Seoul selected as S. Korean city to co-host 2032 Olympics with North Korea’s Pyongyang

Seoul has been selected as South Korea’s candidate city to bid for the 2032 Summer Olympics jointly with North Korea. On the afternoon of Feb. 11, the city of Seoul announced that it had been selected at a general meeting of Korean Sport and Olympic Committee (KSOC) representatives at the Jincheon National Training Center in North Chungcheong Province as the South Korean city that will bid for the 35th Summer Olympics in 2032. Seoul had been in competition with Busan, but persuaded the representatives to favor it based on its symbolism as South Korea’s leading city, the competitiveness of its urban infrastructure, and its international capacity. READ MORE

Soldiers Shake Hands in the DMZ

Instead of pointing guns at each other, soldiers from North and South Korea shook hands at the demarcation line in the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two sides of Korea. These sort of things happened only in imaginative Korean movies, but is now a solid reality. Hope this welcoming momentum of genuine peace continues and spills over to multilateral negotiations, agreements and implementations to ensure lasting peace in the Korean Peninsula.

Fact Check: This piece erroneously says the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) was created in 1948. Actually, the 38th Parallel was the arbitrary boundary proposed by the U.S. for zonal occupation of liberated Korea at the end of WWII and accepted by the USSR in 1945 that remained as a boundary until the war broke out in 1950. The DMZ was created in 1953 as a part of the Korean War armistice agreement, which still is in effect pending a long-promised peace treaty.

Inter-Korean Sports Cooperation Bear Results

South and North Korea agree to integrate respective branches of Taekwondo (natural thing to do as taekwondo is a universal Korean tradition that came way before the division of Korea) -- another fruit of inter-Korean rapprochement, along with the proposal for a joint bid for the 2032 Olympics.
Read more.

Inter-Korean Natural Gas Pipelines Envisioned

Another positive development in the Korean Peninsula that will surely help in defusing tensions in the region, similar to the planned inter-Korean rail and road links, that may lead to the whole peninsula's direct linkage to the Eurasian landmass. READ MORE

Inter-Korean Military Cooperation Expands

The two sides of Korea are moving forward rapidly and widely with the demilitarizing process in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), making the DMZ live up to its name for the first time since its inception in 1953. The next logical step is to officially end the Korean War by replacing the current armistice agreement with peace treaty, READ MORE

Inter-Korean Rapprochement Advances with Third Moon-Kim Summit

Great progress towards (officially and mutually) ending the Korean War and a viable peace settlement in the Korean Peninsula has been achieved with the third inter-Korean summit between President Moon Jae-in of South Korea and Chairman Kim Jong-un of North Korea. Wide-ranging inter-Korean cooperation in military, economic, cultural/sports, and humanitarian affairs are in the works. Hopefully these developments will foster quicker Washington-Pyongyang and Tokyo-Pyongyang rapprochements. 

Pyongyang Joint Declaration of September 19, 2018  [Full Text]

Moon Jae-in, President of the Republic of Korea and Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea held the Inter-Korean Summit Meeting in Pyongyang on September 18-20, 2018.

The two leaders assessed the excellent progress made since the adoption of the historic Panmunjeom Declaration, such as the close dialogue and communication between the authorities of the two sides, civilian exchanges and cooperation in many areas, and epochal measures to defuse military tension.

The two leaders reaffirmed the principle of independence and self-determination of the Korean nation, and agreed to consistently and continuously develop inter-Korean relations for national reconciliation and cooperation, and firm peace and co-prosperity, and to make efforts to realize through policy measures the aspiration and hope of all Koreans that the current developments in inter-Korean relations will lead to reunification.

The two leaders held frank and in-depth discussions on various issues and practical steps to advance inter-Korean relations to a new and higher dimension by thoroughly implementing the Panmunjeom Declaration, shared the view that the Pyongyang Summit will be an important historic milestone, and declared as follows.

1. The two sides agreed to expand the cessation of military hostility in regions of confrontation such as the DMZ into the substantial removal of the danger of war across the entire Korean Peninsula and a fundamental resolution of the hostile relations.

① The two sides agreed to adopt the "Agreement on the Implementation of the Historic Panmunjeom Declaration in the Military Domain" as an annex to the Pyongyang Declaration, and to thoroughly abide by and faithfully implement it, and to actively take practical measures to transform the Korean Peninsula into a land of permanent peace.

② The two sides agreed to engage in constant communication and close consultations to review the implementation of the Agreement and prevent accidental military clashes by promptly activating the Inter-Korean Joint Military Committee.

