Parliamentarians and civil society call for progress at USA/DPRK Summit

Presidents Trump and Kim about to meet in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Parliamentarians and civil society leaders call for concrete progress on peace and denuclearisation.

President Trump and Kim Jong-un meet in Vietnam tomorrow for their second Summit amongst calls from around the world for them to make concrete progress for peace and denuclearization in North East Asia.

Senator Markey speaking on Face the Nation about the upcoming USA/DPRK Summit

US Senator Ed Markey, PNND Co-President and Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on East Asia, has called for incremental sanction relief for DPRK to allow humanitarian aid, but has urged that further sanction relief be tied to concrete, verified disarmament measures by DPRK.

Members of the Korea Peace Network are staging events across the USA on the eve of the Summit calling for peace and diplomacy to prevail.

Korea Peace Now: Women Mobilizing to End War, an initiative of the Nobel Women’s Initiative and Women Cross the DMZ, have sent a letter to Presidents Trump and Kim, endorsed by women from 33 countries, calling on them to ‘Declare an end to the Korean War, establish an inclusive peace process toward the signing of a peace agreement, and normalize relations by establishing reciprocal liaison offices, lifting sanctions that harm vulnerable individuals, and facilitating people-to-people engagement.’

'Trump and Kim may declare an end to the Korean War, which would be historic for the Korean people who have lived in a state of war for three generations' says Christine Ahn, Executive Director of Women Cross DMZ. 'But it would also be great for Americans as the Korean War is the U.S.' oldest war and set in motion massive defense spending which has diverted critical resources away from investments that would make America great again.'

PyeongChang Global Peace Forum

Parliamentarians and civil society leaders from over 50 countries meeting at the PyeongChang Global Peace Forum earlier this month have called on ‘Leaders at the DPRK-US Summit on 27-28 February 2019 in Vietnam [to] achieve a breakthrough with a concrete declaration of the end of the Korean War. The Summit should also result in concrete steps to implement past agreements, including those from the 2018 Summits at Panmunjom, Pyongyang and Singapore, and define a path towards the signing of a peace agreement.

The PyeongChang resolution also calls for concrete steps for regional denuclearization including the establishment of Northeast Asia as a nuclear-weapon-free zone, implementation of confidence-building measures including the continued freeze of military exercises, and lifting of sanctions to enable further cooperation by the governments and citizens of the two Koreas in the fields of humanitarian, economic and social development.

The PyeongChang Global Peace Forum was held on the anniversary of the Winter Olympics Peace Initiative in PyeongChang in conjunction with sports and cultural events for peace.

PNND delegation to the PyeongCang Global Peace Forum with other parliamentarians and leaders of the Korea International Cooperation Agency

Participants  included PNND Co-President Saber Chowdhury, who also serves as Honorary President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, PNND Co-President Bill Kidd who also serves as Chair of the Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group on Nuclear Disarmament, former PNND Co-President Mikyung LEE who now serves as President of the Korea International Cooperation Agency, PNND Global Coordinator Alyn Ware who served on the drafting committee for the PyeongChang Resolution, and PNND Coordinators from India, South Korea, Central Asia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The PyeongChang Olympic peace initiative last February and the first South Korean K-Pop concert in North Korea in April last year (attended by Kim Jong-un) demonstrated the power of joint sports and cultural events to break-down traditional animosities and forge respect and cooperation,’ says Alyn Ware who is also a member of Peace and Sport. ‘As such, the PyeongChang Global Peace Forum also called for further use of sports and cultural diplomacy to support the peace process, such as a continuation of peace through the next Olympics in Tokyo with joint teams from South and North Korea.’

Alyn Ware speaking at the PyeongChang Global Peace Forum on the economic benefits of peace and demilitarization.

The PyeongChang resolution also calls for progress by nuclear armed states towards global denuclearization. Bill Kidd says that the UK should take a lead by ending their reliance on nuclear weapons. ‘The Scottish Parliament and the people of Scotland firmly reject the hosting of weapons of mass destruction on Scottish soil,’ Mr Kidd told the Sunday Post.  ‘Westminster should heed those calls. By taking a stand on immoral nuclear weapons, we can set a powerful example to the world, influence others and help shape the global agenda.’

The PyeongChang Global Peace Forum also adopted a more general Declaration for Global Peace which supports the Korean Peace Process, reinforces the Hague Appeal for Peace adopted in 1999, and supports diplomacy and demilitarisation worldwide in order to free resources to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

No unconstitutional attack on North Korea Act 2017

US arms control groups have also been campaigning to build support for Senate Bill S.2016 introduced by Senator Markey and House of Representatives Bill H.R. 4837 introduced by Congressman Ro Khanna to support a diplomacy in North East Asia and to prevent the USA from launching an attack against North Korea, should diplomacy flounder. To date, 73 Congress Members and 3 Senators have endorsed the bills.

Additional background on the Hanoi Summit

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