Last month, I took part in an international women’s peace delegation to South Korea, led by Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire and Women Cross DMZ founder Christine Ahn.

It was my first visit to my native Korea in over 3 years. Everywhere I went, I witnessed the afterglow of the inspiring candlelight movement that restored democracy to the country, and sensed the deep conviction with which Koreans support the current peace process initiated by President Moon.

Our delegation noted in one of its first official statements following its arrival in Korea:

In addition to meeting with diplomatic representatives from the US, U.K, Japan, Sweden, and Canada, we participated in an all-day peace symposium at the National Assembly side by side with South Korean women peace activists. One of our South Korea colleagues commented that while women have been conspicuously absent from the process of warmaking in the Korean peninsula (at least from a policy standpoint) they most certainly ought to be part of the peace process.



On the same day that President Moon and Chairman Kim held their second summit in Panmunjom, our delegation, accompanied by over 1200 Korean women, walked over 5 km in the sweltering 40-degree heat to cross the Unification Bridge on foot. Christine Ahn summed up all our sentiments when she later commented:

Returning to the United States however, I found a starkly different reality in the sustained attacks on the peace process–even the very idea of a peace treaty–by right-wing pundits, Neocon hawks, and corporate media promoting an aggressively maximalist standard. In this dialogue, the 4 million Korean and 35,000 American lives already lost to the Korean War, as well as the 80 million Koreans whose lives would hang in balance in any renewed conflict, are presented as mere footnotes. North Korea in particular, where poverty is rampant and 25% of children suffer from malnutrition, is presented as the perpetually “Threatening Other”, fully deserving to suffer from the US-led sanctions. American exceptionalism is celebrated without reservation.

This disregard for the interests of Koreans themselves in this nominally inter-Korean conflict was a declaration authored by seven leading Democratic Senators, demand that President Trump to hold to a hard line in any negotiations with North Korea. The letter signed by Senators Mendendez, Schumer, Durbin, Warner, Feinstein, Leahy and Brown completely overlooked the recent progress toward peace evinced by the inter-Korean summit and the Panmunjom Declaration, and discounted the overwhelming support for the current peace process by Koreans. Further, it was oblivious to the hopes and interests of 80 million Koreans who, after surviving 35 years of brutal Japanese colonization, were forcibly divided over 65 years ago by the US and the former Soviet Union. The letter offers no alternative vision for peace on the Korean Peninsula and considers Korean interests only insofar as they serve the narrow political agenda of the Democratic party. It represents a bankrupt foreign policy view.

On the occasion of our delegation’s visit to Korea, I had reached out to renowned scholar Professor Noam Chomsky, with whom I maintain a correspondence, for a statement in support of our mission. Contrasting the significance of the April 27 Declaration between the two Koreas with the apparently incoherent foreign policy approach of the United States, which plays a dominant role in any prospect for inter-Korean peace, professor Chomsky commented:

The April 27 Declaration of the two Koreas was a historic event, which promises a bright future for the people of Korea. It calls for the two Koreas to settle their problems “on their own accord” and lays out a careful schedule to proceed, something quite new. It also calls on the international community (meaning Washington) to support this process. Unfortunately, the signals from Washington are at best mixed. National Security Council advisor John Bolton, who has called for bombing North Korea at once, and Vice-President Mike Pence both invoked the “Libya model,” knowing full well its import. President Trump cancelled the Singapore summit a few hours after North Korea had destroyed its main testing site as an important gesture of conciliation. But these are pitfalls, not termination of the process. With determination and good will the two Koreas can move forward with the plans outlined in the Declaration. It is the task of the people of the United States to support them in this historic endeavor and to ensure that their own government does not undermine or in any way impede the process. That can succeed. It must succeed, for the welfare of Korea, and all of us.

Professor Chomsky is right in pointing out that this initiative carried forward by the two Koreas is in fact “something quite new”. The minimum that the United States can do during this historic moment is to refrain from harming the inter-Korean peace process. It’s time that American politicians, both Democratic and Republicans, give Koreans a chance to shape their own destiny.

Dr. Simone Chun serves on the Steering Committee of the Alliance of Scholars Concerned about Korea and is a member of the Korea Policy Institute and the Korea Peace Network. She recently returned from an international women’s delegation of peace and security experts in South Korea.</s>Singapore police said Friday they arrested two South Korean journalists while investigating a report of trespassing in the residence of the North Korean ambassador.

The statement posted on the police Facebook page said the two men represented the Korean Broadcasting System News but were not accredited as media personnel in Singapore. The broadcaster is more widely known as KBS.

