International Women's Peace
Symposium
PROGRAM
Registration and Welcoming (09:30-10:00)
Opening (10:00-11:50)
Moderator: Ahn Kim, JeongAe (Representative of Women Making Peace)
10:00-10:20
Opening Ceremony
Opening Declaration
(Co-representatives of 2015 WCD South Korea Committee)
Opening Speech
Lee, Yeon-Sook (Co-Representative of 2015 WCD South
Korea Committee)
10:20-10:50
Congratulatory Speech
Park, Won-Soon (Seoul City Mayor)
Welcoming Remarks
1. Lee Lee, Hyo-Jae (Feminist Scholar)
2. Yoo, Seung-hee (Chairperson of the Gender Equality
and Family Committee of the National Assembly of
Korea)
3. Lee, Sook-Jin (President of Seoul Foundation of
Women and Family)
Keynote Speeches
1. Why I am Walking (Gloria Steinem, WCD Honorary
Co-Chair)
10:50-11:50 2. Between and Beyond: The Past, Present, and Future of
Women’s Movements for Peace and Reunification (Lee
Kim, Hyun-Sook, Standing Representative of Women's
Forum for Peace and Diplomacy)
Lunch Break (11:50-13:30)
1 Session (13:30-14:50)
Moderator: Kim, Jeong-Soo
(President of Korea Women and Peace Research Institute)
Presentation 1 Maired Maguire
13:30-14:30
(Northern Ireland, Nobel Peace Laureate)
Presentation 2 Leymah Gbowee
(Liberia, Nobel Peace Laureate)
Presentation 3 Jodie Evans
14:30-14:50
(Cofounder of CODEPINK)
Q&A
Break (14:50-15:00)
2 Session (15:00-16:40)
Moderator: Kim, El-Lee
(Professor of Ewha Institute for Leadership Development)
Presentation 1 Liza Maza
(Chair Emerita, GABRIELA Women's Alliance, Philippines)
Presentation 2 Suzuyo Takazato
(Co-Chair Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence,
Japan)
15:00-16:20
Presentation 3 Patricia Guerrero
(Founder and Director of Liga de Mujeres Desplazadas,
Columbia)
Short Film Screening
Women with Separate Families by the Korean War/
Women from Military Camp Town
Presentation 4 Kim, Sook-Ja
16:20-16:40
(Sunlight Sister's Center)
Q&A
Closing (16:40-17:00)
Moderator: Lee, Jin-Ock
(President of Korea Women's Political Solidarity)
16:40-16:50
Closing Ceremony
16:50-17:00
2015 Declaration of International Women's Grand March
for Reunification & Peace of Korea
CONTENTS
Opening
Opening Speech
Congratulatory Speech
Welcoming Remarks
87
89
91
Keynote Speech
1. Gloria Steinem
2. Lee Kim, Hyun-Sook
97
99
Session 1
Presentation 1 Maired Maguire (Northern Ireland)
Presentation 2 Leymah Gbowee (Liberia)
Presentation 3 Jodie Evans (USA, CODEPINK)
123
126
128
Session 2
Presentation
Presentation
Presentation
Presentation
1
2
3
4
Liza Maza (Philippines)
Suzuyo Takazato (Japan)
Patricia Guerrero (Colombia)
Kim, Sook-Ja (Korea)
135
138
145
157
Closing
2015 Declaration of International Women's Grand March for
163
Reunification & Peace of Korea
Index
Brief Summary of 2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
Introduction of Saek-Dong Artwork
167
177
Opening
Opening Ceremony
1) Opening Speech
2) Congratulatory
Speech
3) Welcoming Remarks
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
Opening Ceremony
Opening Speech
Lee, Yeon-Sook
(Co-Representative of 2015 WCD South Korea Committee)
Reunification and Peace with Women Power!
On Febuary 24th 2014, I've visited the Mountain Keumgang in North Korea
60 years after the Korean War to meet my elder sister who was supposedly
living in Pyeongyang. Her teenage appearance was nowhere to be found, but
an 80 year-old sister, who resembled my late mother, was sitting before
me covered in tears.
Through the event of reuniting dispersed families, we joined together for a
while but soon were separated again with pains and without promises.
Many, who longs for the reunification, are mostly in their 80’s by now.
Those, whose families were separated by the Korean War, desperately are
hoping to tread on their hometowns before their death. That is one of the
reasons why the reunification should be achieved at the earliest possible
date.
To maintain the world peace and to call for this reunification of Korea, the
worlds’ top leaders of women movement, including Gloria Steinem, the
Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Mairead Maguire and Leymah Gbowee have
begun their journeys towards peace. I thank and welcome them with all my
heart.
Here together are the women peace supporters from 12 countries which
have participated in the Korean War. Korean women activists also joined
with 1,945 people which consist of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd generations
affected by the national separation.
With this momentum created by the historic participation of the world
citizens calling for the end of 70 year division after the Yalta Conference,
we eagerly desire to replace the sorrow and regret-filled space with the
land of hope and peace. To that end, we are walking along the Peace-Nuri
Path.
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
The walk by WomenCrossDMZ today sends message of reconciliation and
peace to all the conflict areas in the world. Also it is a symbolic act of
making one step further toward the world peace.
Let us change this on-going armistice into the peace!
Let us replace the DMZ with the pilgrimage resort of the world peace!
Let us start it with the Women Cross DMZ!
We, women and citizen yearning for the world peace, are walking together
to achieve the peace and reunification of Korean peninsula.
The purpose of the 2015 Women Peace Walk Festival is to let people know
about our peace and reunification-yearning movement, to empower the
women's peace movement, and to deliver the deep sensation to the world
citizens. It is also the festival that everyone is joined together with
happiness.
Let us enjoy it to the utmost!
Opening Ceremony
Congratulatory Speech
Park, Won-Soon (Seoul City Mayor)
Hello everyone, it is a pleasure to be here with you today. My name is
Park, Won Soon, the Mayor of the City of Seoul. My most sincere
congratulations on the opening of the 2015 International Women's Peace
Symposium and especially to the international women peace activists, the
Korean women's organizations and the citizens who have gathered together
in this place for an in-depth discussion on Peace and Reunification of the
Korean Peninsula.
This is a very meaningful year as it marks the 70th Anniversary of Korea's
Independence as well as the division of Korea. In August 1945, the shouts
of joy that echoed throughout the mountains and valleys of Korea was cut
short as the peninsula was divided into two; beginning a long era of a cycle
of conflict and hostility, and threat and insecurity. Even now, minor and
major conflicts are erupting in a myriad of places around the world. The
basic foundations of livelihoods are destroyed and countless people are
suffering and dying.
The 70th Anniversary of a divided Korea is a time for the two Koreas to
find a new path towards reconciliation and cooperation. Therefore, I
sincerely hope that the 2015 International Women's Peace Symposium will
be that ray of hope, lighting the path towards a new future of peace and
reunification on the Korean Peninsula. Furthermore, I pray that hope echoes
beyond Korea, laying the foundation for creating peace in all parts of our
global community.
And I commit that the City of Seoul will accompany you on that journey.
The City of Seoul will continue to support and engage in various
North-South urban and economic cooperation, following the efforts such as
the Revitalization of Gyeongpyongchuk-gu, Seoul-Pyongyang Concert, Joint
History Research Center and Urban Development Cooperation, and Gaesong
Industrial Complex,
Today's Symposium on Peace and Reunification of the Korean Peninsula
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
brings together the hearts of numerous people who are longing for
reunification, becoming a catalyst that is opening a new path for
reconciliation and peace of North and South Koreas. Again, my most sincere
congratulations on the commencement of the 2015 International Women's
Peace Symposium and a heartfelt gratitude to all of you here. Thank you!
Opening Ceremony
Welcoming Remark 1
Lee Lee, Hyo-Jae (Feminist Scholar)
Dear leaders of the international women peace movement!
I welcome you all to the
wholeheartedness and pleasure.
divided
Korean
peninsula
with
my
Women from the South and North Korea who were longing for the peaceful
unification have met together since 1990 to discuss the 'peace and women's
role in Asian region,' by crossing the Demarcation Line with Japanese
women leaders .
However, the reality without the Peace Treaty endangers the world peace
as well as the peace in the Asian region.
Today with the women leaders from all around the world, we started this
great historical walk for the world peace by crossing the wall that’s dividing
the peninsula.
We, women share this very pleasure together and would like to express our
sincere gratitude.
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
Welcoming Remark 2
Yoo, Seung-Hee
(Chairperson of the Gender Equality and Family Committee of the National
Assembly of Korea)
Hello everyone! My name is Yoo, Seung-Hee, Chairperson of the Gender
Equality and Family Committee of the National Assembly of Korea as well
as a member of the Supreme Council of the New Politics Alliance for
Democracy (NPAD) Party.
First, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the participating
members of the civil society organizations of the 2015 Women Cross DMZ
Korea Committee and especially to Park, Won Soon, the Mayor of the City
of Seoul who has lent his utmost support in all aspects to enable this event.
I also extend my most sincere welcome and greetings to all who are
sharing their precious time to participate in today's symposium.
And last but not least, on behalf of the women of Korea, I bow my head in
greeting to the women peace activists from more than twelve countries
around the world, including Mairead Maguire and Liberia's Leymah Gbowee
as well as the symbol of the U.S. feminist movement Gloria Steinem, who
have pioneered the road to peace.
This year marks the 70th Anniversary of Korea's Independence as well as
the division of North and South Koreas. For 70 years since the end of
World War II, a victim of the Cold War system is right here, the one last
remaining divided country in the world. Since the ceasefire agreement which
temporarily halted the Korean War in 1953, the War has yet to be ended.
For our future generation and for world peace, situations of war and
division are issues that must be resolved.
Peace on the Korean Peninsula is crucial, not only for establishment of
peace in Southeast Asia, but also globally. Therefore, this is an extremely
serious and urgent task for all of us. That is why the 2015 Women Cross
DMZ event is so meaningful. Nobel Peace Laureates Mairead Maguire and
Liberia's Leymah Gbowee as well as the symbol of the U.S. feminist
movement Gloria Steinem along with women peace activists from twelve
Opening Ceremony
countries choosing to peacefully walk across the symbol of war, the DMZ,
on this day that observes the International Women's Day for Peace and
Disarmament is significant because it will serve as a great contribution in
the pursuit of North and South reconciliation and establishment of peace on
the Korean Peninsula.
It would not be a stretch to believe that this peace walk across the Korean
Peninsula could be the catalyst that re-opens the gates of South-North
exchange and cooperation as well as reaffirming the commitment to uphold
and implement the June 15th and October 14th, South-North Joint
Declarations which were agreements undertaken by North and South Koreas
to pave the way for reconciliation. That is why I held a 2015 Women Cross
DMZ commemorative symposium at the National Assembly on May 20th.
Albert Einstein stated, "Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be
achieved by understanding." I hope the will to pursue a Korean Peninsula of
peace and reconciliation will be harnessed together through the 2015
Women Cross DMZ event held yesterday as well as through the Symposium
today.
Peace on the Korean Peninsula made by strength of women! Global peace
made by the strength of solidarity! I declare the women of Korea will lead
the way in the protection of peace and valuing life. I, too, as the
Chairperson of the Gender Equality and Family Committee as well as a
member of the Supreme Council of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy
(NPAD) Party, will accompany you on that path.
Thank you.
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
Welcoming Remark 3
Lee, Sook-Jin (President of Seoul Foundation of Women and Family)
To all the participants of the "International Women's Peace Symposium",
welcome!
It is an honor to hold the "International Women's Peace Symposium",
together with global women leaders including Gloria Steinem and Nobel
Peace Laureates Mairead Corrigan Maguire and Leymah Roberta Gbowee.
International women's peace activists have come together to the Korean
Peninsula today to discuss ways to finally end the conflict on the Korean
Peninsula as well as the DMZ (De-Militarized Zone) which symbolizes the
division of the Korean Peninsula.
The Korean Peninsula is the only country in the world still divided today.
The conflict and tension that arises from this division cannot but directly
and indirectly effect women's lives. For example, due to increased spending
for national defense, funding for social welfare gets cut which negatively
impacts efforts to expand social programs targeted at improving the quality
of life for women. And should a war possibly erupt, the basic foundation of
women's livelihoods will be shattered, exposing women to become victims of
a myriad of human right violations such as sexual violence and human
trafficking.
On October 31, 2000, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution
1325 on "Women, Peace and Security" which mandates a greater than 30%
female participation in all negotiations and implementation of peace
agreements as well adopting a gender perspective in all conflict resolution
and peace-building processes. Again, UN Security Council Resolution 1325
signifies that increased women's participation and leadership roles in the
Ministries of Reunification, Foreign Affairs and National Defense is needed
to achieve resolution of conflicts.
I hope today's symposium, through the participation and actions of the
women yearning for peace here, will be the starting point of realizing peace
not only on the Korean Peninsula, but all over the world.
Pre-session
Keynote Address
1) Gloria Steinem
2) Lee Kim, Hyun-Sook
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
Keynote Speeches
Keynote Address 1
Why I Am Walking
Gloria Steinem
(WCD Honorary Co-Chair)
Each of us on this Peace Walk has different memories of the Korean War
and the separation of people by this strip of land called the DMZ, depending
on our age and place in the world.
As the oldest woman on this Peace Walk, I have childhood memories of
World War II, and high school memories of one of my classmates who was
about to be drafted into the Korean War. His father, who had fought in
WWII, had experienced things so terrible that he killed his son and then
killed himself rather than see his son go to war. I couldn’t forget that. I
remember trying to plan where my mother and I could go to be safe, should
the Korean War spread into World War III, and submarines again lie off the
coast of the United States, as German boats had done.
I was thousands of miles away. I suffered nothing compared to those of you
within combatant countries, but I say this to remind us that war and division
anywhere affects people everywhere. And it goes long into the future. The
Native Americans, the first people of the continent I live on, say that it
takes four generations to heal one act of violence.
I wanted to come on
years ago, I stood on
railroad station that is
there made me realize
the buildings.
this Peace Walk, to bring my small support. Four
the South Korean side of the DMZ, in a brand new
a symbol of hope, but is empty and unused. Standing
the closeness of the other side; so close, I could see
My country, too, was once divided by a Civil War that separated families
and created a dead zone in the middle of our country. If that had remained,
I would hope that people from here would come to help us. We have only
to look at photographs of Earth from space to understand that we are all
passengers on a fragile space ship.
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
I believe it’s especially crucial that women help initiate and pursue peace
efforts. For cultural reasons and a gender division that is also artificial, we
don’t have “masculinity” to prove, and so it’s sometimes easier for us to
make connections. In Ireland, it was the women who crossed the boundaries
of religion and region to end violence. In my childhood, those divisions
seemed hopeless, yet now Ireland is a peaceful country. Women also
crossed lines of religions to unite against warlords in Liberia and bring
about a peaceful election there.
Now we also know from massive studies of modern nations that the biggest
indicator of whether a country is violent within itself, or is willing to use
military violence against another country, is not poverty, or access to
natural resources, or religion, or even degree of democracy; it’s violence
against females. It normalizes all other dominance and violence because it’s
what we see first, perhaps even inside the family. It causes us to think the
domination of one group by another is natural and inevitable. We are linked.
The Women’s Peace Walk across the DMZ is a symbol of the possibility of
unification, not only for North and South Korea, but also of peace between
women and men, between religions, between economic classes.
The end does not justify the means; the means we choose dictate the ends
we get. If we each behave as if everything we do matters – and use our
own words and deeds to reflect the peace and respect we wish for
ourselves – then together, we will thrive on this fragile Space Ship Earth
that we love so much.
Keynote Speeches
Keynote Address 2
Between and Beyond:
The Past, Present, and Future of Women’s Movements for
Peace and Reunification
Lee Kim, Hyun-Sook
(Standing Representative, Women's Forum for
Peace and Diplomacy)
1. Female victims
There are many names referring to a certain group of women in Korea:
gongnyeo (women who were sacrificed as offerings), hwanhyangnyeo
(women who left hometown as offerings and returned home), jeonjaeng
mimangin (war widows), ilbongun wianbu (Japanese military comfort women),
Jeongsindae (women who worked to raise Japanese soldiers' morale by
providing sexual service), yanggongju (Western princesses), UN madam
(hostesses), yunrak yeoseong (prostitutes), gisaeng (geisha) for tourism,
gijichon yeoseong (prostitutes in US military base camp towns). These all
have to do with female victims of war or sexual assault, and the common
names show that the Korean peninsula has historically been a region
affected by extreme war-time sexual crimes. They are also vivid evidence
showing that the nation failed to prevent and resolve conflicts and protect
its people.
