Thirty-three organizations call for constructive U.S. diplomacy with Korea February 22, 2019

In advance of the February 27-28 United States/North Korea summit, PSR joined with 32 allied nongovernmental organizations to issue a “Statement of Pro-Diplomacy Groups Regarding U.S. Policy Toward North Korea.” The statement was circulated by Win Without War. Read the statement and list of endorsing NGOs below.

Statement of Pro-Diplomacy Groups Regarding U.S. Policy Toward North Korea

February 2019

The United States has a rare opportunity to advance the twin goals of denuclearization and a lasting peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, commitments that the two nations made during their unprecedented Summit in Singapore in June 2018. With this in mind, pro-diplomacy organizations urge members of Congress to commit to the following principles as they relate to U.S.-North Korea policy:

• Support a process with reciprocal actions that verifiably suspends and dismantles North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs and addresses mutual security concerns, such as:
  • a political statement declaring an end to the Korean War,
  • building a stable and lasting peace regime on the Korean Peninsula,
  • joint US-DPRK trust-building programs such as:
    • continuing POW/MIA remains repatriation, and
    • reunions between long-divided North Korean and Korean American families
• Support South Korea in its efforts to improve inter-Korean relations through confidence-building and tension reduction measures, including the commitments made in the Panmunjom Declaration in April 2018:
  • reduce acute military tensions
  • replace the armistice agreement with a peace regime
  • inter-Korean economic and civic projects, and
  • humanitarian relief efforts.
• Oppose an unprovoked U.S. military attack on North Korea, which could trigger full-scale — potentially nuclear — war, endangering the lives of tens of millions in the region, including South Koreans and Americans;
• Support targeted sanctions relief in exchange for concrete, verifiable actions toward denuclearization
• Strengthen sanctions exemptions for humanitarian activities and maintain consistent congressional oversight on the implementation of humanitarian exemptions.
• Support the inclusion of women, youth, and other civil society actors in ongoing negotiations.

Endorsed by: Arms Control Association; Beyond the Bomb; Campaign for Peace Disarmament and Common Security; Center for International Policy; Council for a Livable World; CREDO; Daily Kos; Foreign Policy For America; Friends Committee on National Legislation; Good Friends USA; Just Foreign Policy; Korean American National Coordinating Council, Inc.; Korean Americans in Action; Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns; Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office; Military Families Speak Out; MoveOn; National Association of Korean Americans; Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability; Nuclear Age Peace Foundation; Nuclear Crisis Group; Pax Christi International; Peace Action; Peace Committee of the Korean Association of the United Methodist Church; Physicians for Social Responsibility, Ploughshares Fund; Presbyterian Church (USA); VoteVets; War Prevention Initiative; Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility; Win Without War; Women’s Action for New Directions; Women Cross DMZ