Reacting to the arrest, South Korean presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom pleaded with South Korean journalists in Singapore to act with caution. He said the island state exercises “very strict government power” and that security has been further heightened ahead of the meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday.

“If a problem occurs, our government will put in our best diplomatic effort to resolve it, but there could be cases where that wouldn’t be enough,” Kim, the spokesman, said in a briefing.

The KBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Singaporean police were still investigating two other South Koreans — a representative of the broadcaster and an interpreter-guide.

A criminal trespass conviction in Singapore carries up to three months’ imprisonment, a fine of up to $1,500, or both.

Police also said journalists who commit crimes in Singapore will not be accredited and thus will be unable to cover the Tuesday summit.</s>A view of the entrance of the North Korean embassy in Singapore May 24, 2018. Picture taken May 24, 2018.

SINGAPORE - Two South Korean men from the Korean Broadcasting System News (KBS) have been arrested for trespassing into the residence of the Ambassador of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

According to a statement on Friday (June 8), police said they received a report on Thursday (June 7) afternoon at about 3.50pm about the case. Two men, aged 42 and 45, were subsequently arrested.

Police said two other men, a 31-year-old South Korean KBS representative, and another 29-year-old South Korean man, who was the guide and interpreter for the group, are also under investigation.

It added that the three men who were representing the Korean Broadcasting System News are not accredited media personnel in Singapore.

Police investigations are ongoing. Anyone convicted of criminal trespass may be punished with imprisonment of up to three months, or a fine of up to $1,500, or both.

In its statement, the police warned that members of the media who commit any offence in Singapore will also not be accredited and will thus not be able to cover the US-North Korea summit taking place next Tuesday (June 12).</s>SEOUL: Seoul is in three-way talks with Pyongyang and Washington for an early agreement on formally ending the decades-old Korean War, it said Thursday (Jun 7) ahead of a summit between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump in Singapore next week.

The 1950-53 conflict ceased with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving the two sides technically at war, and US President Donald Trump said last week that it would be one of the issues on the table at the historic summit.

"We talked about ending the war," Trump said following a meeting with a senior North Korean envoy. "Historically it's very important, but we'll see."

South Korea's foreign ministry said Thursday it was holding three-way discussions on the issue, without providing further details.

"The government will continue close three-way discussions among the South, the North and the US to declare an end to the war as early as possible," ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk told reporters.

Seoul will operate a press centre for South Korean and foreign media next week in Singapore, Noh said, further raising speculation that South Korean President Moon Jae-in may fly to the city-state in time for the summit.

But a senior official at the South's presidential office told Yonhap news agency that the chances of a trilateral summit between the two Koreas and the US in Singapore next week looked slim, after Trump signalled that the meeting could be the first of several.

"We initially said we needed an end of war declaration assuming the Jun 12 US-North Korea summit was a 'one shot summit' but given the current situation, there is no reason to rush into it."</s>Singapore is set to release a commemorative medallion to mark the summit between the U.S. and North Korean leaders. (No reporter narration)</s>The way to rice farmer Choi Ki-joong’s paddy fields goes through a military checkpoint where soldiers stand guard against nuclear-armed North Korea only a few kilometres away, a legacy of the war that stopped in 1953.

Declaring a formal end to the Korean War, when hostilities ceased with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, will be on the agenda when US President Donald Trump and the North’s leader Kim Jong Un meet next week in Singapore for their unprecedented summit.

Although residents living along the Demilitarized Zone dividing the Korean peninsula have grown indifferent to the propaganda broadcasts and gunfire that punctuate their daily existence, they still hope the diplomatic drive will lead to peace.

Choi lives in the northernmost border village of Samgotri in Yeoncheon county, alongside the DMZ. The 75-year-old is only allowed to access his fields during daylight hours, and at times of high tensions cannot do so at all.

“We just put up with it and live our daily lives,” he said. “We can live like this, in peace with no war, or if both sides want it we can hold hands and live together as Koreans and go back and forth.”

Yeoncheon county saw heavy fighting during the war, including the ‘Battle of Pork Chop Hill’ which killed thousands of US and Chinese troops.

US Vice President Mike Pence’s father was among the Americans who took part and received a Bronze Star for his service — which now sits on Pence’s desk in his White House office.

The rural farming area, only 60 kilometres away from the capital Seoul, brims with the legacy of a war that never technically ended.

A group of soldiers patrolled Samgotri’s empty roads on a weekday afternoon, where a fading wooden sign read: “If you want true peace, be ready for war.”

In recent years, the residents have been forced to evacuate twice after the North fired gunshots and artillery rounds to protest the South’s propaganda activities along the border.