Surrounded by powerful nations, the Korean peninsula has suffered from
numerous invasions and wars historically. In particular, South and North
Korean people have been seriously damaged, undergoing the Japanese
occupation of Korea (1910 ~ 1945), the Pacific War (1941 ~ 1945), the
military occupation by the United States and the Soviet Union (1945), the
subsequent Korean War (1950 ~ 1953), the truce, and the national division
which has lasted for 70 years. These historical events also have had
devastating effects on Korean society, and it is difficult to measure the
degree of damage caused: the suffering of victims of colonial occupation
and the Pacific War is not ended; there is a consistent threat of war and
security risk; North Korea tries to arm itself with nuclear weapons; many
people are sacrificed during intermittent armed conflicts; the Cold War
system structurally took root; an enormous amount of money is spent for
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
national defense while little goes to support welfare; military culture
prevails; chronic ideological conflicts and social division exist; separated
families still suffer; people have been injured or killed by landmines; US
forces commit sexual crimes; woman refugees from North Korea continue to
queue to escape from their country even though they are prone to fall
victim to sexual assaults; and so forth. Women and the weak in society had
to live as voiceless victims for a long time, being swept away by wind and
waves of history.
Korean women's movements for peace were conceived and grew in this
tragic history. First of all, Korean women stood up to protect the nation and
its people and achieve independence during the Japanese occupation. They
also stood up to overcome the reality that they were disadvantaged during
the occupation. Furthermore, they challenged existing rules and structures
and systems dreaming of a new society where women's human rights are
protected and safe life is guaranteed.
2. Intervention of women
Korean women intervened historic events and enhanced their power in
different manners going through 1) the period of national defeat, 2) the
period of national reconstruction after the Korean war, 3) the period of
military dictatorship and industrialization in the 1970s, and 4) the period of
democratization in the 1980s. Women's movements developed with women
conducting independence movements against colonial Japan during the period
of national defeat; supporting female war victims to stand on their own feet
and rehabilitate during the period of national reconstruction; joining
democratization movements during the period of military dictatorship; and
carrying out movements for women's human rights and unification after
democratization. However, it was after the 1970s when Korean women's
peace movement took more autonomous, goal-oriented, and feminist
approaches. We will have a look at major categories of Korean women's
intervention in two sections: peace movement and reunification movement.
Peace movement
Korean women became aware of social and historical issues and human
rights, having witnessed the April Revolution (1960), the May 16 coup
(1961), and industrialization and movements for democracy under military
dictatorship. They pioneered more autonomous peace movements from the
Keynote Speeches
perspective of gender issues, having become aware of women's human
rights around the year 1975 when International Women's Day was
proclaimed. While women's peace movements unfolded in various ways, we
will have a look at them in four major categories.
▶ The first category consists of women's activities in the 1970s to address
such issues as gisaeng tourism, surviving female victims of nuclear bombing,
Japanese military comfort women, etc. These issues all have something to
do with Japan's colonial rule and the current Korea-Japan relations. A
number of Japanese tourists visited South Korea to see gisaeng in the
1970s, after diplomatic relations between South Korea and Japan were
restored in 1965, and the way they entertained themselves with gisaeng
gave hard time to Korean women in general. Korean women disclosed that
gisaeng serving the Japanese tourists could be compared to modern
jeongsindae, and waged a campaign against the so-called gisaeng tourism in
spite of the military government's persecution. At the same time, the
restored diplomacy between the two countries made Christian women of
South Korea and Japan have closer relationship, and they closely cooperated
to set two issues as challenges requiring joint efforts - one was of Korean
woman victims who were drafted to Japan during the Japanese colonial
occupation and returned to Korea as victims of nuclear bombings in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki; the other was of Japanese military comfort women.
They also took organized actions to resolve these issues. In the 1980s they
developed their activities to support victims of nuclear bombing into
anti-war and anti-nuclear, and peace movements. In the 1990s, Korean
women organized the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military
Sexual Slavery by Japan (Jeongdaehyeop). After obtaining the first
testimony, in 1991, from a victim Kim Hak-soon who was enslaved as a
comfort woman, they started to address this issue in earnest. Joining
international events such as the Asian Women's Solidarity Forum in 1992,
the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993, and Tokyo
Tribunal in 2000 contributed to categorizing the issue of Japanese military
comfort women as war-time sexual assault and crimes against humanity. As
a result of these efforts, this issue was brought up as a diplomatic agenda
between Korea and Japan calling for the Japanese government to admit
mobilizing comfort women, and compensate them; make an apology on
invading and colonizing Korea; punish war criminals; and educate Japanese
people not to repeat their past. It also helped to include 'Women and Armed
Conflict' as one of the 12 agendas at the Fourth World Conference on
Women, Beijing in 1995. Korean women's peace movement to tackle the
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
issue of Japanese military comfort women has achieved a dazzling success
thanks to forming solidarity with women around the world.
▶ Another category of Korean women's activities is the movement to
address the issue of women in military base camp towns, which was started
in the1980s. After the Korean war, the US forces started to be stationed in
South Korea, and they formed military base camp towns in major regions,
where their lifestyle became widespread and red districts for prostitution
were formed. The issue of women in these regions and children of mixed
bloods (Amerasians) were brought up. Human rights of these people had
been ignored and they had been neglected for a long time. It was not until
the mid 1980s, women (women from churches) started to pay attention to
these people. At first, their main activity was focused on helping these
women to stand on their own feet, but in the 1990s it developed into
movements to support woman victims of crimes committed by US soldiers
and advocate the human rights of military base camp town women. In 1997
one of these women named Yoon Geum-ee was murdered by American
soldiers and this led women's activities to address other related issues and
made them conduct campaigns to eradicate American forces crimes in South
Korea and amend unequal South Korea-US Status of Forces Agreement
(SOFA). Korean women started to make an issue of unequal relationship
between South Korea and the US. They pointed out that American forces'
arrogant attitude as occupying forces, military culture encouraging violence,
South Korean government's toadyism, and so forth were the cause for
American forces crimes. In 2000, when the South Korean government and
the US government started to negotiate to amend SOFA, Korean women
asked for entire revision of SOFA and submitted to the National Assembly a
petition listing 8 clauses to be legislated in case of amendment of SOFA for
protection of women's human rights. That year SOFA was only partially
amended, but this served as an opportunity to raise awareness of the
problem of SOFA and for people to recognize the issue of military base
camp town women as a human right issue. In 2002, two middle school girls
were killed by an armored vehicle of the US forces, and this made the
issue of SOFA attract attention from across the nation and a national
consensus was reached that South Korea-US relations should be more
equal.
The movement for military base camp town women was developed and
expanded through international solidarity. From 1997 woman activists in
countries where the US forces were stationed and women in the US held
Keynote Speeches
'the East Asia-US women's summit against militarism' and built a network
for solidarity. They criticized militarism from the feminist perspective and
exchanged information on such issues as infringement on children's human
rights and rights to have clean environment, caused by US military base
camps and military operation, and discussed measures to resolve these
issues. In 2000, military base camp town women's organizations (such as
Durebang, Saeumteo, Hansorihoe, etc.) founded ‘SAFE (women’s network for
anti-militarism)’ and sought for activities they can do with support from
international networks.
▶ The third category consists of anti-war, anti-nuclear, and disarmament
movements.
Women's activities to support woman victims of nuclear
bombing in the 1970s were developed into anti-war and anti-nuclear
movements in the 1990s. Korean women studied the danger of nuclear
energy and started movements against nuclear power plant construction. At
the same time, they waged campaigns to reduce defense cost, call for
disarmament for peace, and campaigns against Japan's armament around
'May 24 International Women’s Day for Peace and Disarmament' following
international trends formed from the Cold War system dismantled and
nuclear disarmament by the US and Soviet Union. And, as citizens who
experienced the war and were living with scars from the war, women
participated in anti-war movements when wars broke out around the world
and tensions between the two Koreas were intensified. According to feminist
viewpoints, they were against resolving issues through violence such as war
and terrorism and demanded peaceful means such as dialogue and
negotiation. The Hague Appeal for Peace in 1999 vitalized Korean women's
movements for peace.
▶ The fourth category was women's activities to form international
solidarity.
Colonialism, war, and national division, which victimized women, resulted
from artifacts of international politics such as imperialism and the Cold War
system after the Second World War. Accordingly, women's movements for
peace to break down and change current systems sought for international
solidarity and cooperation. When resolving issues related to Japan, Korean
women joined hands with Japanese women and women from victims'
countries and other related countries. When resolving issues related to the
US, they cooperated with American women and women from victims'
countries and other related countries. And when the issue was about
challenges facing the entire humanity such as anti-war and anti-nuclear
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
issues, they cooperated with international NGOs. As time went by, Korean
women sought for cooperation with other groups of women internationally
including religious groups, political groups, pacifist groups and the United
Nations and international organizations, to find ways to solve problems more
actively. International cooperation has been increasing and brought Korean
women's issues to international attention and, the other way around, Korean
women became more aware of international women's issues. That is,
international cooperation globalized domestic women's peace agenda, and
localized international women's peace agenda. International events that have
had tremendous effects globally include: conferences held by the women's
committee of the South Korea-Japan Christian council which started from
the 1970s; the Asian Women's Solidarity Forum to resolve the issue of
jeongsindae which started in 1992; the Fourth World Conference on Women,
Beijing in 1995; 'The East Asia-US women's summit against militarism'
which started in 1997; The Hague Appeal for Peace in 1999; ASEM
People’s Forum 2000; the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on
Japan's Military Sexual Slavery 2000; and Global Partnership for Prevention
of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) which started in 2004.
Unification movement
Korean women's unification movement began when 'institutional' military
dictatorship which had lasted 27 years came to an end and 'institutional'
democracy was restored with the June Democratic Uprising its starting
point. After democratization, South Korea's unification movement began to
blossom as civil society was reinvigorated and the government announced
an appeasement policy toward North Korea. In July, 1988, the government
released a presidential declaration (the July 7 Declaration) saying that it will
'put an end to hostile relations with North Korea and normalize severed ties
with communist countries such as China and the Soviet Union'. In August,
1990, a series of legal measures such as the Inter-Korean Exchange and
Cooperation Act, the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund Act, and so forth were
introduced, and in 1991 the South and North adopted the historic
'South-North Basic Agreement'. In June, 2000, two Koreas finally held the
Inter-Korean Summit and Korean people saw a historic moment when the
June 15 South-North Joint Declaration was announced. Against these
political breakthroughs, Korean women pioneered a variety of unification
movements. Good examples include: doing inter-Korean women's exchange
activities, providing humanitarian support for North Korea, and holding
South-North joint events.
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▶ Inter-Korean women's exchange and cooperation
After the July 7 Declaration, people from every walk of life presented a
variety of proposals on inter-Korean exchange and cooperation. South
Korean women were busy submitting applications to contact North Korean
citizens to the Unification office (Tongilwon), and a total of 47 applications
were received from 1988 to 1999. The South Korean government approved
most of them, but North Korea approved only 15 of them to allow only 15
events to be held. Prominent activities include: holding the forum for 'Peace
in Asia and women's role' four times (1991 ~ 1993); a forum to discuss
Japan's after-war responsibility for which the Korean Council for the
Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery (Jeongdaeheyop) applied; and the
Asian Women's Solidarity Forum on comfort women accompanying military
four times (1993 ~ 1998). In addition, One nation choir (gyeore hana
hapchangdan) applied for and participated in One Korea Festival twice (1995
~ 1996) and women from both Koreas participated in academic exchange
events three times (1993 ~ 1996).
Inter-Korean exchange through the forum on 'Peace in Asia and women's
role'
'The forum on Peace in Asia and women's role', which was held four times
between 1991 and 1993, was a dramatic meeting where women from two
Koreas met for the first time in half a century after the Korean war. At
first, they met in Tokyo, and then met in Seoul for the second forum, and
in Pyongyang for the third, opening a new page in history as they crossed
the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) for the first time to visit Seoul and
Pyongyang. One thing to take note of was the fact that Japanese women's
behind-the-curtain mediation with North Korea was effective in making it
happen and that three countries, not just the South and North, got together
for the forum. Furthermore, women from the three countries - the South,
the North and Japan - joined efforts to discuss agendas on the reunification
of the South and the North and Japan's after-war liability, and a key issue
to be addressed to achieve peace in North-East Asia, and sought for
solutions for these issues. The forum whose topic was 'Peace in Asia and
women's role' was held with the above subtopics four times.
Time and
Topic for
discussion
Participants
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venue
'Peace in Asia and women's role'
-What can be
done, and should be done
now, not to repeat the humiliating past
the 1st forum,
(Jeong-ok Yoon from South Korea)
Tokyo
-What
(May 1991)
women
Japanese have done to Chosun
3 from the South
4 from the North
9 from Japan
(DakahashiKikue and Suzuki Yuko from
the 2nd forum,
Seoul
(November
1991)
the 3rd
forum,
Pyongyang
(September
1992)
Japan)
-Patriarchal culture and women (Hyung Cho
from South Korea)
-Unification and women (Myung-soon
Cheong from North Korea)
-Peace and women (Shimizu Sumiko from
300 from the South
15 from the North
8 from Japan
Japan)
-National unity and women's role
(Chun-geum Kang from North Korea)
30 from the South
-Japan's invasion of Chosun and after-war
200 from the North
compensation issues
25 from Japan
(Shimizu Sumiko from Japan)
17 from other
-Peace creation and women's role
countries
(Woo-jung Lee from South Korea)
Topic: Japan and South and North Korea,
seeking true reconciliation
-Japan's occupation, liability for the war,
and after-war compensation (focusing on
the issue of comfort women accompanying
the 4th forum,
military)
Tokyo
(Hyo-jae Lee from South Korea,
(April 1993)
Geum-choon Choi from North Korea, and
Shimizu Sumiko from Japan)
- What can we do to achieve peace in Asia
11 from the South
12 from the North
9 from Japan
approximately
1,000 from the
general public
and reunification of Chosun
(Seon-ok Hong from North Korea, Yoon-ok
Kim from South Korea)
As seen in the subtopics, holding the forum four times, women from the
three countries agreed that 1) achieving unification and 2) making the
Japanese government liable for its colonial occupation and the war and
compensate victims were prerequisites for achieving peace in Asia, and they
tried to come up with action plans for these goals. In the third forum, they
officially agreed to form solidarity to address the issue of comfort women.
In the fourth forum which was held in Tokyo, the women (or those called
halmoni (grandmothers) in Korean) from both Koreas who were enslaved as
Keynote Speeches
comfort women participated starting exchange and cooperation between
comfort women from the South and the North.
The forum held between three countries for the first time had to overcome
crises sometimes as participants expressed different views on historical
issues (such as the Korean War and patriarchy, etc.) and debate became so
heated that some participants returned to their home country during a
meeting (during the forum held in Seoul). The forum was held four times, in
spite of the South and North confrontation, facing numerous obstacles, but it
came to a halt as tensions escalated between the two Koreas (for example,
due to national controversies over sending a delegation to the late North
Korean leader Kim Il-seong's funeral in 1994, North Korea's aspiration to
develop nuclear weapons, and etc.). Since it was uncertain whether the
forum was to be held again, the executive committees of the three countries
changed their names and reorganized themselves, providing new platforms
for women's peace movements. The South Korean committee developed into
Women Making Peace in March, 1997, the North Korean committee Chosun
Women's association cooperating with Asian women in 1998, and the
Japanese committee Japanese women's liaison association cooperating with
Chosun women. After this, they got together again to hold the "Three party
talks to address the issue of comfort women in Beijing" in October, 1998.
Inter-Korean women's exchange and cooperation through the Asian Women's
Solidarity Forum and Women's International War Crimes Tribunal 2000
Women from the South and the North met each other through the Asian
Women's Solidarity Forum. Women from victims' countries established the
forum to jointly resolve the issue of Japanese military comfort women in
August, 1992 and these countries took turns to hold a forum. While North
Korea participated in the 8th forum held in Seoul in May, 2007 for the first
time, the forum served as an important window for inter-Korean exchange
and cooperation. Through this event South and North Korea announced joint
statements and publicized their joint efforts to fight on various issues. Like
this, the Asian Women's Solidarity Forum has been serving as an important
window for exchange and cooperation between women of the two Koreas.
Attending the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal 2000 took
women's inter-Korean exchange and cooperation a step further to the level
of taking actions together. It remains as an exemplary case where South
and North Korea worked together most closely to address the issue of
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comfort women. In the preparation stage, the two Koreas showed off their
solidarity by agreeing to jointly write an indictment, dividing roles to do so,
and announcing it together. After prosecuting the Japanese government for
the war-time sexual slavery, inspectors from the South and North agreed to
create policy councils and jointly cope with the issue to urge Japan to act
on court rulings. The two Korea's joint effort to deal with the issue of
comfort women provided an opportunity for the exchange and cooperation
between women from both Koreas to be developed into joint actions, helping
these women's efforts to come to fruition.
