Today marks the 57th anniversary of
the signing of the armistice agreement that established a ceasefire in the
Korean War. To this day, no peace treaty has been signed.
 Korean-American mobile art Photo: Sarah Sloan |
Over 60 years ago, the Korean War began,
and 57 years ago, the U.S. government signed an armistice to temporarily halt
its war of aggression on the people of Korea. Outrageously, there is no
official peace treaty so many decades after the confrontation ended.
To mark these anniversaries, activists from many U.S.
cities, Canada and Korea assembled in Washington, D.C., for several actions
sponsored by the National Campaign to End the Korean War demanding the immediate
signing of a peace treaty to finally end the war.
An interactive art
installation titled “100 Bojagis for Peace” took place the afternoon of July
25. A bojagi is a traditional Korean bundle used to carry things by refugees
during the war. It is common to both North and South Korea and is therefore a
powerful symbol of reunification of both the peninsula and the millions of
Korean families still separated by the division.
Many of the bojagis in the
art exhibit were equipped with audio and written recollections by Korean
Americans from the war. The event also included a large map of the Korean
Peninsula with pieces painted in different cities reflecting a vision for a
reunified Korea.
Later that night, a
multimedia event, titled “Remembering the Forgotten War,” took place
at the Justice Center, the D.C. office of the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop
War and End Racism). The event included several films, spoken-word artists and
speeches.
Korean-American activist
Terry Park, who was also the featured performer in a short film titled “Excerpt
from the 38th Parallels,” emceed the evening. Speakers included Christine Ahn
from the National Campaign to End the Korean War, Sarah Sloan from the ANSWER
Coalition and Peter Bronson from Veterans for Peace.
The culmination of the night
was the D.C. premiere of “In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee” by
Korean-American filmmaker Deann Borshay Liem. The subject of the moving
documentary film was the adoption of thousands of Korean children as a result
of the Korean War.
Finally, on July 26,
activists held a press conference directly in front of the U.S. Capitol
Building featuring Congressperson Dennis Kucinich and several others.
The events in Washington,
D.C., could not have taken place at a more opportune time. The United States
and South Korea are currently engaged in intentionally provocative military
exercises directly off the coasts off North Korea and China. The four-day-long
joint naval exercise, dubbed “Invincible Spirit,” involves 20 ships,
200 aircraft and about 8,000 U.S. and South Korean sailors. (AOL News, July 26)
Despite this tremendous show
of force, U.S. and South Korean officials cynically claim that North Korea is
the aggressor, specifically for its alleged responsibility for the sinking of
the South Korean warship, the Cheonan, on March 26—a charge North Korea
vehemently denies.
The U.S. war on the Korean
people has never ended. The two sides are technically still at war. The
unsettled nature of the conflict has continued to provide the U.S. government
with the pretext to station tens of thousands of troops on the border and
impose crippling financial and economic sanctions on North Korea.
All progressive people in the
United States must recognize the movement to end the Korean War to be a
critical component of their struggle.
