[E-rundbrief] Info 1751 - IPB: Korea Summit in Singapore.

[Matthias Reichl]

E-Rundbrief Info 1751 - IPB Statement: Korea Summit in Singapore.

Bad Ischl, 16.6.2018

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

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IPB Statement: Korea Summit In Singapore

http://www.ipb.org/ipb-statements/ipb-korea-summit-statement/

The International Peace Bureau welcomes the commitment of President 
Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jung-un to meet at the June 12 summit in 
Singapore. Even as many issues related to military, human and 
political rights, and regional tensions will not be addressed in the 
summit, it holds the promise of ending nearly 70 years of disastrous 
war and preparations for war that have disproportionally impacted 
North and South Korea.

This summit would not have been possible without President Moon 
Jae-in’s inspired “Olympic Diplomacy” which brought the United States 
and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea back from the brink of 
President Trump’s threatened “Fire and Fury” war and Chairman Kim’s 
threat to reciprocate in kind. The Trump-Kim summit would not have 
been possible without the ground-breaking April 27 Kim-Moon summit at 
Panmunjom, during which the two Korean leaders declared that “there 
will be no more war on the Korean Peninsula and thus a new era of 
peace has begun”, and resolved to begin the processes of Korean 
denuclearization and peaceful reunification.

The Korean people have long suffered colonization by Japan, military 
occupations by the United States and the Soviet Union, dictatorships, 
the devastation of the Korean War, repeated U.S. threats and 
preparations to initiate first strike attacks against North Korea, 
simulated U.S. nuclear attacks, and North Korea’s consequent 
development of its nuclear arsenal. We note as well that in the past 
South Korea had a nuclear weapons program, and that some in South 
Korea continue to call for either the return of U.S. nuclear weapons 
deployments in their country or the development of an independent 
South Korean nuclear arsenal.

The diplomatic process initiated by President Moon, which we trust 
will be advanced by Presidents Trump and Moon hold the promise of 
ending this tragic history.

After having raised expectations that the summit would quickly result 
in the immediate, verifiable and irreversible elimination of North 
Korea’s nuclear arsenal, more realistic expectations for what has been 
described by some as a “get to know you” meeting now prevail.

The summitry has thankfully brought us back from the brink of what 
would have been a catastrophic, potentially nuclear, a “Fire and Fury” 
war.  The Singapore summit can now open the way for future diplomacy:

– Institutionalizing the functional “Freeze-for-Freeze” arrangement 
that has prevailed since the Seoul Olympics: halting North Korea’s 
nuclear weapons and missile testing, curtailing provocative U.S. and 
allied military exercises which threaten North Korea, and the 
elimination of nuclear-related sanctions. Additional elements could 
include: removing the DPRK from the list of state sponsors of 
terrorism, unfreezing North Korean assets, and allowing for recovery 
of the remains of U.S. servicemen and for family reunifications.

– Negotiating a Peace Treaty to replace the 1953 Armistice Agreement, 
formally ending the Korean War. In addition to ruling out future 
aggression, it would provide for normalization of relations. This was 
earlier described in the 2000 Joint Communique that the U.S. and DPRK 
in which the two countries reaffirmed “principles of respect for each 
other’s sovereignty and non-interference in each other’s affairs…” and 
“commit to make every effort in the future to build a new relationship 
free from past enmity”.

– South and North Korean pursuit of national self-determination on 
their own terms. The international community should support the 
development in North Korea economically. We call for an end of the 
international sanctions.

– We stress the need to end the U.S. travel ban and sanctions that 
seriously reduce the ability to deliver humanitarian assistance 
including addressing massive food insecurity, the need for life-saving 
medicines, etc. and noting that humanitarian assistance and 
encouraging family reunions can facilitate. We call for “people to 
people diplomacy” which can reinforce peaceful relations.

– Serious negotiations for the phased fulfilment of all of the 
commitments made in Singapore, including halting the military 
exercises and moving toward normalization of relations.

– Negotiations for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the 
creation of a Northeast Asian Nuclear Weapons Free Zone. Foundations 
for such negotiations were created with the 1992 joint ‘declaration of 
South and North Korea on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, 
the 1994 Agreed Framework between US and DPRK, the 2000 comprehensive 
agreement negotiated by U.S. Sec. Defense Perry and Kim Jung-il (and 
sabotaged by President G.W.Bush) and the 2005 Joint Statement of the 
Fourth Round of the Six Party Talks. The April 27 North and South 
Korean Panmunjom Declaration, “confirmed the common goal of realizing, 
thorough complete denuclearization, a nuclear -free Korean Peninsula.

Nuclear disarmament negotiations will, of necessity, be prolonged and 
difficult and will require continuing international support. In 
addition to achieving the complete, verifiable and irreversible 
elimination of nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula, as well as the 
means to produce such weapons, of necessity it must also include the 
creation of a Northeast Asia Nuclear-Weapons Free Zone.

Finally, we decry the reality that nuclear apartheid threatens not 
only peace and survival in Northeast Asia, but of the world’s peoples. 
There can be no long-term guarantee of peace in Northeast Asia or 
human survival until the US and other nuclear weapons states eliminate 
their nuclear arsenals, as they are required to do by the Nuclear 
Non-Proliferation Treaty. To support The Treaty on the Prohibition of 
Nuclear weapons is a most urgent first step.

-- 

     Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
     Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
     Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
     Wolfgangerstr. 26, 4820 Bad Ischl, Austria,
     fon: +43 6132 24590, Informationen/ informations,
     Impressum in: http://www.begegnungszentrum.at