▶ Humanitarian assistance
Providing humanitarian support for North Korea has been one of the main
concerns of South Korean women. In mid 1990s, a massive natural disaster
occurred in North Korea and North Korean people faced serious food
shortages. While international organizations such as the UN and the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies were
providing humanitarian assistance for North Korea, South Korean
government turned its back on them and South Korean society showed
indifferent attitude, and there was no channel through which people could
provide direct support. However, as it was known that North Koreans
suffered from serious famine, some religious groups and civil organizations
in the South waged campaigns to help North Korea despite the South
Korean government's interference. Women belonging to Women Making
Peace and others noticed that victims most affected by the serious famine
were pregnant women and children, and waged campaigns titled "Share food,
share love" with pregnant women and children of North Korea, when Women
Making Peace was founded, breaking taboos related to North Korea. The
fund raised from the campaigns was 150 million won and they bought
powdered formula of 26 ton to donate them to North Korea's Democratic
women's alliance and North Korea's executive committee of the 'Forum on
Peace in Asia and women's role' in August, 1997. Other women's
organizations including YWCA Korea carried out activities such as campaigns
to send North Korean children powdered formula, inner wear, medicine,
mandarin oranges, and so forth. It was the first time that South Korea's
civic groups provided humanitarian assistance for North Korea and this
served as a chance for citizens of the two Koreas to build trust toward
each other. Furthermore, providing humanitarian support for North Korea
also laid political and psychological foundation for the Inter-Korean Summit,
2000 to be held. South Korean women have been doing a variety of
activities to provide humanitarian assistance for North Koreans whenever
Keynote Speeches
they suffer from disasters and economic recessions.
▶ The South-North joint event
The Kim Dae-jung administration (1998-2003) and its North Korea policy
for reconciliation and cooperation facilitated inter-Korean exchange and
cooperation enormously. Two Koreas organized councils in charge of
inter-Korean exchange and cooperation in the private sector respectively. In
the North, the Council for reconciliation and cooperation (Minhwahyeop) was
created. In the South, the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation
(Minhwahyeop) was created with extensive support from political parties,
conservative groups, liberal groups, civic groups and etc. The two
organizations acted as important windows for inter-Korea exchange and
cooperation. After the Inter-Korean Summit held on June 15, 2000, the
South and North held commemorative ceremonies for June 15 and August
15 (Independence Day) jointly and a variety of sub events were jointly held
in
Mt. Geumgang, Seoul, Pyongyang, Gaeseong, and etc. Vigorous
inter-Korean exchange and cooperation in the private sector could be
continued in the Rho Moo-hyun administration (2003-2007), too.
The 2002 Inter-Korean Women's forum for unification
Korean women started to actively participate in inter-Korean exchange and
cooperation through the Women's committee under Minhwahyeop from 2001.
To begin inter-Korean women's exchange and cooperation, women from the
South and North had to undergo extremely difficult negotiation processes
for more than a year and ask for cooperation from male representatives of
Minhwahyeops of both Koreas.
Women's steady effort to persuade and
negotiate with others was successful. Finally, they had working-level
negotiations officially in September, 2002, between the two Koreas to
prepare for an inter-Korean joint event for women and youth and held an
inter-Korean women's joint event dramatically in October.
Approximately 700 women from both Koreas participated in the
Inter-Korean Women's Forum for Unification which was held in Mt.
Geumgang for three days two nights from October 15 to 17 in 2002. 1) It
was the first time that women from both Koreas met each other on their
own after the nation was divided, and it was meaningful that women from
the South and North discussed and negotiated directly to hold the event
without any mediation from other countries. 2) In addition, for the first time,
a large number of women from every walk of life covering both progressive
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and conservative groups got together. While only a few woman
representatives participated in inter-Korean women's events in initial stages,
they were expanded into a large-scale event. 3) It was exceptional in that
women from the South and North could talk to each other personally
through various programs for the three days two nights. The event was
held in relatively freer atmosphere. There were few opportunities they could
talk to each other personally in past events, but in this event 700 women
or so were able to talk about personal matters hiking holding hands
man-to-man. 4) In this process, women from the South and North realized
how heterogeneous they had become for the past half century. North
Korean women disapproved various views being expressed (saying how
society works if everyone has different views), and South Korean women
did not understand North Korean women expressing one view unanimously
(saying how they speak in one voice lacking their own thoughts when they
emphasize self-reliance and subjectivity). Like this, things did not go in
reality as expected and there seemed to be a long way to go. However, it
was agreed that more efforts were needed since it was a difficult process,
and it was a relief that inter-Korean women's relationship came this far. 5)
The driving force behind this progress in inter-Korean relations was the
experience of holding the forum 'Peace in Asia and women's role' from
1991 to 1994, making joint efforts to tackle the issue of Japanese military
comfort women, and providing humanitarian assistance for North Korea in
1997. As they realized there was a wide gap between South and North
Korea in the forum, they were able to enhance power to cope with it. They
could feel that there was an emotional bond, though invisible, between
women from the two Koreas when they conducted activities for comfort
women and provided humanitarian support for North Koreans. Holding the
2002 Inter-Korean women's forumfor unification meant adding another stone
on top of the first stepping stone that their predecessors laid for
inter-Korean reconciliation. The following table contains information of the
first-ever event where women from the South and North met in person.
The Inter-Korean women's forum for unification 'for the implementation of
the June 15 Joint Declaration, and peace'
Date (2002)
October 15
Morning,
Content
Arrival and women's ritual to pray for
peace
- Entrance to the venue and opening
Venue (Mt. Geumgang)
Mt.
GeumgangOnjeonggak
lounge
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ceremony
- Women's forum to implement the
June 15
October 16
Joint Declaration and
Kim
achieve peace
Jeong-sookhyuyangso
- handicraft and art exhibition to
front yard
commemorate the Inter-Korean
women's unification forum
Noon,
October 16
Afternoon,
October 16
Evening,
October 16
Morning,
October 17
Afternoon,
October 17
-Luncheon
(The North side prepared
lunch boxes.)
-Recreation and games
-Welcome banquet the North provided
-Small group meetings
-Joint arts performance
-Closing ceremony
Kim
Jeong-sookhyuyangso
pine tree field
Kim
Jeong-sookhyuyangso
front yard
Mt. Geumgangyeogwan
2nd floor lobby
Mt. Geumgangyeogwan
Kim
Jeong-sookhyuyangso
front yard
Onjeonggak Lounge
-Lunch
Guryong Fall
-Hiking
Kim
-Farewell event
Jeong-sookhyuyangso
front yard
However, the 'invisible hand' of the South and North Korean government
affected every stage of the event covertly, and thus the autonomy of the
women and civil society was damaged as much as it was affected.
Nevertheless, as you cannot be satisfied at your first attempt, women had
to be patient and worked toward de facto unification by accumulating
experiences of achieving reconciliation and cooperation.
Besides, women of the two Koreas could meet through sub events when the
June 15 and August 15 joint commemorative events were held. However,
there were cases where planned sub events for women were cancelled and
they seemed to be considered less important than the event itself.
The 2005 Inter-Korean Women's forum for unification
The year 2005 celebrated the 5th anniversary of the June 15 South-North
Joint Declaration. However, the South and North relations were in a
deadlock. People related to Minhwahyeops of both Koreas reorganized
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communication channels between the South and North and founded 'the
preparation committee for the overseas inter-Korean joint event in order to
implement the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration (6.15 Gongjunwi)'. This
meant three-party solidarity organization (the South, the North, and
overseas organizations) was officially created. Within this frame women of
the two Koreas established the June 15 women's headquarters. Even though
South and North Korean relations were in a deadlock, the June 15 Grand
National Unification Festival celebrating the 5th anniversary of the June 15
Joint Declaration was held in Pyongyang. The South Korean government
allowed Minhwahyeop to discuss with North Korea for the Minister of
Unification to attend the festival as a presidential envoy in order to come
out of the deadlock. A government delegation from North Korea participated
in the August 15 event held in Seoul, and this meant private-level
inter-Korean events were developed into events in which both the
government and private sector participate, and it served as a bridge for
reconciliation between the South and North Korean government.
The June 15 women's headquarters of the two Koreas scheduled a session
to meet each other in the June 15 and August 15 joint event, and prepared
for resuming inter-Korean women's exchange and cooperation. As a result,
the Inter-Korean women's forum for unification was held again in
September, 2005. The forum was held from September 10 to 14 in
Pyongyang and areas near Mt. Myohyang, and 100 women from the South
and 300 from the North participated. During the forum, participants held an
inter-Korean women's unification conference, and visited women's and
educational
facilities,
Pyongyangsanwon,
Changgwang
Kindergarten,
Moranbong first middle school, Mangyeongdae culture palace for the youth,
Handicraft research institute, and other cultural facilities. According to
Sook-im Kim, a joint representative of the June 15 South Korean women's
headquarter which organized the forum, this event 1) had the largest
number of South Korean women (100) as visitors to Pyongyang after Korea
was divided, and 2) provided an opportunity for South Korean women to see
the North Korean system and society in person by visiting streets of
Pyongyang and its facilities. It also gave hope that the inter-Korean
women's forum might be held regularly since it was the second forum
following the 2002 Inter-Korean women's forum for unification. Holding this
event meant that Korean women put the third stone on top of the stone
tower their predecessors had made.
Like this, inter-Korean women's exchange and cooperation evolved step by
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step and it went one step further enabling the 2006 Inter-Korean woman
representatives' meeting. It was held from March 9 to 11 with 30
representatives from each side attending. South Korean women suggested
holding this meeting in order for 'women from both sides to discuss the
direction in which women's unification movements should be heading and
specific tasks to complete for unification going beyond event-focused
approaches'. They hoped that through this meeting they would be able to
discuss and implement programs on an annual basis in more stable manners,
and make inter-Korean women's exchange and cooperation regular
institutions. The meeting was something that women from the South and
North attempted for the first time.
Despite all these efforts at private level, the Korean peninsula saw North
Korea's missile tests and nuclear experiments, and the six party talks to
deter North Korea's nuclear aspiration. Even though the former president
Rho Moo-hyun met the former North Korean leader Kim Jung-il in the
Inter-Korean Summit held on October 4, 2007, nearly every kind of
inter-Korean dialogue was suspended and inter-Korean exchange and
cooperation came to a halt during the Lee Myung-bak administration (2008
~ 2012) whose North Korea policy was called Vision 3000 through
Denuclearization and Openness. During this period Korean women ran a
variety of educational programs for peace and unification and spent time and
energy accumulating power for unification.
3. The present and future of movements for peace and unification: Current
situation
The South-North relations have still been in a deadlock since the Park
Geun-hye administration came into power in 2013, which pursues the
so-called Trust-building Process Policy toward North Korea. Even though it
compared achieving unification to gaining 'bonanza', released the Dresden
Declaration, and launched the Unification preparation committee, and
mentioned other measures for unification, the inter-Korean relation does not
seem to improve. While it has been 70 years since Korea was liberated
from Japan, and 50 years since the normalization of South Korea-Japan
relations, Korean women and civil society have tried to make breakthroughs
in inter-Korean and South Korea-Japan relations to no avail. In this
situation, Korean women are conducting such activities as resolving the
issue of Japanese military comfort women, working for the implementation
of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UN SCR 1325), doing
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educational activities to resolve conflicts, and supporting North Korean
woman refugees.
▶ Support for resolving the issue of Japanese military comfort women and
helping victims of war-time sexual assault
The most prominent peace movements of Korean women are to address the
issue of Japanese military comfort women and former comfort women’s
activities to help woman victims of war-time sexual assault. The 2000
Women's International War Crimes Tribunal brought the issue of Japanese
military comfort women to greater attention and it is not only an issue of
women's peace movement but also a current agenda. As a result, legislative
bodies of many countries including the US adopted resolutions related to the
issue and numerous networks of women's organizations for peace came into
being. Recently, supported by worldwide solidarity, a campaign to gather
100 million signatures to resolve the comfort women issue is being carried
out. Around the time when the Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe visited
the US and addressed a joint meeting of Congress in April this year, the
former comfort women (wianbu halmonis) and people related to
Jeongdaehyeop conducted activities to make the truth known, attracting
attention of the press around the world.
In addition, Jeongdaehyeop built War and Women's Human Rights Museum in
2012 and started to support woman victims of war-time sexual assault. In
particular, as Kim Bok-dong and Kil Won-ok, who are victims of Japanese
military sex slavery said they will donate all the proceeds when they are
compensated by the Japanese government, the Nabi (butterfly) Fund was
created. Since it seems to be difficult to receive legal compensation from
the Japanese government soon, people who agree with them started to
donate money to the fund. Jeongdaehyeop used the Nabi Fund to provide
aid for Congo woman victims of war-time rape who are working to help
other rape victims like them, and to help Vietnamese woman victims of
sexual assault by Korean soldiers and their offspring. Kim Bok-dong
donated seed money for the Nabi Fund, and a popular singer Lee Hyo-ri
followed suit. 'Nabi (butterfly)' in the fund's name expresses a hope that all
women including victims of Japanese military sexual slavery should be freed
from any kind of discrimination and violence to fly into the sky freely like
butterflies. Wednesday demonstration which is held every Wednesday in
front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul has marked approximately 1,200
gatherings.
Keynote Speeches
▶ Support for North Korean woman refugees
In 2011, two organizations were established to aid North Korean woman
refugees, so activities to support them have been vitalized. In 2014, around
27,000 North Korean refugees entered South Korea and more than 70 % of
them are young women. It is a big challenge for them to get used to South
Korean society and there is not much interaction between these refugees
and South Korean women. The two organizations conduct various activities
to help the woman refugees to settle down in South Korea as equal
members of society and strengthen the power of solidarity (People
supporting women's human rights). In addition, they try to understand social
and cultural gap between the two Koreas and differences between women
from the South and North. By doing so, they try to find a role model for
living a good life for South and North Korean women by sharing life
experiences with North Korean women who came to South Korea before
reunification, and by reflecting on themselves (Jogakbo). These organizations
made women's choir and run lessons on humanities with North Korean
women, providing opportunities for women from both sides to have a chat
and doing activities for them to communicate with each other. These
organizations' activities are real support for North Korean woman refugees,
and at the same time they are opportunities to prepare for 'unification of
mind' between the South and North and experiment with it.
▶ Educational movement for conflict resolution
Educational movement for conflict resolution is one of the most effective
activities in women's peace movements. The conflict resolution program was
introduced in 1999 by three organizations including Women Making Peace
being helped by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). The
program improved itself to establish the Conflict Resolution Center of
Women Making Peace. The center tackles conflicts through peaceful means
such as mediation and negotiation, contributing to forming peace culture. At
first conflict resolution training targeted teachers, teenagers, students, and
NGO activists, but it evolved into resolving conflicts in the public sphere
and it became one of the activities in which the government's 'Sustainable
development committee' participate. Now the center runs a variety of
programs such as peer-mediation pilot program, mediation through dialogue
between the victim and perpetrator, school violence prevention program,
instructor training and so forth. Other than these, these organizations
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provide peace and unification education and educational programs teaching
about mutual understanding, admitting differences, and culture of tolerance
steadily.
▶Pressing the government to set up national action plans for implementing
UN SCR 1325 and conducting consultative activities
Women who have studied and discussed UN SCR 1325 started to urge the
South Korean government to come up with national action plans to
implement the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and
security in 2012. The resolution categorized war-time violence against
women as an international security issue, and demanded governments
include women in peace process and peace-building activities, and in
particular in decision making process in order to resolve the violence issue
and guarantee women safe life.
Fortunately, in 2012, the Korean National Assembly adopted a resolution
for urging the government to make a national action plan in line with UN
SCR 1325, and the South Korean government sought advice from five
specialists belonging to women's groups such as Women Making Peace and
Women's Forum for Peace and Diplomacy in January, 2013 to set up a
national action plan. Women's groups studied how UN SCR 1325 could be
applied in Korea and discussed what are challenges and tasks to be
completed in reality through seminars, and formed 1325 Network (where 45
organizations participated) and asked the government to create a joint
consultative body in which both the civil society and governmental sector
participates in order to search for tasks to be included in the national action
plan. In July that year, the government accepted women's groups' request
and created a joint consultative body consisting of 8 people from the
government and 8 from civil society and the academic circle. Then they
worked together to make the national action plan through debate and
negotiation.
