Article: Stop War Games, Start Peace Talks Statement Opposing U.S.-South Korea Joint Military Exercises Key Resolve Foal Eagle

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the July 27, 1953 Armistice Agreement that brought the combat phase of the Korean War to a temporary halt but did not end the war. The Armistice Agreement stipulated that a peace agreement be realized within three months and that negotiations take place for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Korea. Over the past several decades, North Korea, often portrayed in mainstream media as an irrational rogue state, has repeatedly requested peace negotiations with the United States. Yet today, we station nearly 30,000 military personnel and operate over 40 military bases on the Korean peninsula. We have spent the past 60 years living not in a post-war era, but under a ceasefire whose consequences are borne most acutely by the Korean people. On this anniversary of the irresolution of the Korean War, the longest conflict the United States has been involved in, we as human-rights, Korean solidarity, faith-based, peace, and environmental organizations call for attention to the human and ecological costs of permanent war as the modus vivendi of U.S.-Korean relations. Efforts that promote increased militarization and conflict and the destruction of the rich biodiversity in Korea are immoral and go against universally shared values of building peace, caring for Earth, and respecting the human dignity and worth of every person.

Resolution for Peace

We, the undersigned peace, human-rights, faith-based, environmental, and Korean solidarity activists, call upon the U.S.-ROK governments to cancel their dangerous and costly war games against North Korea.

We strongly urge the United States to turn to diplomacy for common and human security rather than militarization, which will only undermine regional and U.S. security. We further request that the Obama administration focus its strategic shift to the Asia region on finding diplomatic and peaceful solutions to conflict, and building cooperation with all nations in the region, including China, DPRK, and Russia.

On this anniversary of the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice Agreement, which several decades ago called for a peaceful resolution to the Korean War, we join with our peace-minded brothers and sisters in Korea and call on the Obama administration to deescalate the current tensions and do its part in realizing "Year One of Peace" on the Korean Peninsula.

Statement Initiated by the Working Group for Peace and Demilitarization in Asia and the Pacific

Christine Ahn, Gretchen Alther, Rev. Levi Bautista, Jackie Cabasso, Herbert Docena, John Feffer, Bruce Gagnon, Joseph Gerson, Subrata Goshoroy, Mark Harrison, Christine Hong, Kyle Kajihiro, Peter Kuznick, Hyun Lee, Ramsay Liem, Andrew Lichterman, John Lindsay-Poland, Ngo Vinh Long, Stephen McNeil, Nguyet Nguyen, Satoko Norimatsu, Koohan Paik, Mike Prokosh, Juyeon JC Rhee, Arnie Sakai, Tim Shorrock, Alice Slater, David Vine, Sofia Wolman, Kevin Martin

The Working Group for Peace and Demilitarization in Asia and the Pacific is composed of individuals and organizations concerned about and working for peace and demilitarization in Asia and the Pacific on a comprehensive basis. For more information see: www.asiapacificinitiative.org .

Endorsed by:

Organizations (U.S.)

- Alliance of Scholars Concerned about Korea (ASCK)
- Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Social Justice Committee, California
- CODEPINK State of Maine
- DMZ-Hawai'i, Aloha Aina, Honolulu, Hawai'I
- Eclipse Rising, Bay Area, California
- Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
- Grandmothers for Peace-Twin Cities, Minnesota
- Granny Peace Brigade, New York, New York
- Hawai'i Peace and Justice, Honolulu, Hawai'i
- Interfaith Peacemakers of Edina, Minnesota
- Maine Campaign to Bring Our War $$ Home
- Maine Green Party
- Montrose Peace Vigil, Montrose, California
- National Campaign to End the Korean War, United States
- Network of Politicized Adoptees, Minnesota
- Nodutdol for Korean Community Development, New York, New York
- Occupy Damsels in Distress, Palm Springs, California
- Pax Christi Florida
- Pax Christi Long Island, New York
- Peace Action Maine
- Peace Action, Silver Spring, Maryland
- Presentation Sisters Social Justice Team, Aberdeen, South Dakota
- Sahngnoksoo, Seattle, Washington
- Stop the War Machine, Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Veterans For Peace, Korea Peace Campaign, United States
- Women Against Military Madness, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Peninsula Chapter, California

Organizations (Non-U.S.)

- 21st Century Korean University Students Alliance, South Korea
- Buddhist Peace Solidarity, South Korea
- Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, Canada
- Central Committee for National Autonomy, Peace, and Reunification, South Korea
- Centre for Human Rights and Development, Mongolia
- Community Action Network, Malaysia
- Dignity International, Malaysia
- Food Coalition, Mongolia
- Green Earth Organization, Ghana
- International Peace Bureau, Geneva, Switzerland
- Korean Alliance of Progressive Movements, South Korea
- Korean Peasant's League, South Korea
- Korean Poor People's Alliance, South Korea
- Korean Women's Peasants Association, South Korea
- Korean Youth Solidarity, South Korea
- Minkahyup, South Korea
- National Committee of Democratic Workers, South Korea
- Oxford Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Peasant's Pharmacy, South Korea
- Reunification Agora, South Korea
- Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea (SPARK), South Korea
- Southern Headquarters of the Pan Korean Alliance for Reunification, South Korea
- Support Committee for Prisoners of Conscience, South Korea
- Swedish Peace Council
- Women's Global Solidarity Action Network, South Korea
- Woori Madang, South Korea

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