2. The two sides agreed to pursue substantial measures to further advance exchanges and cooperation based on the spirit of mutual benefit and shared prosperity, and to develop the nation's economy in a balanced manner.

① The two sides agreed to hold a ground-breaking ceremony within this year for the east-coast and west-coast rail and road connections.

② The two sides agreed, as conditions ripe, to first normalize the Gaeseong industrial complex and the Mt. Geumgang Tourism Project, and to discuss the issue of forming a west coast joint special economic zone and an east coast joint special tourism zone.

③ The two sides agreed to actively promote south-north environment cooperation so as to protect and restore the natural ecology, and as a first step to endeavor to achieve substantial results in the currently on-going forestry cooperation.

④ The two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in the areas of prevention of epidemics, public health and medical care, including emergency measures to prevent the entry and spread of contagious diseases.

3. The two sides agreed to strengthen humanitarian cooperation to fundamentally resolve the issue of separated families.

① The two sides agreed to open a permanent facility for family reunion meetings in the Mt. Geumgang area at an early date, and to promptly restore the facility toward this end.

② The two sides agreed to resolve the issue of video meetings and exchange of video messages among the separated families as a matter of priority through the inter-Korean Red Cross talks.

4. The two sides agreed to actively promote exchanges and cooperation in various fields so as to enhance the atmosphere of reconciliation and unity and to demonstrate the spirit of the Korean nation both internally and externally.

① The two sides agreed to further promote cultural and artistic exchanges, and to first conduct a performance of the Pyongyang Art Troupe in Seoul in October this year.

② The two sides agreed to actively participate together in the 2020 Summer Olympic Games and other international games, and to cooperate in bidding for the joint hosting of the 2032 Summer Olympic Games.

③ The two sides agreed to hold meaningful events to celebrate the 11th anniversary of the October 4 Declaration, to jointly commemorate the 100th anniversary of the March First Independence Movement Day, and to hold working-level consultations toward this end.

5. The two sides shared the view that the Korean Peninsula must be turned into a land of peace free from nuclear weapons and nuclear threats, and that substantial progress toward this end must be made in a prompt manner.

① First, the North will permanently dismantle the Dongchang-ri missile engine test site and launch platform under the observation of experts from relevant countries.

② The North expressed its willingness to continue to take additional measures, such as the permanent dismantlement of the nuclear facilities in Yeongbyeon, as the United States takes corresponding measures in accordance with the spirit of the June 12 US-DPRK Joint Statement.

③ The two sides agreed to cooperate closely in the process of pursuing complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

6. Chairman Kim Jong-un agreed to visit Seoul at an early date at the invitation of President Moon Jae-in.

Korean Americans Call for Genuine Peace Ahead of Kim-Trump Summit

NEWS RLEASE

Ahead of the much-anticipated U.S.-North Korea summit scheduled to take place on June 12, Korean Americans are speaking out for an end to “seven decades of hostile relations” between the two countries and a “new era of peace.”

Joined by civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr. and renowned social critic Noam Chomsky, 153 organizations across the United States and around the world released a joint statement today calling for a formal end to the Korean War and replacing the 1953 armistice with a permanent peace treaty to move towards establishing normal relations between the two countries.

HK Suh, Vice President of the National Association of Korean Americans, one of the forty-six Korean American organizations that initiated the joint statement, said, “Korean Americans want genuine peace on the Korean peninsula. The unresolved status of the Korean War has been at the root of the U.S.-North Korea conflict. It is our hope that when the leaders of the United States and North Korea meet in Singapore, they will pledge to sign a peace treaty and normalize relations.”

Christine Hong, of the Korea Policy Institute said, "North Korea has paved the way for this peace process to unfold, including by releasing three Korean Americans imprisoned for hostile acts in North Korea and dismantling its nuclear testing site in Punggye-ri. The time is ripe for Donald Trump to meet positive action with positive action, with the goal of creating a nuclear-free Korean peninsula and thereby setting a historic precedent for global disarmament."

Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr., who endorsed the joint statement, said, “We are on the brink of resolving a seven-decade old conflict that almost turned into a nuclear war. Leaders in Washington should put aside partisan interests in the historic interest of global peace and resolve to support a peace agreement that will lead to a unified Korea and normalized relations between the United States and North Korea.”