The consultative body faced a crisis when women's requests regarding the
issues of the US forces, budget allocation, monitor groups and so forth
were not accepted when making the national action plan. While women were
not satisfied with it, the government announced the 1325 national action
plan and reported it to the UN in May, 2014. South Korea became the
second country which established the national action plan, following the
Philippines. The 1325 Network expressed regret over the fact that women's
Keynote Speeches
requests were not fully reflected in the national action plan and announced
"the government should improve legal and institutional systems regarding
responsibilities of different departments of the government, reporting
system, budget allocation, assessment, specific plans for monitoring and so
forth".
▶ Campaigns to adopt the Arms Trade Treaty to eradicate sexual assault,
and to cooperate with the UN for Orange Day
Women's Forum for Peace and Diplomacy (WFPD), which was founded in
2012 in order to facilitate the implementation of UN SCR 1325, waged
campaigns for the UN Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) domestically by forming
solidarity with international civil society. The ATT campaign was started to
prevent numerous people from being killed or women from falling victim to
armed sexual assault in a situation where virtually no international treaty to
regulate international trade of arms existed, or an existing treaty, if any,
was not effective. World citizens in solidarity had called for governments
and the UN to come up with an arms trade treaty from around 10 years
ago. Negotiations to make the ATT were not easy as countries exporting
arms resisted. Women's Forum for Peace and Diplomacy cooperated with
World Council of Churches and Control Arms to call for the South Korean
government to participate in making the treaty actively. It collected
signatures from 100 woman leaders and leaders in civil society and handed
them to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and had a face-to-face talk with the
vice minister of the ministry together with Amnesty International Korea.
This way it told the government what women and civil society wanted and
waged campaigns to raise awareness of the issue through mass media while
attending international conferences to search for negotiation strategies to
deal with the government. Its efforts lasted for about two years. Women
around the world in particular endeavored to include a gender-related
clause - "Arms trade must be stopped if there is gender-based violence" in the treaty. The UN's ATT negotiations faced obstacles as they were
delayed or broken off, but the treaty was adopted in the United Nations
General Assembly with the support of a majority, and it was signed and
ratified by individual governments. Finally on Christmas eve, December 24,
2014 news was announced that the international arms trade treaty was
concluded. This news was a beautiful Christmas present for women and civil
society around the world as it reflected what they wanted to a degree.
WFPD conducts the Orange Day Campaign (16 Days of Activism against
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gender violence) from November 25 to December 10 every year cooperating
with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's UNiTE to End Violence
against Women campaign. The UN tells people it is a pressing issue to end
violence against women and girls through this campaign under the slogan
'Let's color the world in orange for 16 days'. Last year it decorated the UN
building, the Empire State Building in the US, and sphinxes in Egypt with
orange lighting attracting attention from people around the world.
4. Between and Beyond: A bold proposal for the future
It is so cruel and sad to live considering parents, brothers and sisters, and
compatriots as enemies. We have been living like this for 70 years. On the
50th anniversary of national division, I said, "We have suffered for over half
a century. That is too much. We firmly believe it is now time to live
together with parents, sisters, brothers, all our families, in a reunited,
peaceful Korea". However, we now face the 70th anniversary of the national
division. And, I get worried when thinking of a possibility of ushering in the
100th year of the national division. The 70 years mean South and North
Korean leaders have failed to resolve inter-Korean issues for 70 years. It
should be pointed out that women were excluded from decision making in
the areas of national defense, reunification, and diplomatic policies for the
past 70 years. Now is the time to choose whether we should follow the
path we have taken to fail or we make a new path for the future.
Won-yong Kang, a minster who led mass culture movement in Korean
society often used a metaphor 'Between and Beyond' as his philosophy of
dialogue movement. Strangely, whenever I heard this expression, women
came to my mind. I felt it symbolizes women's reality and movements very
well.
For a long time, women would be victimized 'between' two sides which are
hostile toward each other. However, they did not remain as 'victims', but
jumped 'beyond' the crack between the two sides and turned into ‘players’.
Also, women laid a bridge 'between' two sides, walked out of the old
system, went 'beyond' it and started to search for a new system. I believe
Korean women's movements for peace and reunification can be summarized
with the two words 'between' and 'beyond'.
Today, women in the South and North and women of the world take part in
WomenCrossDMZ together and taking this peace walk is another bold move
to put a bridge of peace and reconciliation 'between' South and North
Korea, go 'beyond' the status quo of the truce and reach a permanent peace
Keynote Speeches
treaty. It is a march to open a new path to reunite separated families and
divert an enormous amount of defense cost into social welfare and
environmental protection. The walk is also women's new challenge to put an
end to war-time sexual assault and bring justice to the issue of Japanese
military comfort women. It is women's bold approach to put an end to the
70 years of national division men created and open a path leading to peace
and reunification. Women who join hands beyond boundaries are opening a
new path beyond failed policies. This is an extension of Korean women's
peace and reunification movements.
I would like to express my respect for the International organizing
committee and Korea committee of WomenCrossDMZ, which made it
possible to walk for peace, and I would like to make another bold proposal
for the future at this historic moment.
I would like to propose that we should bring the Nobel Peace Prize to the
women who have strived to resolve the issue of Japanese military comfort
women and the former comfort women (wianbu halmonis) utilizing the
enormous energy and momentum of the peace walk. Women around the
world waged a campaign titled '1000 women for the Nobel Peace Prize
2005' recommending woman candidates for the prize. Wianbu halmonis
(comfort women) were victimized in conflicts between countries. However,
they went beyond being victims and work as human rights activists and
peacemakers transcending boundaries. Women's activities to resolve the
issue of Japanese military comfort women have been a dazzling success. We
already have a lot of experiences and information regarding the issue.
Women leading this movement and wianbu halmonis visited many countries
around the world to provide testimony bravely, raising awareness of colonial
occupation and war-time sexual assault issues and they contributed to
developing these issues into universal human rights and peace agendas.
Their efforts resulted in the Kono Statement which admitted the forceful
nature of the Japanese military comfort women system in 1993; the 1995
Beijing Platform for Action which acknowledged sexual slavery as war
crimes and agreed on holding perpetrators responsible; the 1996 report
written by Coomaraswamy, a United Nations special rapporteur on violence
against women for United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the
UN’s recommendation for the Japanese government; solidarity movements of
sex slavery victims in Asia; Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on
Japan's Military Sexual Slavery in 2000, and its conviction of Hirohito, the
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
Emperor of Japan and the Japanese government; UN Security Council
Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, which recognized sexual
assault as an international peace and security issue; resolutions adopted by
legislative bodies of many countries including the US to urge the Japanese
government to resolve the issue of comfort women; a letter released by187
historians around the world to put pressure on the Japanese government
(May 5, 2015); and etc. In addition, they provided opportunities and spaces
for women of the two Koreas to solve problems they share through
exchange and cooperation, and formed practices of trust and cooperation.
This means they have achieved de facto reunification. It is hard to list all
the differences they have made in both Koreas and around the world.
In this sense, I would like to propose recommending wianbu halmonis and
women who have been striving to resolve the issue of Japanese military
comfort women as candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize. I sincerely hope
that my bold proposal come to fruition and Japanese military comfort women
be compensated for their sufferings according to international justice. I
would like to finish my presentation citing excerpts from the final judgement
of the 2000 Women's International War Crimes Tribunal.
"Accordingly, through this Judgment, this Tribunal intends to honor all the
women victimized by Japan's military sexual slavery system…… this
Judgement bears the names of the survivors who took the stand to tell their
stories, and thereby, for four days at least, put wrong on the scaffold and
truth on the throne".
Thank you.
Hyun-Sook Lee is the cofounder and former representative of Women Making
Peace, an organization established in 1997 with the goal of creating a culture of
peace and reunification on the Korean peninsula. She led the campaign getting the
first humanitarian aid to the North and negotiated and arranged the first South and
North Korean Women's Forum for Reunification in 2002 which brought around 700
women from both sides. She also served at Korean Red Cross as a vice president
and led the 11th Reunion Delegation of separated families from two Koreas as a
head of the delegation of South Korea. At present she is the standing
representative of Women's Forum for Peace & Diplomacy with the goal of
implementing of UN SCR 1325 agenda. She was a nominee of 1000 Women for the
Nobel Peace Prize 2005. ([email protected])
Session1
Sharing Experiences Organizing
Women to End Conflicts in
Different Regions
1) Mairead Maguire
2) Leymah Gbowee
3) Jodie Evans
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
1 Session
Presentation 1)
WOMEN AND PEACEBUILDING
Mairead Maguire
(Northern Ireland, Nobel Peace Laureate)
Dear Friends,
Good Morning (Jo-eun-achim-imnida),
I believe passionately in the power of women as peacebuilders because I
have witnessed their power of nonviolent love in action. In l976 when
Northern Ireland was on the brink of civil war, it was the civil community,
particularly women, who marched in their thousands against the ongoing
violence, and articulated a clear moral message ‘stop the violence, stop the
killing, there is another way to solve our problems’.
When my sister Anne’s three children were killed in ‘the troubles’ in
August, l976, their deaths, preceded as they were by thousands of violent
deaths, touched the conscience of us all. Many people realized violence was
wrong, life was sacred, and indeed we each had a right not to be killed and
a responsibility not to kill each other. There was also an acknowledgement
that violence was fuelling retaliatory violence and deepening the fear and
anger in the community. Something had to break this vicious downward
cycle, of killing and destruction. It was the civil community, particularly
women, who by articulating ethical and moral values, and by calling on
everyone including the Political Leaders and Governments, Faith and
Spiritual Leaders, paramilitary groups, to take up their responsibility,
unambiguously reject all violence, and begin, through dialogue to solve the
problems faced by the Northern Irish people.
There was an acknowledgement by all parties, both state and non-state
actors, that militarism and paramilitarism, could not solve the deeply
complex, historical, ethnic, political problems, which the Northern Irish
people had inherited. Indeed for every bullet fired, bomb exploded, civil
and political rights curtailed, there was a violent reaction. Women, many of
whom experienced at first hand horrific violence, raised their voices and
mobilized to end the war. They started to make space to create the critical
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
will of the Political leaders and paramilitaries to enter into genuine dialogue,
diplomacy, compromise and co-operation. Women insisted that violent begets
violence and this included violent rhetoric and a demonization of each other.
They acknowledged we needed to start peacebuilding in our own hearts,
homes, communities, schools, to teach peace, nonviolence and conflict
resolution. The task of building a Culture of Nonkilling and Nonviolence
and changing the mindsets of militarism and war, was taken up by many
people, as they embraced a new consciousness of respect for each other,
diversity, and the environment.
In a divided society, such as Northern Ireland, where there was a great
deal of fear and anxiety, and where identities are changing, people are
often traumatized by separation, isolation, and they lack confidence and
belief in themselves and each other. Therefore it is not enough to insist
only on dialogue, courageous and risk-taking efforts, must be made, by both
people and particularly Political Leaders, to open the paths to dialogue. In
Northern Ireland in order to give people a chance to talk, and listen to each
other, women/men/youth helped to set up hundreds of peace groups. They
travelled across Northern Ireland, setting up exchanges, and discussing how
to cross the emotional/religious/political divides and how to build a just,
equal, and peaceful Northern Ireland. They also travelled across the border
to the Republic of Ireland to build links, cultural exchanges, economic
co-operation, etc., In the North of Ireland, Women visited the Prisoners
and Families who had lost loved ones during ‘the troubles.’ Their focus
was on forgiveness and reconciliation, realizing that forgiveness is the key
to peace. When the Peace process was happening in N. Ireland women
played a critical and decisive role at the negotiating table, insisting on all
inclusive, unconditional talks and bringing difficult issues, such as
demilitarization,
Prisoners’ Rights, Equality, Minority rights, etc., to the
Power Sharing negotiations. We have been blessed to see an end to the
Northern Irish violent conflict, but acknowledge too that post conflict
peacebuilding is a work in progress.
I pray this story gives hope, and helps to deepen your confidence, courage
and conviction that peace is possible, indeed it is a basic human right and a
concrete step to ending the suffering. In North Korea, we are conscience
that you and your families have suffered so much, and I am truly sorry for
this. Our delegation have come on this visit, to both North and South
Korea, (and hopefully walk the DMZ) as we want to tell you, we love you,
we care for you all, and we join in solidarity with you and your work to
1 Session
end the Korean war, unite Korean families, and bring more women into the
peace process and negotiating table for a peace treaty.
When President Obama said recently in response to the opening up of
diplomatic relations with USA/Cuba, ’50 years of isolation for Cuba has not
worked ‘we hope he will also say that ‘70 years of isolation for North
Korea has not worked, and it’s time to end the war, time for peace’. Such
visionary Political Leadership would not only give hope to the Korean
people as they build a nonkilling peaceful Korea, but also to the whole
world that disarmament and peace is possible through diplomacy, not war.
Thank you (gamsa-hamnida)
Peace and happiness to you all (pyongwha-rul-derimnida).
Mairead Maguire (Nobel Peace Laureate).
www.peacepeople.com
www.womencrossdmz.com
www.nobelwomensinitiative.com
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
Presentation 2)
Every Little Action Changes the World
Leyma Gbowee
(Liberia, Nobel Peace Laureate)
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, it is an honor to be on this trip with
wonderful women and activists. I want to thank the organizers for the job
well done.
Today, our world is filled with many grave crises; in Africa we have
countless civil wars. The impact of these wars on the people and
infrastructure is huge. In Liberia over 25 years ago, war broke out when I
was only 17 years old. I had plans and dreams of becoming a pediatrician.
The bombs and missiles that landed in our communities’ daily crushed those
dreams.
14 years into the war, my sisters and I decided we had to change the tide
and the narrative of our nation being a failed state to a nation of peace. We
embarked on a journey of non – violent peace activism. The journey was
filled with criticisms and skepticisms, but we were determined to make it.
Our daily routine of picketing, sitins and media engagements were met with
mixed reaction from community members. Mahatma Ghandi’s quote of “first
they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”,
became alive for us as we progressed.
Our persistence and perseverance paid off, we achieved peace six months
into our protest. We continue for two and the half years until we had
elections, making history by electing Africa and Liberia’s first female
president.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, peace, as a process and not an event,
can only be achieved if every member of society regardless of their gender,
ethnicity and political affiliation is involved in the process. Women since the
beginning of time have proven that they can effectively build peace and
1 Session
create sustainable and equitable societies. I firmly believe it is time for the
world to recognize and utilize the unique gifts of women.
As we embark on the journey, I want to reaffirm that I am here on a
journey of accompaniment, walking in solidarity, walking to bring the human
dimension back to this and every other global conflict. I am walking for
peace and unity. I am walking because I firmly believe that every little
action counts in turning our upside down world upright.
I thank you.
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
Presentation 3)
Yes We Can Live in Peace
Jodie Evans
(USA, Cofounder of CODEPINK)
[First slide: Yes we Can live in peace]
First, I would like to thank you for your hospitality, your generosity and for
giving me this opportunity to speak.
I am here today, along with my colleague Medea Benjamin, representing the
peace group CODEPINK, a women-initiated grassroots organization that
opposes war and militarism. We were founded in 2002, just after the attacks
on the World Trade Center in New York, to oppose the US invasions of
Iraq and Afghanistan. If you’re wondering where we get our name, we took
if after former President Bush’s color-coded security system--Code Yellow,
Code Orange, Code Red--that was designed to instill fear among the public
and justify US invasions. Instead of the fear-inducing Code Red or Code
Orange, we are CODEPINK for Peace.
[Second slide: Don’t buy Bush’s war]
In the early 2000s, we focused heavily on opposing the US invasions and
occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. As a women-led group, we were
saddened by the terrible oppression of women in Afghanistan, but we knew
that a US invasion was not going to liberate them. Unfortunately, we were
right. After 13 years of US occupation, Afghan women are still repressed
and remain among the poorest women in the world. We support Afghan
women; we don’t support foreign military intervention.
[next slide: Chaos in Iraq]
The 2003 US invasion of Iraq has been even worse. Yes, Saddam Hussein
was toppled, but in his place we left chaos, death and destruction. Recent
estimates are that over 1 million Iraqis lost their lives to American military
aggression. The effects of the invasion are still being felt today because it
1 Session
unleashed a wave of sectarianism that opened the way for the terrorist
group ISIS to take over large areas of the country.
[next slide: Medea protesting killer drones in Pakistan]
Our group has not only protested US invasions, but also the horrific, new
development in US militarism: the use of unpiloted airplanes, also known as
drones, to kill people by remote control. With drones, US pilots sit
comfortably at Air Force bases in the United States and simply press a
button--as in a video game--to kill people thousands of miles away. The
drone strikes have killed over 2,400 people in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia,
people who were never accused of anything, never given the chance to
surrender and certainly never given the right to a trial.
