. Kim, Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Irvine

34.Ellen Carol DuBois, Professor, History and Gender Studies, University of California, Los Angeles

35.Emilia Castro, Canada, Co-Representative of Intl. Committee, Americas Region, World March of Women

36.Eve Ensler, USA, Playwright

37.Fiona Dove, Netherlands, Executive Director, Transnational Institute

38.Fragkiska Megaloudi, Greece, Journalist

39.Frances Kissling, USA, University of Pennsylvania; former President, Catholics for Choice

40.Francisca de Haan, Netherlands, Professor, Central European University

41.Gabriela Zapata Alvarez, Mexico, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor

42.Gay Dillingham, USA, Filmmaker, Former Advisor to Governor Bill Richardson

43.Glenda Paige, USA, Secretary, Governing Council, Center for Global Nonkilling

44.Gloria Steinem, USA, Writer and Activist, Presidential Medal of Freedom Awardee

45.Grace Cho, USA, Professor, College of Staten Island, City University of New York

46.Gwyn Kirk, USA, Women for Genuine Security

47.Hazel Smith, United Kingdom, Professor, University of Central Lancashire

48.Helen Caldicott, Australia, Founding President of Physicians for Social Responsibility

49.Helena Wong, USA, U.S. National Organizer, World March of Women

50.Hope A. Cristobal, Guam, Former Senator

51.Hye-Jung Park, USA, Filmmaker, Community Media Activist

52.Hyaeweol Choi, Australia, Professor, Australian National University

53.Hyunju Bae, south Korea, Central and Executive Committee, World Council of Churches

54.Ingeborg Breines, Norway, Co-President, International Peace Bureau; former Director UNESCO

55.Isabella Sargsyan, Armenia, Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly

56.Isabelle Geukens, Netherlands, Executive Director, Women Peacemakers Program

57.Jackie Cabasso, USA, U.S. Mayors for Peace

58.Jane Jin Kaisen, Denmark, Artist and Filmmaker

59.Janis Alton, Canada, Co-Chair, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace

60.Jean Chung, south Korea/USA, Founder, Action for One Korea

61.Jennifer Kwon-Dobbs, USA, Professor, St. Olaf College

62.Jodie Evans, USA, Co-founder, Code Pink

63.Judy Rebick, Canada, Former President, National Action Committee on the Status of Women

64.Julie Young, USA, Board Chair, Korean American Story

65.Justine Kwachu Kumche, Cameroon, Executive Director, Women in Alternative Action—WAA

66.Kate Dewes, New Zealand, Former Member of United Nations Secretary General's Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters; Co-Director of the Disarmament and Security Center

67.Kate Hudson, United Kingdom, General Secretary, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

68.Kavita Ramdas, USA, Ford Foundation

69.Khin Ohmar, Burma/Myanmar, Coordinator, Burma Partnership

70.Kim Ku’ulei Birnie, Hawaii/USA, Women’s Voices, Women Speak

71.Kim Phuc, Canada/Vietnam, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador

72.Kozue Akibayashi, Japan, Intl. President, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom

73.Krassimira Daskalova, Bulgaria, Professor, University of Sofia

74.Krishanti Dharmaraj, USA, Executive Director, Center for Women’s Global Leadership

75.Kyeong-Hee Choi, USA, Professor, University of Chicago

76.Laura Hein, USA, Professor, Northwestern University

77.Leymah Gbowee, Liberia, 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate

78.Lindsey German, United Kingdom, National Convener, Stop the War Coalition

79.Lisa Natividad, Guam, President, Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice

80.Liza Maza, Philippines, former Parliamentarian; Gabriella Network

81.Hon. Rev. Lois Wilson, Canada, Senator; Former Moderator of United Church of Canada

82.Luisa Morgantini, Italy, Member, European Parliament

83.Lydia Alpizar, Mexico, Executive Director, AWID (Association of Women's Rights in Development)

84.Madeline Rees, United Kingdom, Secretary General, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom

