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Korea Peace Day 2006 Statement

Since we last held Korea Peace Day in November 2005, relations between the United States, Japan, and North Korea have grown steadily worse.

The Six Party Talks are suspended. The United States has imposed severe restrictions on banks doing business with North Korea. In the wake of Pyongyang's missile launches in July, Washington won passage of a UN resolution condemning North Korea's actions. A new set of financial sanctions from the U.S. Treasury Department is expected any day.

Now, more than ever, it is important for our voices to be heard in support of diplomatic solutions to the current crisis, especially direct negotiations between the governments of the United States and DPRK.

To amplify our call for direct negotiations, we would like to invite you to participate in Korea Peace Day 2006.   On December 1, on college campuses across the country, students and faculty will organize seminars, panel discussions, cultural activities, and film screenings to educate and mobilize support for a peaceful resolution of the U.S.-North Korean standoff. ASCK will be kicking off the day with a national event at Stanford University featuring a panel of distinguished scholars including Bruce Cumings, John Lewis, Jae-Jung Suh, and Xiyu Yang .

We have a political opportunity. The Bush administration's policy toward North Korea has been a failure. The dissatisfaction is bipartisan. Republican politicians such as Lisa Murkowski, Curt Weldon, Jim Leach, and Richard Lugar have all criticized the administration's approach. We can build bipartisan support for an alternative policy.

The more campuses that participate, the more effective we can be. Please contact us at peaceday@asck.org if you are interested in holding a Peace Day event on your campus on December 1 .

In the coming weeks, ASCK will put new Peace Day materials on our website to help you with your organizing efforts, including a list of recommended resources, films, and speakers, as well as a petition that you can use to present to your elected representatives.

Be part of a national movement to change U.S. policy toward North Korea. Contact us today at peaceday@asck.org .

Sincerely,

ASCK Steering Committee

Edward Chang, University of California at Riverside
Donald Clark, Trinity University
John Duncan, UCLA
Henry Em, University of Michigan
John Feffer, Foreign Policy in Focus
Martin Hart-Landsberg, Lewis and Clark College
Jae-Jung Suh, Cornell University
Seung Hye Suh, Scripps College
Theodore Jun Yoo, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Ji-Yeon Yuh, Northwestern University

Suggested Korea Peace Day Activities

Here are some suggestions for easy-to-organize events for Korea Peace Day. Please send information about your planned activities and any questions or suggestions to peaceday@asck.org.

  • Send out a press release (see the sample press release).
  • Invite a knowledgeable faculty member, staff or student to give a presentation or contact peaceday@asck.org for help in arranging an outside speaker.
  • Show a movie (for some suggested films, see the resource list).
  • Put some materials on reserve at the library and hold a discussion group based on those materials (for some suggested readings, see the resource list).
  • Set up a table at the student center for students, staff and faculty to write letters to their elected officials urging a peaceful resolution to the current conflict (see some sample letters).

Korea Peace Day Resources