[next slide: Kareem Khan]
In a trip to Pakistan, we met a man whose brother and son--teachers in
the village school--were incinerated in their sleep. In Yemen we met with a
man whose 68-year-old mother was blown to pieces while picking
vegetables and orphans whose father was killed while driving his taxi. And
everywhere we visited, we found that drone strikes exacerbated, rather than
deterred, extremism.
[next slide: No US Tax $$ for Israel]
Another issue we’ve been pushing for is an end of the Israeli occupation of
the West Bank and its brutal siege of the Gaza Strip. Every year the United
States sends over $3 billion in military support to Israel, money that Israel
uses to occupy, brutalize, imprison, and humiliate the Palestinian people.
[eighth slide: Gaza woman]
Some of the women in this delegation, including Ann Wright and Mairead
Maguire, have joined risky international flotillas to try to break the Israeli
siege of Gaza. On one of those flotillas, nine people were killed when the
Israeli military boarded the ship. While the US government continues to
support Israel, we are encouraged by the growing international grassroots
movement to boycott Israeli products until Israel complies with international
law and stops the oppression of Palestinians.
[next slide: Guys Put Down your Guns]
One of the reasons the US government gets involved in so many violent
conflicts is because it’s profitable for the military contractors and weapons
manufacturers. Year after year the United States has topped the list for
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
worldwide military spending.
[next slide: Stop funding war]
In 2015, the military budget amounted to $610 billion. This is more than
every other country on the list combined. In fact, in 2013 the military
spending of the United States accounted for 50% of the entire world’s
expenditure on the military. The second-place contender, China, spends
about one-third the US expenditure. This is money would be much better
spent on programs to reduce poverty at home and around the world.
[next slide: CODEPINK delegation to Iran]
After 13 years of war, since the attacks on the US World Trade Center, we
have started to see a positive and promising trend: the American people are
getting tired of war and some officials are starting to listen to us. In the
case of Iran, despite opposition in Congress, there is great public support
for nuclear talks that the Obama administration is engaged in.
[next slide: Diplomacy Not War with Iran!]
The US peace movement has been pressuring our Congress to support
President Obama’s diplomatic route, not to lead us down the long road to
harsher sanctions on Iran and potentially war.
[next slide: End Cuba embargo now]
We have been heartened by President Obama’s initiative to normalize
relations with Cuba after a long 54 years of hostility. In an effort to show
solidarity with the people of Cuba, CODEPINK recently sent two large
delegations to Cuba and back home, we’ve been lobbying to end the
embargo that still restricts trade and harms the Cuban people.
[next slide: protesting drones at Creech]
We are also inspired by an international movement that has been trying to
stop the use of killer drones. We have protested at the US Air Force bases
where the pilots are stationed, at the White House, the CIA, the Pentagon,
the factories and homes of drone manufacturers, the homes of government
officials, and congressional offices. We have helped turn public opinion
against drone warfare, forced the government to talk about its covert
program, and shamed them into reducing the number of drone strikes. With
the help of our European allies, we have created a global network against
drones used for killing, spying and repression, and we are trying to reduce
the proliferation of killer drones.
1 Session
[next slide: Stop bombing Syria/ Iraq, light brigade]
Obama’s plan in August 2013 for US military involvement in Syria generated
an extraordinary outpouring of opposition in communities across the United
States, forcing him to step back from a bombing campaign, and instead
negotiate a deal to destroy Syria's chemical weapons. Americans now
support diplomatic talks with Iran to find a non-military solution to their
nuclear program. And by a 2-to-1 margin, they say the US should not get
“too involved” in the conflict in the Ukraine. We simply cannot afford
another war, and we don’t want one.
[next slide: Yes we can live in peace]
Through the work of all the wonderful women on this Korea delegation, one
theme remains consistent -- the only way to resolve global conflicts is
through peaceful means. That’s why we are proud to be part of the historic
movement towards peace and reconciliation between North and South Korea.
In 1953, the Korean people were promised a peace treaty to end the
horrors of war and to bring the people together. It is now 2015, and the
world is still waiting for that treaty. Now is the time.
Now is the time to move to a world beyond war. Now is the time to free
up our vast global resources to address our real enemies like poverty,
deadly diseases like Ebola or the global climate crisis that threatens future
life on the planet.
We women are ready for the challenge and are motivated for the hard work
ahead.
* Link for slides:
https://docs.google.com/a/codepink.org/presentation/d/1ImMUSsNiDUvPDNmK
HGK2uu-MEmL3WrEzewTa7wcmZRM/edit?usp=sharing
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
Session 2
Women's Organizing and
Responses to the Current
Conflicts-Ridden Countries
1)
2)
3)
4)
Liza Maza
Suzuyo Takazato
Patricia Guerrero
Kim, Sook-Ja
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
2 Session
Presentation 1)
Women's Organizing for Peace in the Philippines
Liza Maza
(Chair Emerita, GABRIELA Women's
Alliance, Philippines)
Greetings of peace to all especially to the courageous and joyous women
who are gathered here today calling for Peace in Korea! Let me also
convey to you the warm wishes of solidarity from GABRIELA Philippines
and the International Women's Alliance (IWA), a global alliance of grassroots
women's organizations.
I am honored to speak before you today to share the experiences of
Filipino women in organizing for peace in my country. Having been
colonized by Spain for 300 years, by the US for more than 40 years and
occupied by Japan during WW11, the Filipino people have a long history of
struggle for peace that is inextricably linked to the struggle for national
sovereignty, social justice and genuine freedom. The Filipino women were at
the forefront of these struggles and played important and leading roles.
Despite formal independence in 1946, our country remains a neo-colony of
the US. The US still dominates our economic, political, and socio-cultural
life. One of the most telling manifestations of such control was the US
occupation for almost a century of our prime land to maintain its military
facilities including two of its largest military bases outside its territory the Subic naval base and the Clark air base. These bases served as
springboard for US interventionist war in Korea, Vietnam and the Middle
East.
The sites of these US bases became haven for the 'rest and recreation'
industry where women and children's bodies were sold in prostitution for a
price of a hamburger; where women were viewed as mere sex objects and
the culture of violence against women pervaded; and where thousands of
Amerasian children were left impoverished and abandoned by their American
fathers.
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2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
In addition to these social costs, the US has not owned up responsibility for
cleaning up the toxic wastes left after the bases were removed in 1991 and
for the health hazards these wastes continue to pose to the people in the
community. And like in the camptowns in South Korea, innumerable cases of
crimes including murder, rape and sexual abuse were committed with
impunity by US troops with many of these cases not even reaching the
courts.
These compelling realities are the very reasons why we oppose the
presence of US military bases and troops in the Philippines and beyond. We
believe that there can never be long and lasting peace as long as we are
under the control of the US or any other foreign power. And we cannot
have a free and sovereign state with the presence of foreign troops on our
land.
The women brought into the anti- bases argument the discourse on the
social costs of the bases and why the removal of the US bases and troops
is important for women. GABRIELA, the biggest progressive alliance of
women's organizations in the Philippines which was organized in 1984 at the
height of the anti-Marcos dictatorship movement brought the issue of
prostitution of women around the base areas and the puppetry of the
dictator to US interests. Marcos was deposed in a people power that
became a model to the world. The Philippines subsequently passed the 1987
Constitution with clear provisions against the presence of foreign troops,
bases and nuclear weapons on our soil.
The historic Senate rejection of a new treaty that would extend the Military
Bases Agreement beyond 1991 was another victory for women. Leading up
to the Senate vote, women conducted massive information campaigns, held
pickets, demonstrations, caravans, die-ins, lobby work and networking both
locally and internationally to pressure the government to reject the treaty.
The efforts of the women and the broad anti-bases movement finally led to
the termination of the bases agreement.
But our struggle continues. In flagrant violation of our Constitution, the US
in collusion with the Philippine government was able to reassert its military
presence through the Visiting Forces Agreement of 1998 and the Enhanced
Defense Cooperation Agreement of 2014, agreements that are more
dangerous than the previous agreement they replaced. These agreements
allow the US military free and unhampered use of virtually the entire
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2 Session
Philippines for its basing needs and for rapid forward deployment of its
forces as part of the US pivot to Asia policy. This heightening US military
presence is also happening here in South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore,
Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Australia among others.
Filipino women at the grassroots - the rural and indigenous women,
workers, youth and students, housewives, professionals, religious and other
sectors continue to organize. The women are aware that massive poverty
and hunger and the marginalization, discrimination and violence against
women are intensified by the policies of imperialist globalization which is
carried out, propped up and sustained by militarization and war.
Furthermore, the policy of militarization and war diverts the much needed
funds and resources that could have been used to create jobs for the 10
million unemployed and underemployed; to build homes for the the 22
million homeless; to build school buildings, day care centers for children and
crisis centers for women, and hospitals and health clinics in remote villages;
to provide free education, health and reproductive care and other social
services for the poor; and to develop our agriculture and industry.
We build long and lasting peace that is based on social justice and where
women participate in the process and not the peace based on silencing the
poor and powerless that militarist and war mongers do.
다.
In conclusion let me take this opportunity to convey the Filipino women's
solidarity with the women of Korea. Our fathers and brothers were also
sent to fight the Korean war and our grandmothers and mothers were also
victims and survivors as comfort women during the Japanese occupation. We
share this memory of war and women's exploitation, oppression and abuse.
But today we also affirm our collective memory of struggle against all these
as we persist and continue to work for peace in both our countries, in our
Asian region and the world.
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2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
Presentation 2)
My participation in the Women’s Peace Walk
with Empathy and Hope
Suzuyo Takazato
(Co-Chair Okinawa Women Act Against
Military Violence, Japan)
My participation in the Women’s Peace Walk with Empathy and Hope
I am a participant from Okinawa, the most southern island of Japan. Okinawa
is surrounded by nature made up of beautiful coral reefs; 136 years ago,
Okinawa was an independent Ryuku Kingdom, so it has its own distinct
culture and history.
I have served as a municipal assemblywoman of the city of Naha for fifteen
years until 2004, and for the past twenty years, I have been involved in
activism related to women’s rights, peace, and environmental pollution. I’m
also the representative of the Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence
and Okinawa Rape Emergency Intervention Counseling Center.
I participate in this Women’s Peace Walk with much empathy and hope. My
wish is that a peaceful reunification will become a reality for the people of
the divided Korean Peninsula. For Okinawans, this year marks the seventieth
year of the end of the Pacific War, so I can’t help hoping that the pain of
division that many families in Korea have endured the past seventy years
will now turn into happiness of reunification. I wish for a world in which
basic human rights are respected; I wish that, wherever they are, people
can live without discrimination based on race, gender, language, and
religion, and that they are protected from violence. I wish particularly for
women and children that they can live in a peaceful environment where
their human rights are honored. I wish this because I think Okinawa’s past
war experience and the reality of being an “US-military-bases island”
intersect with the history and lives of the people on the Korean Peninsula.
“Military-bases Island”: Okinawa and the Korean War
With a population of 1.4 million, Okinawa barely makes up 1% of Japan’s
total land mass, yet 74% of the US military in Japan is stationed in Okinawa
the “military-bases island.” Near the end of the Pacific War, Okinawa was
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Japan’s only battle ground. In order to protect the mainland Japan (its
imperial system), the Japanese military carried out “Operation Abandoned
Stone” (referred to as in the US “Operation Iceberg” or “Battle of
Okinawa”). For the duration of three months, Okinawan residents were
pulled into the gruesome battle between the Japanese troops and US troops
that landed on Okinawa. A big wound resulted from the war: one in four
Okinawans died in this battle, including mass suicides. While those who
survived the war were detained in the internment camps at 15 different
locations, the US military built huge military bases in Okinawa. With the
Treaty of San Francisco of September 8, 1951, which went into effect the
following year, April 28th, Japan was able to regain its international
standing, however,it occurred at the expense of Okinawa ;Okinawa was
under the US military rule until 1972.
During the Korean War, Okinawa
became a “deployment base” for US troops, and the people’s lands, houses,
farms were confiscated under the threats of bayonets and bulldozers, which
enabled the perpetuation and expansion of USmilitary bases in Okinawa.
The Korean War had a huge impact on the people of Okinawa: the madness
of the combat in Korea also led to sexual violence against many women,
including many accidents and incidents caused by the US soldiers. The
human rights violations were so rampant that Okinawa became like a
lawless region.
“I want to return to my reunified homeland”
By the end of the Pacific War, within just the short period of a year, a total
of 145 “comfort stations” for Japanese soldiers were set up in all of Japan’s
battle zones, including the islands of Okinawa. Korean women, Taiwanese
women, and Okinawan women from the red-light districts were taken to the
comfort stations by force to serve as comfort women. Among Korean
women, it is known that at least sixty were killed when the military vessel
in which they were boarded, heading to Okinawa, was bombed. Because no
record was kept of the women, it remains unknown exactly how many
Korean women were brought to Okinawa, how many of them died during the
war, or how many survived and returned home.
Bae Bong-gi, a Korean comfort woman who was brought over from Korea,
stayed on and lived in Okinawa after the war until she died at the age of
seventy-seven in October 1991. To people who were close to her, Bae said
that she often thought of her country and wished that someday she could
return to her reunified homeland. I will embrace her wind of strength as I
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2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
walk across the DMZ.
Questioning Military Security
In September 1995, a twelve year old girl was raped by three US soldiers.
This incident made us think about the military and its bases that are
supposed to be providing us security and peace. To whom does it provide
security? The sexual violence against women, military training accidents at
bases, environmental destructions, and human rights violations resulting from
militarism are endless. We have formed solidarity with the women of other
countries that are also impacted by US military bases and created a
women’s international network against militarism; we also support the
recovery of victims by sharing our individual experiences. And we are
involved in activism that promotes genuine security that does not depend on
military power. At present, we are building solidarity with the women of
the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii towards creating a kind of
society/culture that can resolve issues such as violence, environmental
pollution, and human rights violations related to the presence of military
bases.
Stop the Construction of the New Base in Henoko: Peace Begins Here
For the past eighteen years, the people of Okinawa have been engaged in a
non-violent movement, opposing the construction of the new US military
base in Henoko. We are expected to accept this new base construction that
will last for the next fifty, hundred years. Does this mean that the arms
race will still continue after one hundred years? What would be the value in
destroying one of the most beautiful coral reefs in the world, and what
would be obtained from destroying Okinawa’s magnificent seawater where
the threatened habitat of the endangered mammal, Dugong still remains?
Together with the senior citizens who survived the Okinawa War and the
current governor, mayor, and elect members of the parliament, we the
people of Okinawa are strongly resisting the construction of the new base
because we want to protect our children from environmental destruction and
sexual violence; as one, we are making our voices heard in the world.
However, the two governments of Japan and US say that Japan’s peace and
security could be impacted by the potential conflict in the Korean Peninsula
and the further regional threat posed by China, and therefore, they are
continuing with the construction of the Henoko base in order to strengthen
the military, instead of reducing Okinawa’s excessive burden of its military
bases.
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2 Session
We are making a strong appeal that each country must reassess its military
arms race; it must reassess its ever-expanding military spending; instead, it
needs to, through dialog, improve people’s lives, welfare, education, medical
care, and food security.
The peace treaty must be realized for the Korean Peninsula, and this will
allow the nearby regions to attain peace and security as well; it will be an
opportunity for making a definite shift from “military expansion” to “peace
diplomacy.” This year, 70 years after the end of the Pacific War, I pray
that a world of genuine security and peace becomes a reality.
What this peace walk means is that, women are determined to become the
leaders of peace.