85.Mairead Maguire, Northern Ireland, 1976 Nobel Peace Laureate

86.Maja Vitas Majstorovic, Serbia, Gender Coordinator, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict

87.Margo Okazawa-Rey, USA, Professor Emerita, San Francisco State University

88.Marilyn Waring, New Zealand, Professor of Public Policy, Auckland University of Technology

89.Marilyn Young, USA, Professor, New York University

90.Mary C. Murphree, USA, Sociologist

91.Medea Benjamin, USA, Co-founder, Code Pink

92.Meenakshi Gopinath, India, Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP)

93.Megan Burke, USA, Director, International Campaign to Ban Landmines-Cluster Munitions Coalition

94.Meredith Woo, USA, Open Society Foundations

95.Meri Joyce, Australia, Regional Coordinator, Global Partnership for Prevention of Armed Conflict

96.Mimi Han, south Korea/USA, International Vice President, YWCA

97.Mimi Kim, USA, Professor, Cal State University, Long Beach

98.Mina Watanabe, Japan, Secretary General, Women’s Active Museum on War and Peace

99.Nada Drobnjak, Montenegro, Member of Parliament

100.Namhee Lee, USA, Professor, University of California, Los Angeles

101.Nan Kim, USA, Professor, University of Wisconsin

102.Nancy Ruth, Canada, Senator

103.Naomi Klein, Canada, Journalist and Activist

104.Netsai Mushonga, Zimbabwe, Commissioner, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission; African Women Active Nonviolence Initiative for Social Change

105.Nighat Said Khan, Pakistan, Executive Chair, DidiBahini

106.Nina Tsikhistavi-Khutsishvili, Georgia, Board Chair, International Center on Conflict and Negotiation

107.Nunu Kidane, USA, Board Member, Priority Africa Network

108.Patricia Thane, United Kingdom, Professor, Kings College

109.Penny Rosenwasser, USA, Founding Board Member, Jewish Voice for Peace

110.Phyllis Bennis, USA, Director, New Internationalism Project, Institute for Policy Studies

111.Regina Munoz, Sweden, Peace Activist

112.Rose Othieno, Uganda, Executive Director, Center for Conflict Resolution

113.Saloni Singh, Nepal, Executive Chair, DidiBahini

114.Sandra Moran, Guatemala, Co-Representative of Intl. Committee, Americas Region, World March of Women

115.Setsuko Thurlow, Canada, International Educator, Hibakusha/A-Bomb Survivor

116.Sharon Bhagwan Rolls, Fiji, Executive Producer, FemLINKpacific; Board Chair, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict

117.Shirley Douglas, Canada, Actor and Activist

118.Simone Chun, USA, Journalist and Activist

119.Sophie Toupin, Canada, Women Peace and Security Network Canada

120.Sung-ok Lee, USA, Assistant General Secretary, United Methodist Women

121.Suzuyo Takazato, Japan, Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence

122.Suzy Kim, USA, Professor, Rutgers University

123.Taina Bien-Aime, USA, Executive Director, International Coalition Against Trafficking in Women

124.Tani Barlow, USA, Professor, Rice University

125.Terrilee Kekoolani, Ko Pae'Aina Hawai'i, Kanaka Maoli

126.Terry Greenblatt, Israel/USA, The Ploughshares Fund

127.Rev. Unzu Lee, USA, Presbyterian Minister, Women for Genuine Security

128.Valerie Plame, USA, Former Covert CIA Operations Officer

129.Visaka Dharmadasa, Sri Lanka, Founder, Association of War Affected Women

130.Wei Zhang, USA, Folk Art Researcher and Philanthropist

131.Wendi Deetz, USA, Global Fund for Women

132.Winnie Wang, USA, Center for Global Nonkilling

133.Yayoi Tsuchida, Japan, General Secretary, Japan Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs

134.Yoonkyung Lee, Canada, Professor, University of Toronto

135.Youngju Ryu, USA, Professor, University of Michigan

(List in formation)

Note: Organizations/Affiliations Listed Only for Identification Purposes