Korea Peace Advocacy

Jennie Telfer
Written By Jennie Telfer

by Jennie Telfer

Jennie is a Peace Catalyst Mobilizer and Conflict Transformation Trainer in South Korea. In solidarity with Koreans and Korean organizations, she provides peace education, advocates to end the Korean War, and mobilizes people for peacebuilding.

The Korean people have a 5,000 year history, marked by a grievous period of Japanese colonization from 1910-1945. In 1919, the Korean people started the struggle for independence from Japan and began preparing for self-rule. To their dismay, liberation from Japan in 1945 did not mean sovereignty for the Korean people, but instead division of the Korean homeland and military occupation by foreign powers. At the end of World War II, the United States and the USSR split the Korean peninsula in half – drawing an arbitrary line across the 38th parallel without even consulting Korean people. The next tumultuous years were marked by land reforms, political power plays, troops from both sides regularly skirmishing across the 38th parallel, human migration, and over 100,000 people extra-judicially killed over ideology in South Korea. Both leaders in South and North sought foreign military aid to forcibly reunite Korea, leading to the outbreak of war on June 25th, 1950.

Three years of brutal warfare decimated the peninsula-especially the North, where a massive US bombing campaign destroyed every city and exterminated 800,000 civilian lives. The violence failed to reunite Korea, and the 1953 armistice did not end the war; it instead created a militarized division line. The armed truce left wartime rights to use force in place, US military supremacy in South Korea (the US military still has operational control of the South’s military in wartime), and constant fear of renewed violence. These realities have been used to justify military governments, harsh wartime laws, and increasing militarization in both North and South. Therefore, the current nuclear tensions and human rights concerns in Korea are a symptom of the unended Korean war, not the cause. The legal structure of the armistice is such that a peace agreement cannot be negotiated between North and South Korea independent of the United States’ participation (fact sheets). Therefore, we must cultivate political will among American leaders to end this “forgotten war.” It is long past time for the Korean people to have the peace and sovereignty they need to determine their own future.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION TO CALL FOR PEACE IN KOREA AND LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HISTORY AND ONGOING IMPACTS OF THE KOREAN WAR THROUGH THE LINKS BELOW:

 

CALL FOR PEACE

TAKE ACTION

  • Write an op-ed about the need to end the Korean War
    (Submit near a significant date/a good news hook)

  • Repent for US’ Sins in the Korean War
    (prayer for use at vigils or house of worship)

  • Host a Documentary Screening
    (email Jennie at jennie.telfer@peacecatalyst.org to discuss films, audience, and logistics)

  • Join the Korea Peace Study Group (email Jennie at jennie.telfer@peacecatalyst.org for more information)

 

FACT SHEETS FOR ADVOCACY & IMPACTS OF THE UNENDED WAR

REPORTS ON IMPACTS OF THE UNENDED WAR

BOOKS

DOCUMENTARIES

FILMS

  • Ode To My Father, popular film depicting the experiences and emotions of one Korean man from the 1950s to the new millenium

  • Jiseul, on the Jeju Massacre by US military order before the war
    (Although the South Korean government has acknowledged this dark history, the US Government has never apologized for this.)

ACADEMIC LECTURES


This blog was originally posted at https://seedswillgrow.com/2024/07/27/korea-peace-advocacy-%E2%9C%8C%EF%B8%8F/

Jennie Telfer

Born in the USA but raised in Europe and Africa, Jennie’s professional career has taken her around the world providing social services and advocating for populations impacted by trauma, injustice, and war. In solidarity with Koreans and Korean organizations, she provides peace education, advocates to end the Korean War, and mobilizes people for peacebuilding.

https://www.peacecatalyst.org/jennietelfer
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