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2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
[Japanese Original Version]
DMZ　Peace Walk　女性・平和シンポージゥーム　原稿
高里鈴代
女性による平和行進に強い共感と希望を持って参加
私は、今回の女性による平和行進に、日本の最南端に位置する島々からなる沖縄か
ら参加しています。沖縄は美しい珊瑚礁の海に囲まれた自然環境と、１３６年前まで
は独立した琉球王国として独自の文化と歴史を持った所です。私は、那覇市（沖縄県
の県都）の市議会議員を2004年までの15年務め、20年前から基地・軍隊を許さない行
動する女たちの会（Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence）の共同代表と
強姦救援センター・沖縄（Rape
Emergency
Intervention
Couseling
Center
Okinawa）の代表として、女性の人権、平和、環境問題に取り組んでいます。
今回の女性による平和行進の計画に、私は、強い共感と希望をもって参加していま
す。分断されている朝鮮半島の人々に平和的統一が実現することを祈りつつ行進しま
す。今年は、太平洋戦争から70年の節目の年を迎えていますが、多くの家族がこの70
年という長期にわたって背負ってきた分断の痛みが、統一の喜びへ向かうことを願っ
てやみません。
私は、全ての人が、どこにあっても、人種、性、言語、そして宗教によらず、暴力
から守られ、基本的人権が尊重されて生きることが保障される世界を願っています。
特に女性や子どもたちが平和で人権が尊重された環境があることを願います。そう強
く願うのは、私が生きる沖縄の過去の戦争体験や、米軍基地の島の現実が、朝鮮半島
の人々の歴史と生活と、何か交差するものがあるように感じるからです。
“軍事基地の島”の沖縄と朝鮮戦争
140万の人々が暮らす沖縄は、日本全土の１％にも満たない土地に、在日米軍の74％
が集中配備された“軍事基地の島”です。沖縄は過去の太平洋戦争末期、日本で唯一の
地上戦場となりました。日本本土（天皇制）を守るために日本軍は、“捨て石作戦”を
取り、沖縄に上陸をした米軍との間で、住民を巻き込んだ3ヶ月にわたる凄惨な地上戦
が起こりました。沖縄の人々は、集団自決を含め、人口の4人に一人のいのちを失うほ
どに多大な戦争の傷を受けました。
生き残った住民を15ヶ所の捕虜収容所に収容する中、米軍は巨大な軍事基地を建設
しました。1951年9月8日に締結されたサンフランシスコ講和条約が、翌年の4月28日
に発効し、それによって日本は国際社会へ地位を回復しましたが、それと引き替えに
沖縄の人々は、米軍占領下に置かれて状態が1972年まで続きました。朝鮮戦争へ米軍
の派兵基地となった沖縄は、同時に、住民の土地、家や畑は銃剣とブルドーザーで収
奪されて、米軍基地の拡充と恒久化が進んでいました。
朝鮮戦争が沖縄の人々の生活は多大な影響を与えたのは、朝鮮戦争へ向かう前後の米
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2 Session
軍兵士の狂気で、多くの女性が性暴力の被害に遭ったこと、米軍による事故、事件、
人権侵害が続いてまさに無法地帯と化していたことです。
「統一した古里へ帰りたい」へ帰りたい
実はこの沖縄には、太平洋戦争末期、駐屯する日本軍によって、沖縄の島々も含めた
全域に、約1年間という短い期間に、日本軍慰安所がのべ145ヶ所も設置されました。
慰安所には朝鮮半島の女性たち、台湾の女性が慰安婦として連れてこられ、また、沖
縄の辻遊郭の女性たちも慰安婦にされました。朝鮮半島の女性たちの中には、沖縄へ
移送した軍の輸送船が米軍の爆撃を受けて、少なくとも60余名の死亡が判明していま
す。しかし、女性たちの移送には名簿などは存在しなかったため、沖縄に連れてこら
れた女性が実際何人だったのか、何人が沖縄戦で死亡し、何人が無事帰還できたの
か、その実態は未だに不明です。
朝鮮半島から沖縄に連れてこられた元慰安婦の一人、裵奉奇（ペポンギ）さんは、
戦後をそのまま沖縄で生き、1991年10月に77才で亡くなりました。彼女は望郷の念を
抱きつつ、統一を果たした故郷に帰りたいと親しい方たちに語っていました。私は、
彼女のその強い思いを抱いて、参加をしています。
軍事による安全保障への問い
1995年9月に、3米兵により12才の少女がレイプに遭いました。この事件は、安全と
平和、安全保障のために存在する基地・軍隊の存在を問い直させました。誰のための
安全保障なのか。軍隊による女性への性暴力や基地から派生する演習による事故、事
件、環境破壊、人権侵害は跡を絶ちません。私たちは米軍基地を抱える国や地域の女
性たちと連隊して、軍事主義を許さない国際女性ネットワークを結成して、それぞれ
の経験を共有し、被害者の回復に支援します。そして、軍事力によらない真の安全保
障を広げていく活動を続けています。現在、フィリピン、韓国、グアム、ハワイ、プ
エルトリコの女性たちがつながって、軍事基地から派生する暴力、環境問題、人権侵
害をなくしていく社会を目指して、連携を築いているところです。
辺野古新基地建設阻止からの平和
沖縄の人々は、1８年にわたり辺野古への新たな米軍基地建設に対して、非暴力によ
る反対行動を続けています。50年、100年の耐久年数を要する軍事基地の建設を許す
ことは、百年先まで軍拡競争を継続するということでしょうか。世界有数の美しい珊
瑚礁に囲まれてた美しい海を破壊し、沖縄を北限とする絶滅危惧種のジュゴンが生息
しているすばらしい海域を破壊して享受できるもものにどんか価値があるのでしょう
か。
沖縄戦を生き延びた高齢者たちを含め人々は、軍隊の性暴力をはじめ、事故・事
件、環境破壊から子どもたちを守りたいという思いと、この沖縄の地が、新たな戦争
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2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
につながる軍事基地となることに強い抵抗を抱いて、沖縄県知事、当該市の市長、ま
た、沖縄県選出の国会議員も含めて、オール沖縄、島ぐるみに結集した声を世界に向
けて上げています。
しかし、日米両政府は、沖縄の軍事基地の過重な負担を軽減するとの約束とは裏腹
に、実際には、朝鮮半島・潜在的紛争地域、中国の脅威は、日本の安全と平和に影響
を及ぼし得るものとして、軍事的増強のための辺野古基地建設を進めているのです。
しかし、各国が、軍拡競争を見直し、増大する軍事費を見直して、人々の生活、福
祉の向上へ、教育へ、医療へ、対話安全な食糧の保障していくことへ踏み出していく
こと強く求めます。
停戦状態の朝鮮半島に真の平和条約の締結されるために、それは周辺の地域の平和
と安貞につながり、「軍拡」競争から「平和外交」へと明確なシフトがうまれる機会
となるでしょう。今年が戦後70年の節目の年に、真に、安全で平和な世界の実現を
願っています。
女性たちの平和行進は、その担い手になることの決意を示しているのです。
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2 Session
Presentation 3)
Women's Walk for Peace And Reunification of Korea
Patricia Guerrero
(Founder and Director of Liga de
Mujeres Desplazadas, Columbia)
Dear women,
Thanks for having me here today. You can imagine what an honor it is to
be here with you.
My first contact with Korea was in my living room. My father, a retired
senior military officer of the counterinsurgency division, used to drink with
a Korean War veteran who had been part of the Colombian Infantry
Battalion N * 1, which was part of the United Nations force in Korea. I was
just a young girl in my first year studying law at the university, and
listened behind closed doors to these disturbing stories of bombings and
ambushes. I would never have imagined standing before you today, telling
this story ... which strangely I never forgot.
Many years later, as part of the Caucus for Gender Justice of the ICC
(known as ICC Women), I became active in defending the rights of victims
of armed conflict in my country, a wrenching conflict of more than 60
years. In 2000, as part of ICC Women, I was invited to Japan to participate
in the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual
Slavery. The experience changed me forever.
The memories of these old women fighting for justice, fighting for truth and
reparations, in their traditional outfits, tears, screaming and fainting during
the court hearings marked me forever.
The main lesson I took was the need to break the silence. Women raped
and sexually enslaved in Colombia would have to start talking, they could
not go on living alone, isolated in their shame, as if they had been the
criminals while the perpetrators were free or received benefits through laws
that pardoned and at most gave derisory punishments.
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2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
So we did an initial investigation on displaced women suffering sexual
violence around the area of my job, the sub-region of the Montes de Maria
in the Department of Bolivar. Out of the 400 women interviewed, all had
been victims of some violence or sexual abuse, including sexual slavery
committed by paramilitaries, guerrillas, and government forces. Enduring
constant threat and with very few resources, we conducted the investigation
in 2004 with women displaced and confined by war. We expanded our
research to other areas and the results showed the plight of the women
victims of armed conflict in my country.
The 2009 Oxfam-“Sexual Violence in Colombia, a Weapon of War” reports
more than 500,000 women as victims of sexual violence linked to war
crimes in Colombia1).
But sexual violence doesn’t come alone: ​
over 3
million women and girls have been displaced and doomed to misery.
Hundreds of mothers organize to look for their missing children taken by all
parties of the conflict.
The Chamber of Initial Investigation of the International Criminal Court has
launched investigations on these crimes. The FARC does not accept that
crimes were committed against civilian women and girls and even less the
existence of rape, forced abortions, and sexual slavery against women and
girls within their ranks and organization2).
The investigation, prosecution and punishment of the perpetrators of
violence against women and sexual violence connected to armed conflict
remains a challenge for the Attorney General's Office. In over 15 years as
an advocate for victims of rape and forced displacement in my country, I
have not seen any of the 130 cases we reported to the Attorney General of
forced displacement, sexual violence, sexual slavery, forced disappearance,
and homicide produce an outcome.
After more than 15 years of investigation, the cases have been shelved for
lack of evidence. They responded with impunity to 100% of the cases filed
by the League of Displaced Women and likewise to most reported cases.
1) https://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/bp-sexual-violence-colombia-sp.pdf
2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1Zk7QkVgJY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=debMD3liJqU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edO7dimeQN4
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2 Session
Impunity for the crime of sexual violence in Colombia
"According to figures from the National Institute of Medicine and Forensic
Sciences, for the past 10 years, sexual violence in the country has been
perpetrated mainly against female children. Of all serological tests
performed by the institute, about 85% of cases have occurred against girls
and adolescents between 8 and 12 years of age and they are at high risk
of being abused." This conclusion, in turn, is consistent with figures from
studies done from 2003 to 2010 by the Observatory of Crime DIJIN (police)
that records that the most frequent crimes against freedom, integrity, and
sexual development happens on children, girls and adolescents, with
percentages ranging from 70 to 76%. "3)
Investigation of these crimes would be a form of reparation for the victims;
the lack of such investigation (IACHR "Cotton Field case against Mexico")
compromises their life, safety, and the right of future generations of women
and girls to live free from violence as the cycle continues with impunity.
According to the UN Security Council, impunity constitutes a threat to
achieving sustainable and lasting peace, and exposes the state’s inability to
prevent the rape of women and girls, protect victims, repair and strengthen
their access to justice.
The lack of due diligence is a constant theme playing against the lives of
victims. Resolution 1994/45 (on due diligence) states that:
"... the government has the duty to eliminate the use of violence against
women and to exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and, in
accordance with national legislation, take appropriate and effective action
concerning acts of violence against women, whether those acts are
perpetrated by the State or by private persons, and provide victims just and
effective remedies and specialized assistance (para. 2). "4)
Impunity is a deep and unfathomable wound in the lives of hundreds of
thousands of women worldwide.
3) Colombian Constitutional Court. Sentence T-009 of 2015
4) 1994/45. Question of integrating the rights of women into the human rights mechanisms of the United Nations
and the elimination of violence against women
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2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
The absence of psychological help to overcome the trauma of war has
generated a silent death of moral shame among its victims, dying of
loneliness, malnutrition, sadness, without dreams or hopes, totally abandoned
by the state. In my organization, the League of Displaced Women, five
women were killed between 2013 and 2014 because of moral shame.
Without justice there will be no peace for women.
The current peace negotiations in Havana, Cuba between guerrillas of the
FARC Armed Forces of National Liberation and the government of President
Santos, have raised the following agenda items: i) rural development policy
ii) political participation and strengthening democracy iii) end of conflict
DDR iv) illicit drugs and narco-trafficking v) victims.
Despite the best efforts by the women's movement, and the mandate of the
international law, UN resolutions 1325, 1820, 1888, 1960 and others, the
participation of women in the negotiations and dialogue for solutions has
been impossible. While some women are at the negotiation table around
armed conflict on behalf of President Santos, none of them come from
women's civil society groups. Nor do we have a National Plan of Action
around the compliance with UNSCR 1325 and others.
Without representation from the more than half of 47 million Colombians,
negotiations lack legitimacy, and again risk impunity for gender crimes, and
the continuation of sexual violence around the victims.
History shows us that very few cases of violence against women where
perpetrators have been tried and punished, and their victims given back
their dignity and reparations.
Korean women sexually enslaved during the Second World War are such
proof.
There are a few examples of international condemnation for sexual crime
that match the magnitude of the crime. Yet, they are so few that they can
be counted on my fingers5). How many were in the Court of Japan after
WorldWar II? Not one. In the Nuremberg Tribunal? Neither.
It is said that rape as a weapon of war, forced pregnancy, forced abortion,
5)
International Criminal Court for Old Yugoslavia (TPIY) applying to cases of sexal violence: Kunarac, Kovac and
Vukovic, Tadic, Blaskic, Mrksic and Furundzija cases. International Criminal Court for Rw anda (TPIR)applying to
cases of sexal violence: Case of Jean Paul Akayesu.
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2 Session
forced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable
gravity perpetrated in armed conflict internal or international, do not
prescribe punishment but pardon and give amnesty to the perpetrators, or at
most give derisory punishments.
Justice is being currently sacrificed in the name of peace.
Peace in a country is a political event where justice is first sacrificed.
The African Union (AU) recently asked the UN Security Council and the
International Criminal Court (ICC) to postpone the trial of Kenyan President
Uhuru Kenyatta. This is an example of the interference of politics against
justice. This is clearly a backward step in the continent's fight against
impunity. Hundreds of women and girls have been raped in Kenya, and this
also occurs in Colombia and other countries, such as DRC, Burma etc. But
historically for women, there has only been impunity.
(www.stoprapeinconflict.org)
In the case of Colombia, the President of Spain has promised to bring the
issue to the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member, to politically
dissolve this tension between justice and peace with the thought that issues
of justice such as harsher punishment for crimes committed by all armed
groups and unarmed conflict, could be an impediment to negotiating peace
with the FARC6).
Although the Court is an independent entity from the UN, provision 16 of
the Rome Statute subjects the fate of its investigations to the resolutions
and power of the Security Council. This leaves an open door to the Treaty
to act in case of need, and the Security Council's needs are often those of
its five powerful permanent members and its allies: The five superpowers
in the Security Council made sure the Rome Statute contained intervention
mechanisms to challenge justice and bend it to their political and economic
interests.
Justice, but especially justice for women who have been victims of gender
crimes and sexual violence in armed conflict, war crimes that should be
considered as crimes against humanity and as genocide, have never been
resolved by any judicial system in the world.
6) http://www.larioja.com/nacional/201411/22/espana-compromete-ampliar-apoyo-20141122012530-rc.html.
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2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
It is not only war and armed terrorism that threatens women and girls,
religious fanaticism condemns the existence of peoples and hundreds of
thousands of people are displaced by sea and land and girls face threats of
sexual violence in those countries.
I would like to finish where I started: what would my father say seeing me
here today, speaking to you, condemning war, sexual and gender violence?
I'd imagine he would think war useless because it degrades human life. He
would think that it cannot continue as the future of humanity, and that it’s
okay that his daughter has devoted her life to withstand the same armed
conflict in which he participated fighting the insurgency in Colombia. 60
years of pointless war in my country.
"Of the 5,100 Colombian fighters who took part in the Asian conflict in
KOREA, 111 officers and 590 noncommissioned officers participated in war
operations and the rest in monitoring the armistice ... The final casualty for
the Colombia Battalion was 639: 163 killed in action, 448 wounded, 28
prisoners exchanged and 47 missing.”
Again, I thank the women who thought of me to participate in the 2015
International Women's Walk for Peace and Reunification of Korea. It is a
great honor that will mark me forever.
Thank you very much.
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2 Session
[Spanish Original Version]
Women’s Walk and Peace Reunification of Korea 2015
WOMENCROSSDMZ
Patricia Guerrero
Queridas mujeres.
Gracias por tenerme hoy aquí. Ustedes podrán imaginan el honor que es para mí
estar aquí con ustedes.
Mi primer contacto con Corea fue en la sala de mi casa. Mi padre un alto militar
retirado de los combates contrainsurgentes, tomaba licor con un veterano de la
Guerra de Corea que había formado parte del Batallón de Infantería N*1 Colombia
que formó parte del Ejercito de las Naciones Unidas en Corea. Yo apenas era una
jovencita inquieta que estudiaba mi primer año de derecho en la universidad, y
escuchaba
tras
las
puertas
estas
inquietantes
historias
de
bombardeos
y
emboscadas, sin siquiera imaginar que hoy podría estar frente a ustedes, contando
este recuerdo…que extrañamente nunca se borró de mi memoria.
Muchos años después, cuando ya era una mujer activa en la defensa de los
derechos de las víctimas del conflicto armado en mi país, un conflicto desgarrador
que lleva más de 60 años, el para entonces, Caucus para la Justicia de Género de
la Corte Penal internacional -hoy ICC Women-, me invitó al Japón para participar en
el Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal on Japane’s Military Sexual Salvary
(2000). Esta experiencia cambió mi vida para siempre.
