April 29, New York City: A ‘Human Chain for Korean Peace’

The call below is from Nodutdol, an organization of “diasporic Koreans and comrades based in occupied Indigenous lands known as the United States and Canada.”

The geopolitical situation in the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia is rapidly deteriorating. Korea is on the frontline of the U.S.’s New Cold War against China — and the steady drumbeat of war shows no signs of letting up.

On Saturday, April 29, Nodutdol will partner with the June 15th Committee to mobilize an action in which participants will create a human chain in Manhattan connecting the United Nations Mission offices of south Korea and north Korea. It has been five years since the Panmunjom Declaration [an agreement between north and south Korea for “Peace, Prosperity and Reunification of the Korean Peninsula”]. Can we count on you to support this action by sharing within your networks and joining us on April 29?

This is the second annual Human Chain for Korean Peace, organized by the New York Chapter of the June 15th Committee. The June 15th Committee is a pan-Korean organization for peace and reunification that has operated in the Korean peninsula and overseas since 2000.

This year, the Human Chain for Korean Peace coincides with a state visit to Washington, D.C. by Yoon Seok-yeol, the far-right, pro-U.S. president of south Korea. 

The south Korean and U.S. militaries just completed their largest-ever joint war drills in March. These exercises included U.S. aircraft carriers, strategic bombers and simulated deployments of nuclear weapons to the peninsula.

Yoon is also pushing south Korea into closer alignment with Japan. Most recently, he let Japan off the hook for paying reparations to surviving Korean victims of wartime colonial forced labor. It is likely that these overtures are a prelude to an eventual trilateral military alliance between the U.S., Japan, and south Korea — discussing this is probably high on the agenda for Yoon’s visit to the White House.

Building strong opposition to U.S. war maneuvers in Korea and throughout the Asia-Pacific is more important than ever before. The U.S. is barrelling toward a new hot war in the region that could easily spiral into a catastrophic nuclear conflict. To confront the war machine, we must confront the prevailing conventional wisdom that China, Russia and north Korea are enemies who must be defeated at any cost.

Meanwhile, the situation for working people in the U.S. is only worsening. While the state pumps billions of dollars into the arms industry for weapons shipments to Ukraine or military exercises in Korea, most workers here are struggling to make ends meet. 

Now is the time to revive the antiwar movement on all fronts. As a Korean diaspora organization, we understand our role in combating U.S. militarism in Korea ultimately connects to all other struggles against U.S. imperialism. We invite you to join with us in the spirit of solidarity.