The full text of the “Statement of Unity by Korean Americans and Allies on the Historic Inter-Korean Summit and the Upcoming U.S.-North Korea Summit” and list of endorsers can be viewed here: http://www.zoominkorea.org/statement-of-unity-on-the-upcoming-u-s-north-korea-summit/

Fast Progress on Inter-Korean Thaw After the Summit

Fast progress on inter-Korean thaw after the summit:

1) Dismantling of provocative border propaganda speakers

2) Synchronizing time zone for the two sides of Korea -- benefitting upcoming inter-Korea exchanges and commerce

3) Working towards linking railway between the two sides, enabling future continous land trip from South Korea to Europe.

4) Talks of multiple unfied sports teams at the upcoming Asian Games

5) Talks of reviving inter-Korean liason/business office at the Kaesung industrial complex

6) Working to arrange reunion of separated families during the August 15 Libereation Day period

7) Upcoming high-level military talks to reduce military tension, including making the contested and volatile sea border area in the West Sea as "peace zone" for mutual fishing activities

And ---

-- Unprecedented 80% approval rating for President Moon after the summit

-- Extensive and transparent coverage of the summit in the North Korean state media

-- Big sigh of relief for Koreans, especially those living close to the border

Spring Thaw in the Korean Peninsula

Spring thaw brings a flurry of activities in the Korean Peninsula -- South Korean musicians and tae kwon do athletes performed in Pyongyang in good will cultural exchanges in the midst of renewed inter-Korean rapprochement, while Kim Jong-un chats with South Korea's K-Pop stars and explores further summit with Russia and Japan, all while the US-South Korea military exercises are taking place in and around South Korea. The third inter-Korean summit is taking place on April 27, followed by first-ever US-DPRK summit in May. Hope a lasting peace and security for all will come out of all these developments.

Renewing Thaw in the Korean Peninsula

Ten years have passed since the last thaw in inter-Korean relations, brought about by the "sunshine" policies. This photo shows a child in South Korea painting on a railroad track that intended to connect the two sides of Korea by rail, but that never materialized due to two successive conservative South Korean governments that put cold war on the thawing relations. Now, another opportunity has risen that gives renewed hope for a peaceful resolution in the Korean Peninsula.

The Two Sides of Korea March Again at the Olympics

The two Korean teams (South and North Korea) marched together side by side, under one symbolic flag (unifed Korea) at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in South Korea on February 9, 2018. The last time that the joint entry at the Olympics opening ceremony occurred was thirteen years ago, during the "sunshine policy" period of inter-Korean thaw and cooperation.

Moreover, North Korea seem to have swallowed its pride and is attending the games held in its arch-rival South Korea, together with unprecedented attendance of high-level government/party officials (including nominal head of state Kim Yong-nam and Kim Jong-un's sister Kim Yo-jong) -- perhaps suggesting its flexibility and willingness to resume negotiations for inter-Korean rapproachement. The question is, are Washington and Tokyo willing to seize this apt opportunity to pursue a path of negotiated peace settlement in the Korean Peninsula?

Marching Towards Peace In Korea

By Tim Shorrock in PoliticoMagazine 

On Sunday [May 24, 2015], Gloria Steinem, looking radiant but tired in a white dress traditionally worn by Korean women, walked into a room packed with reporters and photographers at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine building in Paju, South Korea, just a mile from the North Korean border.

Gathered around the American feminist icon were 30 women from 15 countries who had just accomplished what only two foreign groups had ever done before—cross the demilitarized zone dividing the communist North from the capitalist South. They were greeted in the south by hundreds of women and peace and unification activists from a country long divided by war and 60 years of tension.  Read more:

"Are Koreans the Irish of Asia? Here’s a Case"

[Recommended Reading: from The Wall Street Journal/Korea Realtime]

Eamonn McKee, the Irish ambassador to the Koreas, had heard the saying before he came to Seoul in 2009 – that Koreans are the Irish of Asia – but only after getting here did he begin to think it might be true.


“I think it might have been originally coined by an English woman to insult both of us,” Mr. McKee said. “You know, that we’re both emotional and entertaining and unruly and et cetera. We now both wear it as a badge of pride.”

Some people may also see that as a bit of code for a love for beer in both countries and the ease that both Koreans and Irish have finding a reason to drink it.