Los recuerdos de estas mujeres ancianas luchando por que se hiciera justicia, que
luchan por la verdad y por una reparación digna, Imágenes de mujeres con sus
trajes nacionales, algunas de ellas con sus piececitos de bonsay, las lágrimas, los
gritos y desmayos en las audiencias del tribunal marcaron mi vida para siempre.
La principal lección para mí fue la necesidad de romper el silencio. Las mujeres
violadas y esclavizadas sexualmente en Colombia tendrían que comenzar hablar, no
podían seguir viviendo solas, y aisladas con su pena, como si ellas hubieran sido las
criminales
mientras
los
perpetradores
de
tanta
violencia,
continuaran
libres
o
recibiendo beneficios de la ley de indultos y penas irrisorias.
Hicimos entonces una primera investigación sobre la violencia sexual en las mujeres
desplazadas en la zona en la que yo hago mi trabajo en el Departamento de Bolívar,
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2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
principalmente en la subregión de los Montes de María. Resulto que de 400 mujeres
entrevistadas, todas había sido víctimas de alguna forma de violencia o abuso sexual,
incluso de esclavitud sexual crímenes cometidos por paramilitares, guerrillas y la
fuerza pública.
Ha esta investigación realizada en el año 2004 con mujeres desplazadas y en zonas
confinadas por la guerra, con muy pocos recursos y siempre amenazadas, siguieron
otras que continuaron mostrando la situación desesperada de las víctimas del
conflicto armado en mi país.
Investigaciones recientes (Oxsfan 2009 Violencia sexual en Colombia un arma de
guerra) hablan de más de 500 mil mujeres víctimas de violencia sexual en Colombia
crímenes ligados a la guerra.
Pero la violencia sexual no viene sola: más de 3 millones de mujeres y niñas han
sido desplazadas y condenadas a la mísera.
Cientos de madres se organizan para buscar a sus hijos e hijas desaparecidos por
todos los actores del conflicto.
La Sala de Investigaciones Preliminares de la Corte Penal Internacional ha iniciado
investigaciones sobre estos temas cometidos en Colombia.
La guerrilla de las FARC no acepta que éste crimen se haya cometido contra las
mujeres y las niñas de la población civil y menos aún, que en sus propias filas haya
habido violaciones, abortos forzados, o esclavitud sexual contra las mujeres y las
niñas de su organización.
La investigación, persecución y castigo para los responsables de violencia de género
y la violencia sexual en razón del conflicto interno armado siguen siendo un reto
para la Fiscalía General de la Nación. En más de 15 años como defensora de las
víctimas de violación sexual y desplazamiento forzado en mi país, ni uno de los más
de 130 casos que hemos denunciado ante la Fiscalía General de la Nación por
desplazamiento forzado, violencia sexual, esclavitud sexual, desaparición forzada y
homicidio han obtenido resultados.
Transcurridos más de 15 años las investigaciones han sido archivadas por falta de
pruebas.
100% de impunidad respecto de los casos de la Liga de Mujeres Desplazadas y así
mismo en la mayoría de los casos denunciados.
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2 Session
La impunidad sobre el crimen de violencia sexual en Colombia.
“De acuerdo con las cifras del Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal y Ciencias
Forenses, durante los últimos 10 años la violencia sexual en el país se ha
perpetrado principalmente contra la población femenina infantil. Del total de
exámenes sexológicos practicados por la entidad, cerca del 85% de los casos
han ocurrido contra niñas y adolescentes […] tener entre 8 y 12 años de edad
es un factor de riesgo para sufrir abuso”. Esta conclusión, a su turno, es
consistente con las cifras del Observatorio del Delito de la DIJIN (policía) que
registra que las víctimas más recurrentes de los delitos contra la libertad,
integridad y formación sexuales, son los niños, las niñas y las adolescentes,
con porcentajes que van desde el 70 al 76% entre los años 2003 y 2010.”
La falta de investigación, como una forma de reparación para las víctimas
(Corte
IDH "Caso Campo algodonero contra México"), ha venido comprometiendo la vida, la
seguridad y una vida libre de violencia de las generaciones venideras de mujeres y
niñas, porque el camino de la impunidad es el camino de la repetición.
Según el Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU, la impunidad se constituye en una
amenaza para la consecución de una paz sostenible y duradera, y muestra la
incapacidad de los Estados en prevenir la violación de mujeres y niñas, proteger a
las víctimas, repararlas, así como fortalecer su acceso a la justicia.
La falta de debida diligencia (Resolución 1994/45) es una constante que juega en
contra de la vida de las víctimas, en ella se establece que:
“…el deber que los gobiernos tienen de evitar el empleo de la violencia contra
la mujer y actuar con la necesaria diligencia para prevenir, investigar y, de
conformidad con la legislación nacional, adoptar medidas apropiadas y eficaces
respecto de los actos de violencia contra la mujer, ya se trate de actos
perpetrados por el Estado o por particulares, y facilitar a las víctimas una
reparación equitativa y eficaz y una asistencia especializada (Párr. 2)”.
La impunidad es una herida profunda e insondable en la vida de cientos de miles de
mujeres en todo el mundo.
La inasistencia psicológica para la superación del trauma de la guerra, ha venido
generando una muerte silenciosa de pena moral entre las víctimas de la guerra, que
mueren de soledad, desnutrición, tristeza, sin sueños ni esperanzas, en el total
abandono del Estado. En mi organización La Liga de Mujeres Desplazadas cinco
mujeres murieron entre el 2013 y el 2014 de pena moral.
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2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
Sin justicia no habrá paz para las mujeres.
Las actuales negociaciones de paz que se desarrollan en la Habana Cuba entre la
guerrilla de las Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional FARC y el Gobierno del
Presidente Santos, han venido superando cada uno de los puntos de la agenda: i)
Política de desarrollo rural tierra, ii) Participación política fortalecimiento de la
democracia iii) Fin del conflicto, DDR. iv) Drogas ilícitas narcotráfico y v) Victimas.
Sin embargo, a pesar de los ingentes esfuerzos del movimiento social de mujeres, y
del mandato de la ley internacional entorno a las resoluciones de ONU 1325, 1820,
1888, 1960 y otras, relativas a la participación de las mujeres en la solución y
participación en las mesas de diálogo y negociación, esto no ha sido posible. Hay
mujeres que en nombre del Gobierno del Presidente Santos hacen porte de las
mesas de diálogo, pero no hay mujeres de la sociedad civil en esa mesa de dialogo
del conflicto armado. Tampoco tenemos un Plan Nacional de Acción alrededor del
cumplimiento de la UNSCR 1325 y demás.
En ese sentido sin la representación de más de la mitad una población de 47
millones de Colombianos y Colombianas, las negociaciones carecen de legitimidad, y
nuevamente el riesgo de impunidad sobre los crímenes de género y violencia sexual
gravita en torno a las víctimas.
La historia nos ha venido demostrando que son muy pocos los casos que se han
juzgado, castigado, y
en los que ha habido reparación y dignificación de las
víctimas. Las mujeres de Corea esclavizadas sexualmente durante la segunda guerra
mundial, son una prueba fehaciente de ello.
Cuantas condenas internacionales hay por este crimen de frente
a la magnitud del
mismo. Muy pocas, casi que se pueden contar en los dedos de las manos.
Cuantas
hubo en el Tribunal del Japón después de la segunda guerra mundial. Ni una. En el
Tribunal de Nuremberg tampoco.
Se dice que la violación sexual como arma de guerra, el embarazo forzado, el aborto
forzado, la esterilización forzada, o cualquier otra forma de violencia sexual de
gravedad
comparable
perpetrada
en
conflicto
armado
de
carácter
interno
o
internacional, no prescriben, aún los indulten o los amnistíen, o se les coloquen
penas irrisorias.
Que las leyes de perdón y olvido no son admitidas por nadie en el contexto actual
del derecho internacional de los derechos humanos, así tomen la apariencia de leyes
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2 Session
de justicia transicional, y menos aún en el derecho penal internacional, sin embargo
es el mismo Estatuto de Roma, quién abre las puertas para que en vez de que se
haga justicia, se cierren las puertas de la misma.
Justice is being currently sacrificed in the name of peace.
Peace in a country is a political event where justice is firstly sacrificed.
The bad example of the interference of politics against justice is now days given by
the African Union AU by requesting the Security Council of the UN UNSC and the
International Criminal Court ICC to postpone the trial of Kenyan President Uhuru
Kenyatta. This is an obvious step backwards in the continent's fight against impunity.
Hundreds of women and girls have been raped in Kenya, and this also occurs in
Colombia and other countries, such as DRC, Burma etc. But historically for women
there has only been impunity. (www.stoprapeinconflict.org)
En el caso de Colombia el presidente de España, hoy en el consejo de seguridad
como uno de los miembros no permanentes, ha prometido llevar el tema al UNSC,
para disolver políticamente esta fuerte tensión entre justicia y paz, en el pensado que
la justicia de altas penas, por los crímenes cometidos por todos los actores armados
y desarmados del conflicto, sea un impedimento para el logro de la paz negociada
con la guerrilla de las FARC.
Although the Court is an independent entity from the United Nations - UN, the future
of their possible investigations is subjected, according to the provisions of Article 16
of the Rome Statute, to the resolutions and the power of the Security Council. This
has left an open door to the Treaty to act in case of need, and it is well known that
the Security Council's needs are often the needs of the five powerful permanent
members that integrate it, and those of its allies.
The five
superpowers that make up
the Security
Council assured intervention
mechanisms in the Rome Statute to suitably challenge justice and bend it to their
political and economic interests.
La justicia, pero sobre todo la justicia par las mujeres que han sido víctimas de
crímenes de género y violencia sexual en el conflictico armado, crímenes de guerra
que pueden llegar a ser contra la humanidad y genocidio, no ha podido ser resuelta
por ningún sistema judicial en ningún país del mundo.
Hoy día no solamente la guerra y el terrorismo armado amenaza la vida de las
mujeres y las niñas, El fanatismo religioso condena la existencia de los pueblos, y
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2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
cientos de miles de personas son desplazadas por mar y por tierra frente a la
amenaza de la violencia sexual contra las niñas de esos países.
Quiero terminar esta intervención en donde comencé: que diría mi padre al verme
hoy aquí ?, hablando frente a ustedes, condenando la guerra, la violencia sexual y
de género. Tal vez pensaría que la guerra es inútil porque degrada la vida humana,
que no puede seguir siendo el futuro de la humanidad, y que está bien que su hija
haya consagrado su vida a resistir el mismo conflicto armado en el que el participo
combatiendo la insurgencia en Colombia. 60 años de una guerra inútil en mi país.
“”De los 5100 combatientes colombianos que tomaron parte en el conflicto asiático
de KOREA, 111 oficiales y 590 suboficiales participaron en operaciones de guerra y
el resto en la vigilancia del armisticio…El saldo final de la guerra para el Batallón
Colombia fue de 639 bajas de combate distribuidas entre 163 muertos en acción,
448 heridos, 28 prisioneros que fueron canjeados y 47 desaparecidos~.
Yo nuevamente agradezco a las mujeres que pensaron en mí para participar en la
International Women’s Walk and Peace Reunification of Korea 2015 es un inmenso
honor que marcara mi vida para siempre.
Muchas gracias.
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2 Session
Presentation 4)
Women's Voice from Military Camp Town in Korea
Kim, Sook-Ja
(Sunlight Sister's Center)
Name: Kim, Sook-Ja
Year of Birth: 1945, Place of Birth: Mokpo-si, Jeollanam-do, Korea
My background
I was born at Mokpo, Jeonranamdo in 1945, but it was written in 1950 on
the identity card. My parents, who had wanted to have a son, had been
hard on me since little and didn't send me to school, saying that I was a
girl. I was beaten up by my mother all the time and left home when I
turned 12, as I could no longer put up with such beating. I followed a
person who I met in train and started being in a domestic service. After
moving from one house to another, I got into a pimp's house with my peers
when I was 19 years old. But as I couldn't adapt myself, I became again a
domestic servant in a lady's house.
After that, I stayed with American soliders in Sunghwan, Gimje, Jincheon,
Taean, and Anjeongri. I had STD check up every Tuesday and Friday in
Sunghwan. Without STD check-ups, I could not work or live in the area of
Sunghwan. Hence, by all means I made sure that I got the check-up
thoroughly. Although there were health centres in the areas of Jincheon,
Taean, and Sunghwan, those staffs of the health centres came near to the
villages of military bases, I remember.
I took a inspection's role. If deputy chair and inspector collect fees for
association, the chair kept them. But I don't know how they were used.
When I went to Jincheon, there had already been a women's society, which
had a chair and an inspector. I don't know how it was formed; unless you
joined it, you wouldn't have been able to work. And the inspector even
examined a (STD) pass.
When the chair of the association in Anjeongri called for a meeting, I
remember that civil servants of Pyeongtak City came along. I had an
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2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
education, going around from one club to another. Many people including
those parties of city hall or local offices came to visit with rice and living
necessaries, saying "you(unni) all deserve these because you saved our
country and earned dollars... Don't be weak-hearted..." and "Give good
service to customers (American soliders). You shouldn't carry STD." And
when Ja-hun Lee ran up for the MP election, "I will provide you a
small-sized apartment when you get older", I heard.
[The expansion of military base into Pyeongtak led to the sharp increase in
monthly rent with new building built for leasing service targeting military
soliders, so that many are facing that they can hardly afford monthly rents
for a dosshouse where they have been living so far. As most of these old
women are living with 300,000 to 400,000 won(equivalent to US 3-400
dollars as recipient of national basic livelihood, after paying 250,000 won
for rent, the rest of money is not enough even for foods. Furthermore, most
of them tend to endure cold weather in winter time without heating because
they can't afford. Making matter worse, they are in brink of being displaced
due to the development project of promotion for Anjeongri renewal. ]
Activities of Women's Association
I started working when I came to Anjeongri in 1976, and playing a role as
manager and inspector from 1978. Then chair sister collected and handled
money and I took charge of inspecting. As an inspector, I had a look at new
girls in clubs and checked whether or not they joined the association, had
check-ups, and etc.
Activities of Chrysanthemum Association
Chrysanthemum Association was formed in 1992, in order to look after each
other when we are getting older and living alone at military camps in
Anjeongri, Pyungtak. However, when Ja-hun Lee ran up for the MP election,
he supported its formation for the purpose of winning votes from us. (The
government has participated in and supported the formation process of both
Women's Association and Chrysanthemum Association. - Newsletter of
Sunlight Vol. 4: 5)
Current place of living and activities
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2 Session
I have been living in Anjeongri, Pyungtack since 1976 and playing a role in
managing the Chrysanthemum Association as a manager.
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2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
Closing
Closing Ceremony
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
Closing Ceremony
2015 Declaration of International Women's Grand
March for Reunification & Peace of Korea
Whereas the year 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of
Korea and also the 70th year since Korea was divided by outside forces;
Whereas the tragedy suffered by the Korean people, the only nation to
remain divided as a result of the Cold War, can no longer be ignored by the
global community;
Whereas the Demilitarized Zone is one of the most militarized and
dangerous conflict areas in the world and the symbol of Korean division;
Whereas peace & stability is an important foundation for human rights;
Whereas the year 2015 also marks the fifteenth anniversary of United
Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security
which calls for the "full participation of women in the peace process,"
including in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, and in peace-building;
Therefore, on this day, May 24, International Women’s Day for Peace and
Disarmament, we women, from North and South Korea and around the
world, are walking to invite all concerned to begin a new chapter in Korean
history, one marked by dialogue, reconciliation, mutual understanding &
respect, and peaceful co-prosperity. As such, we are walking to:
- Call for the official end of the Korean War by replacing the 1953
Armistice Agreement with a peace treaty as stipulated in Article 4
Paragraph 60;
- Help reunite Korean families tragically separated by an artificial, unwanted
division;
- Lessen military tensions on the Korean peninsula;
- Appeal to the international community to lift sanctions that harm innocent
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2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
civilians;
- Decry wartime violence toward women and girls and bring justice for the
“comfort women” who survived sexual slavery during WWII;
- Redirect funds devoted to the arms race toward improving people’s
welfare and protecting the environment;
- Amplify women’s leadership in the peacebuilding process in Korea and
around the world in accordance with international law; and
- Challenge the world to support Korea’s reconciliation and reunification as
a cornerstone of building world peace.
We, hereby, declare our commitment to support the desires of the Korean
people and all people of conscience around the world, to work towards a
peaceful reconciliation and reunification of the Korean peninsula for a
lasting peace and security in Korea and the world. By working together with
Korean women at all levels, particularly from the grassroots, the
International Women’s Walk for Peace and Reunification of Korea, mindful of
Korean women’s right to determine the future of a peaceful Korea, will
continue its work until these aims are fully achieved.
