AMERICAN LEFT HISTORY

This space is dedicated to the proposition that we need to know the history of the struggles on the left and of earlier progressive movements here and world-wide. If we can learn from the mistakes made in the past (as well as what went right) we can move forward in the future to create a more just and equitable society. We will be reviewing books, CDs, and movies we believe everyone needs to read, hear and look at as well as making commentary from time to time. Greg Green, site manager

Thursday, February 28, 2019

After 69 years, it’s time to end the Korean war Massachusetts Peace Action

Massachusetts Peace Action Cole Harrison<info@masspeaceaction.org>

1:09 PM

To Al Johnson

Dear Al,

We are disappointed but not disheartened by the failure of the summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un to reach an agreement. Early indications are that the U.S. moved the goal posts at the insistence of National Security Advisor John Bolton.

Please call on Congress to support diplomacy in Korea!

Even without an agreement at the summit, diplomacy has already done far more to advance the security of the U.S. and the Koreas than economic coercion and threats of military force ever have. It is now more essential than ever for diplomacy to intensify and for working meetings to develop a roadmap of reciprocal steps which would result in a peace treaty to end the Korean war, elimination of sanctions on North Korea, intensified family reunifications, civil society and economic contacts, and denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. It is critical that the Administration not return to the threats and "fire and fury" pronouncements of 2017.

On the positive side, pro-peace Congressional representatives have introduced a new bill supporting diplomacy and calling for a peace agreement to finally end the Korean War. The resolution urges the Trump Administration to provide a clear roadmap to achieve a final peace settlement, and also highlights the importance of reciprocal actions and confidence building-measures between the two sides.

The Korean War was never officially ended through a peace agreement. Direct conflict ended with the signing of an Armistice Agreement in 1953, but North Korea, South Korea, and the U.S. have still officially been at war since 1950, and heavily armed forces confront each other across the DMZ, threatening the lives of 80 million Koreans and those in neighboring counties.

This critical new resolution, H.Res.152, calls for the conclusion of a binding peace agreement constituting a formal end to the state of war between our nations, and calls for urgent diplomatic engagement toward this effort.

Please, take a moment now to urge your representative to support and cosponsor this important resolution.

Massachusetts Peace Action has joined with Korean-Americans and other peace advocates in Massachusetts to form the Massachusetts Korea Peace Campaign. The MAKPC delivered letters with over 200 signatures to Massachusetts members of Congress last week, advocating a permanent peace treaty and other measures to relax tensions. Read the letter and sign it if you haven’t already.