Mr. McKee is in the news this week because, after more than a year of ground work, a delegation of leaders in the joint government of the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland is in Seoul to share lessons from a peace process that took more than two decades. READ MORE

New Film Highlights Korea's Divided/Separated Families

This new documentary film (Divided Families), directed and produced by two Korean-American university students (Jason Ahn, Eugene Chung), screened at the U.S. Senate building on Oct. 4, 2011. It is a moving film that highlights the pains of separated families due to the Korean War and the prolonged division, focusing on separated Korean-American family members in their attempts to reunite with their loved ones in North Korea. The filmmakers are not professional filmmakers, but they made the film in their desire to spread the word around about this critical and not well-known issue. The audience was full of young Korean Americans -- indicating strong interests and activism on this issue from the second-generation Korean Americans. Hopefully, this issue will get more attention and resolution, vis-a-vis a peaceful settlement in the Korean Peninsula.

Korean Student Wins "Internet for Peace" Contest: Message for Peace Spreads Around the World|

The power and potential of the Internet as a messenger of peace is evident -- this winning video now has 517,647 views (as of Oct. 1, 2010). To conceive such a project from seeing a soccer match confirms the passion, aspiration, and yearning for Korean reconciliation, reunification and peace amongst all Koreans. The young generation has elevated this sentiment to a new level by utilizing new media and social networking tools over the Internet by conveying the message of peace around the world.

Crossing the Border in the DMZ

Rev. Han Sang-ryol (top photo) crosses the Demarcation Line separating the two sides of Korea into South Korea after visiting North Korea with a message of peace, reconciliation and hope for reunification. Until few years ago, this act would not have caused a stir in South Korea, used to an upsurge of inter-Korea exchanges that brought steady border crossings, trade and joint ventures during a decade of inter-Korean rapproachement, brought on by former president Kim Dae-jung's "Sunshine policy" and followed on by former president Roh Moo-hyun -- who himself crossed the boarder on foot similarly to North Korea on an official visit.

But now, with the conservative Lee Myung-bak government in place, the border has been closed off and the clock has been turned back to the old days of open confrontation and hostilities between the two sides of Korea, and Rev. Han is likely to be prosecuted with the archaic National Security Law that outlaws unauthorized contacts with North Korea or activities "supporting" North Korea.

Rev. Han's action is reminiscent of similar feat by college student Im Soo-kyung (bottom photo) in 1989, whose unprecedented and courageous action inspired Koreans towards inter-Korea reconciliation. Im spent five years in prison for crossing the border (in violation of the National Security Law), along with Father Moon Kyu-hyun, who accompanied her on the crossing in support.

American Youth Calls for "Peace Forest" in the DMZ

Jonathan Lee, a 13-year old American youth living in Mississippi, is a young environmental activist who has initiated his own youth environmental movement (meeting with world's leaders in the process). He is also proposing a "peace forest" for children of both sides of Korea in the Korean DMZ, and visited both South and North Korea with his proposal. He surprised his parents by proposing a trip to North Korea. He was inspired on the Korean reconciliation idea while meeting with former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung when he was 10 years old (photo above). Perhaps the world needs more young activist-citizen diplomat like him to resolve contentious issues.

DMZ to DC 2010: Calling for Permanent Peace in Korea

Video highlighting activities by the National Campaign to End the Korean War in Washington, DC during the anniversary of the Korean War Armistice Day on July 27th.

Inter-Korea Travel Ends

As further indication of souring relations between South and North Korea, inter-Korea travel symbolically ended as North Korea froze assets of South Korean enterprises in the resort area at the Mount Kumgang, which attracted nearly two million South Korean tourists when inter-Korea relations were more amicable during the previous liberal governments of Kim Dae Jung and Roh Moo Hyun (the above photo shows past reunion of separated families at Mt. Kumgang).

Beyond inter-Korea travel, nearly all avenues of official communication between the two sides of Korea are now closed -- a dangerous throwback to mutual suspicians and animosities that will not help resolve the standoff in the Korean Peninsula. Both sides should find ways to resume dialog aimed at repairing relations.

World Church Leaders Reaffirm Support of Korean Reunification

Korean Christians in south and north Korea have been early pioneers in civilian, inter-Korea reconciliation efforts as they made initial contacts that paved a way for comprehensive interactions between Koreans separated by division, war memories, ideological confrontations, and geopolitics. Their meetings, held initally in third countries in Europe, Japan and North America, led to the reaffirmation of the desire of Koreans towards reconciliation and reunification.

International ecumenical organizations such as the World Council of Churches (WCC) have been supportive of these efforts. The WCC and the Christian Conference of Asia hosted the "International Consultation on the Peace, Reconciliation and Reunification on the Korean Peninsula," October 21-23, 2009 in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong (see above photo). At the Tsuen Wan Consultation, 135 people attended from churches and ecumenical bodies all over the world including church representatives from both North and South Korea, and proclaimed the Tsuen Wan Communique.