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Index
Index
1) Brief Summary of WCD
2) Introduction of Saek-Dong
Artwork
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
index
Brief Summary of Women Cross DMZ PEACE WALK 2015
1. 2015 WOMEN’S WALK FOR PEACE IN KOREA
On May 24, 2015, thirty international women peacemakers from around the
world will walk with Korean women, north and south, to call for an end to
the Korean War and for a new beginning for a reunified Korea. We will hold
international peace symposiums in Pyongyang and Seoul where we can
listen to Korean women and share our experiences and ideas of mobilizing
women to bring an end to the violent conflict. Our hope is to cross the
2-mile wide De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) that separates millions of Korean
families as a symbolic act of peace.
2015 marks the 70th anniversary of Korea’s division into two separate
states by the Cold War powers, which precipitated the 1950-53 Korean
War. After nearly 4 million people were killed, mostly Korean civilians,
fighting was halted when North Korea, China, and the United States
representing the UN Command signed a ceasefire agreement. They promised
within three months to sign a peace treaty; over 60 years later, we’re still
waiting.
Meanwhile, thousands of Korean elders die every year waiting on a
government list to see their children or siblings after being separated by
the DMZ. In North Korea, crippling sanctions against the government make
it difficult for ordinary people to access the basics needed for survival. The
unresolved Korean conflict gives all governments in the region justification
to further militarize and prepare for war, depriving funds for schools,
hospitals, and the welfare of the people and the environment. That’s why
women are walking for peace, to reunite families, and end the state of war
in Korea.
2. Facts
- 4M people died in the Korean War of 1950-53, most of them Korean
civilians.
- 10M families are still separated by the DMZ.
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2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
- 70M Koreans live in a state of war due to unresolved conflict.
- 60+ YRS after the war ended with a temporary cease-fire agreement,
we’re still waiting for a peace treaty.
- $1T is spent by USA, China, Russia, Japan, and South Korea on
militarization, fueled by unresolved conflicts.
3. Participants
MAIREAD MAGUIRE
Honorary Co-Chair
Mairead is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate for her peaceful, nonviolent work
on the ethnic/political conflict in Northern Ireland. She organized massive
peace demonstrations and began Peace People, since dedicating her life to
promoting nonviolence and disarmament around the world.
GLORIA STEINEM
Honorary Co-Chair
Gloria is a writer, lecturer, editor, feminist activist, and recipient of the
Presidential Medal of Freedom. She is a spokesperson for gender equality
and works on non-violent conflict resolutions as well as organizing across
boundaries for peace and justice and of race, sex, class and caste.
CHRISTINE AHN
Organizing Committee
Christine is a columnist and organizer for peace and justice in the U.S.,
Korea, and Asia Pacific. She co-founded Women De-Militarize the Zone,
Korea Policy Institute, and National Campaign to End the Korean War, and
was Senior Policy Analyst at Global Fund for Women.
MEDEA BENJAMIN
Organizing Committee
Medea is the co-founder of CODE PINK, a women-led peace organization
with 250 chapters across the USA. She co-founded Global Exchange, helped
form the United for Peace and Justice Coalition, and organized peace
delegations to Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Palestine.
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index
HYUNG-KYUNG CHUNG
Organizing Committee
Dr. Chung Hyun Kyung is a professor of Interfaith engagement at Union
Theological Seminary in New York City. She is an international author,
speaker, and activist in the area of interfaith peacemaking, ecofeminism, and
women's spirituality. A Christian theologian and a Buddhist Dharma teacher,
she is a councilor of International Interfaith Peace Council.
GAY DILLINGHAM
Organizing Committee
Gay founded two environmental companies and a communications firm and
has directed/produced award-winning films. She directs the Livingry
Foundation and is on the board of Bioneers. In 2010, she traveled with
Governor Richardson on a peace-keeping mission to North Korea.
SUZY KIM
Organizing Committee
A professor of Korean history at Rutgers University, Suzy has advocated for
human rights and peace in Korea with Minkahyup Human Rights Group,
Amnesty International, and the Alliance of Scholars Concerned about Korea.
She wrote Everyday Life in the North Korean Revolution, 1945-1950.
VANA KIM HANSEN
Organizing Committee
Vana is a spiritual teacher with a PhD in education from Harvard on a
mission to create peace and love in the world. A refugee of the Korean
War, she has a profound interest in healing the wounds of her motherland.
GWYN KIRK
Organizing Committee
Gwyn is a writer, teacher, and organizer. Her co-authored work includes
Greenham Women Everywhere, Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives,
and Living Along the Fenceline. She is a founder member of Women for
Genuine Security, and the International Women’s Network Against Militarism.
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2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
SUNG-OK LEE
Organizing Committee
Sung-Ok is the assistant general secretary of United Methodist Women, the
largest denominational faith organization for women with 800,000 members.
She has been an ecumenical movement
reunification for Korea for decades.
leader
for
peace
and
the
CORA WEISS
Organizing Committee
Cora Weiss is the former President of the International Peace Bureau, which
she now represents at the UN. She is President of the Hague Appeal for
Peace, and was among the civil society drafters of Sec Council Resolution
1325 on women peace and security.
ANN WRIGHT
Organizing Committee
Ann is a retired US Army Reserve Colonel and a former US diplomat who
resigned in 2003 in opposition to the US war on Iraq. She now works
globally with peace and social justice groups. She co-authored “Dissent:
Voices of Conscience.”
JEAN CHUNG
Jean Chung is a social activist based in Los Angeles working for peace and
reconciliation of two Koreas. For the past few years, she has led Action for
One Korea (AOK), a grass-root movement to spread the passion for
reunified Korea both in Korean American and Korean society.
ABIGAIL DISNEY
A filmmaker and philanthropist, Abigail produced Pray the Devil Back to Hell
and the PBS mini-series Women, War & Peace. She also founded the
Daphne Foundation, Peace is Loud, and co-founded the Gbowee Peace
Foundation USA.
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index
JODIE EVANS
Jodie Evans is a longtime peace, environmental, women's rights and social
justice activist. She co-founded CODEPINK and worked for California
Governor Jerry Brown. Jodie authored Stop the Next War Now and Twilight
of Empire, and produced several Oscar-nominated documentaries.
LEYMAH GBOWEE
2011 Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist,
trained social worker and women’s rights advocate. She is founder and
President of the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa. She uses her platform to
advocate for human rights, peace, and security.
ERIKA GUEVARA
Erika Guevara Rosas is a feminist, Mexican-American human rights lawyer
and Director for the Americas at the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International. She was the Americas Director at the Global Fund for Women
and managed operations at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
PATRICIA GUERRERO
Patricia Guerrero is a human rights lawyer and founder of Liga de Mujeres
Desplazadas, which advocates for women displaced by Colombia’s armed
conflict and reparations in Colombia’s transitional justice process. She
advises the International Campaign to Stop Rape and Sexual Violence in
Conflict.
JANE JIN KAISEN
Jane is a visual artist and filmmaker based in Copenhagen. She has dealt
extensively with legacies of colonialism, war, militarism, transnational
adoption and gender. She is the director of films such as Reiterations of
Dissent, The Woman, The Orphan, and The Tiger, Island of Stone, and
Tracing Trades.
DEANN BORSHAY LIEM
Deann is a director, producer and distributor of independent documentaries,
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2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
including First Person Plural, In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee, and
Geographies of Kinship - The Korean Adoption Story. She recently
produced with Ramsay Liem Memory of Forgotten War.
M. BRINTON LYKES
Brinton
Director
College.
arts and
is Professor of Community-Cultural Psychology and Associate
of the Center for Human Rights and International Justice at Boston
She works with survivors of war using cultural resources, creative
feminist participatory action research methodologies.
LIZA MAZA
Liza is a former Philippine congresswoman who co-authored laws on
women, including the Anti-Violence against Women and Children Act and the
Magna Carta of Women. Liza is Chair Emerita of GABRIELA Women's
Alliance and the International Women's Alliance, a global coalition of
grassroots women's organizations.
ANN PATTERSON
Ann is a renowned peace activist from Northern Ireland and a member of
Peace People. She travels worldwide to conflict zones to share insight and
experience acquired from Ireland’s peace process of overcoming violence
through learning, dialogue and cooperation.
SUZUYO TAKAZATO
Suzuyo founded Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence and helped
create Okinawa’s first rape crisis center to provide hotline and face-to-face
counseling to victims of sexual violence. In 1995, her activism led to a
large-scale protest by people of Okinawa against US military bases.
KOZUE AKIBAYASHI
Kozue Akibayashi is a feminist researcher/activist and has worked on issues
of gender and peace. She is a professor at Graduate School of Global
Studies, Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, and a member of Women’s
International League for Peace and Freedom.
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index
LISA LINDA NATIVIDAD
Lisa Linda Natividad is an Associate Professor in the Division of Social
Work at the University of Guam. She is also the President of the Guahan
Coalition for Peace and Justice. She has delivered interventions to the
United Nations on issues of militarization, colonization, and indigenous
peoples' rights.
EWA ERIKSSON FORTIER
Ewa Eriksson Fortier has engaged in international humanitarian work for 40
years, beginning in 1976 by the end of the Vietnam War. For the past
decade, Eva has focused on the consequences of the Korean War. She was
the head of an international humanitarian organisation based in Pyongyang.
AIYOUNG CHOI
Aiyoung
Choi
is
an
advocate
for
gender
equality,
peaceful
conflict
resolution, and using art and culture to catalyze progressive social change.
She is Chair Emerita of the Korean American Family Service Center,
Founding Member of the Asian Women Giving Circle, and an organizational
development consultant to nonprofits.
MERI JOYCE
Meri Joyce is an Australian based in Tokyo with the Japan-based
international NGO Peace Boat. As Northeast Asia Regional Liaison Officer
for the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC),
she coordinates civil society projects for dialogue, peacebuilding,
disarmament and peace education in the region.
NETSAI MUSHONGA
Netsai Mushonga is a women rights, nonviolence, and peacebuilding activist
who worked for ten years as the national coordinator of the Women’s
Coalition of Zimbabwe, the network of women’s rights NGOs and individuals
across Zimbabwe. She is walking on behalf of the Women Peacemakers
Program where she is an International Advisory Council member.
JANIS ALTON
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2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
Janis Alton is a long-time activist in the domestic and international peace
movement focused on the delegitimization of war, demilitarization, and the
inclusion of women directly in all decision-making
peacebuilding from conflict prevention to reconstruction.
processes
of
HYE-JUNG PARK
Hye-Jung is a long-time Korea peace and reunification activist who
co-founded the Rainbow Women’s Center in New York and Korea Policy
Institute. She has made several films with J.T. Takagi, including The Women
Outside and North Korea:Beyond the DMZ.
ADVISORY BOARD
Wendi Deetz, Global Fund for Women
Eve Ensler, Playwright and Founder of V-Day, USA
Nam-hee Lee, PhD, Professor, University of California, Los Angeles
Governor Bill Richardson, former Governor New Mexico, United States
Alice Walker, Author and Activist
Marilyn Young, PhD, Professor, New York University
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index
<2015 WomenCrossDMZ International Delegation>
Mairead Maguire: Honorary Co-Chair, 2015 WomenCrossDMZ
Gloria Stinem: Honorary Co-Chair, 2015 WomenCrossDMZ
Christine Ahn: Coordinator, 2015 WomenCrossDMZ
Medea Benjamin: Co-founder, Code Pink
Hyun-Kyung Chung: Professor, Union Theological Seminary
Gay Dillingham: Environmental Policy Analyst/ Filmmaker
Suzy Kim: Organizing Committee, 2015WomenCrossDMZ
Vana Kim Hansen: Organizing Committee, 2015WomenCrossDMZ
Gwyn Kirk: Activist, Women for Genuine Security
Ann Wright: Retired United States Army Colonel
Jean Chung: Founder, Action For One Korea
Abigail Disney: Filmmaker/ Founder of Daphne Foundation, Peace is Loud,
and co-founder of the Gbowee Peace Foundation USA
Jodie Evans: Co-founder Code Pink
Leymah Gbowee: Nobel Peace Laureate/ Liberian peace activist
Erika Guevara: Director of Americas, Amnesty International
Patricia Guerrero: Founder of The Displase Women¨s League and The City
of Women in Colombia/Activist and Women's Right's Defender
Jane Jin Kaisen: Visual artist and Filmmaker in Copenhagen
Deann Borshay Liem: Producer/Director, Mu Films
Brinton Lykes: Professor,
Community-Cultural Psychology and Associate
Director of the Center for Human Rights and International Justice, Boston
College
Liza Maza: Former Congresswoman, Republic of Philippines Executive
Director, We Govern Institute
Ann Patterson: Peace Activist, Peace People
Suzuyo Takazato: Founder of Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence
Kozue Akibayashi: President, Women's International League for Peace and
Freedom; Professor, Doshisha University
Lisa Natividad: Associate Professor in the Division of Social Work at the
University of Guam/ President of the Guahan Coalition for Peace and
Justice
Ewa Eriksson: Humanitarian aid worker at International Federation of Red
Cross
Aiyoung Choi: Consultant to Nonprofit Organizations to strengthen their
organizational structure, governance policies, program management, and
leadership development.
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2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
Meri Joyce: Activist, Peace Boat Japan
Netsai Mushonga: Council Member, Women Peacemakers Program, The
Hague/DevelopmentConsultant-Women'sRights,
Gender
and
PeacebuildiJanis Alton: Peace Activist, Voices of Women for Peace
Hye-jung Park: Scribe Video Center (Philadelphia, U.S.A.) Associate
Director/Program Manager
*Members of Organizing Commitee who couldn't participate in the Peace
Walk:
Sung-Ok Lee: Organizing Committee, WomenCrossDMZ
Cora Weiss: Organizing Committee, WomenCrossDMZ
* Support (7)
Coleen Baik: Designer, Independent
Una Kim: Researcher, New York University
Niana Liu: Photographer
Nick Liem: Student
JT Takagi: Fimmaker, Sound
Nadia Hallgren:Filmmaker, Cinematographer
Olivia Hauser: Assistant to Gloria Steinem
* Media (2)
David Guttenfelder: Photojournalist, National Geographic
Eric Talmadge: Associated Press
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index
Artwork by Park, Young-Soon
Introduction of Saek-Dong Artwork Commemorating the 2015
Women's Peace Walk
The Saek-Dong (multicolored stripes) is a traditional Korean symbol
signifying a peaceful and blessed life upon expelling a lifetime of misfortune
that is still being used in both North and South Koreas despite the many
cultural changes that have occurred in the two Koreas over the years. The
Saek-Dong Patchwork Scarf and Saek-Dong Patchwork Quilt's designs were
inspired by that meaning. It also embodies the hope of women who cherish
life, leading the process of healing the pains of a divided country in their
pursuit of peaceful reunification and creation of a better world.
These artworks are an in-kind gift of talent by Park, Young-Soon
(Professor Emeritus, Department of Human Environment and Design at
Yonsei University). The scarf is created in chiffon, measuring 2 meters in
length and 1 meter in width.
All copyrights related to this artwork is the sole propriety of Park,
Young-Soon..
Price: KRW 30,000
Contact: Korea YWCA/+82-2-774-9704 (Park, Mi-Seon)
Bank Account: Nonghyup 386-17-000065 (Korea YWCA)
- 100 -
2015 WOMENCROSSDMZ
- 101 -
International Women's Peace Symposium
Hosted by
2015 WCD 한국위원회 2015 WCD South Korea Committee
(121-842) 서울시 마포구 서교동 464-46 서강빌딩 B1 02 호
(121-842) B1 Seogang Bldg. 464-46, SeoKyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Korea
Tel. +82-2-3143-1713 Fax.+82-2-3143-1714
E-mail: [email protected]
WOMENCROSSDMZ Official website: https://www.womencrossdmz.org
Organized by
(사)평화를만드는여성회 Women Making Peace
(150-037) 서울시 영등포구 국회대로 55 길 6, 여성미래센터 401 호
(150-037) 6, Gukhoe-daero 55-gil, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Korea
Tel. +82-2-929-4847 Fax. +82-2-929-4843
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.peacewomen.or.kr
(사)젠더정치연구소 여.세.연 Korea Women's Political Solidarity
(150-037) 서울시 영등포구 국회대로 55길6, 여성미래센터 403호
(150-037) 6, Gukhoe-daero 55-gil, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Korea
Tel. +82-2-824-7810~1 Fax. +82-2-824-7867
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.womanpower.or.kr
서울시 여성가족재단 Seoul Foundation of Women & Family
(156-808) 서울특별시 동작구 여의대방로 54길 18
(156-808) 18, Yeouidaebang-ro 54-gil, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, Korea
Tel. +82-2-810-5000 Fax. +82-2-810-5100
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.seoulwomen.or.kr