The holes made by North Korean bullets in 2014 are on display in front of the district office as a glaring reminder, with a quote: “The war has not ended. We are still in a truce.”

But the villagers’ sense of fear has diminished.

“We are quite used to gunshots and artillery rounds,” one man told AFP, loading bags of cucumbers onto his truck.

His indifference is shared by other South Koreans along the border.

“I actually feel safer” with Seoul’s armed forces nearby, said Lee Kyung-ae, who runs a cold noodle restaurant in Myungpari, at the eastern end of the DMZ.

The sound of the South’s artillery drills has become so frequent she has “stopped paying attention”, Lee said.

Her village, on the way to the North’s scenic Mount Kumgang resort, prospered when South Korean tourists flocked across the border until Seoul banned the programme 10 years ago after a Northern soldier shot dead one of the visitors.

The recent peace-making efforts on the peninsula could bring travellers back to her village, Lee said, and to her restaurant, named after the North Korean capital.

A formal declaration to end the conflict could gradually reduce the number of troops stationed along the Korean border.

For Heo Beom-koo, who has sold backpacks, face paint and other military goods to soldiers in Yanggu county for around 40 years, that would mean a major setback in business.

“That’s my problem,” Heo said. “As a South Korean… I think an improvement in relations between the US and North Korea is necessary.”

If things go really well, the 63-year-old imagines he could even relocate his store to the North, “since the military is vital for defending the Korean peninsula”.

But if conflict erupts again he has a different vision for his future.

“If a war breaks out, I will take all these goods to the military and fight the war with the army.”</s>SEOUL: Seoul is in three-way talks with Pyongyang and Washington for an early agreement on formally ending the decades-old Korean War, it said Thursday (Jun 7) ahead of a summit between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump in Singapore next week.

The 1950-53 conflict ceased with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving the two sides technically at war, and US President Donald Trump said last week that it would be one of the issues on the table at the historic summit.

"We talked about ending the war," Trump said following a meeting with a senior North Korean envoy. "Historically it's very important, but we'll see."

South Korea's foreign ministry said Thursday it was holding three-way discussions on the issue, without providing further details.

"The government will continue close three-way discussions among the South, the North and the US to declare an end to the war as early as possible," ministry spokesman Noh Kyu-duk told reporters.

Seoul will operate a press centre for South Korean and foreign media next week in Singapore, Noh said, further raising speculation that South Korean President Moon Jae-in may fly to the city-state in time for the summit.

But a senior official at the South's presidential office told Yonhap news agency that the chances of a trilateral summit between the two Koreas and the US in Singapore next week looked slim, after Trump signalled that the meeting could be the first of several.

"We initially said we needed an end of war declaration assuming the Jun 12 US-North Korea summit was a 'one shot summit' but given the current situation, there is no reason to rush into it."</s>The way to rice farmer Choi Ki-joong's paddy fields goes through a military checkpoint where soldiers stand guard against nuclear-armed North Korea only a few kilometres away, a legacy of the war that stopped in 1953.

Declaring a formal end to the Korean War, when hostilities ceased with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, will be on the agenda when US President Donald Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong Un meet next week in Singapore for their unprecedented summit.

Although residents living along the Demilitarized Zone dividing the Korean peninsula have grown indifferent to the propaganda broadcasts and gunfire that punctuate their daily existence, they still hope the diplomatic drive will lead to peace.

Choi lives in the northernmost border village of Samgotri in Yeoncheon county, alongside the DMZ. The 75-year-old is only allowed to access his fields during daylight hours, and at times of high tensions cannot do so at all.

"We just put up with it and live our daily lives," he said. "We can live like this, in peace with no war, or if both sides want it we can hold hands and live together as Koreans and go back and forth."

Yeoncheon county saw heavy fighting during the war, including the 'Battle of Pork Chop Hill' which killed thousands of US and Chinese troops.

US Vice President Mike Pence's father was among the Americans who took part and received a Bronze Star for his service -- which now sits on Pence's desk in his White House office.

The rural farming area, only 60 kilometres away from the capital Seoul, brims with the legacy of a war that never technically ended.

A group of soldiers patrolled Samgotri's empty roads on a weekday afternoon, where a fading wooden sign read: "If you want true peace, be ready for war."

In recent years, the residents have been forced to evacuate twice after the North fired gunshots and artillery rounds to protest the South's propaganda activities along the border.

The holes made by North Korean bullets in 2014 are on display in front of the district office as a glaring reminder, with a quote: "The war has not ended. We are still in a truce."

But the villagers' sense of fear has diminished.

"We are quite used to gunshots and artillery rounds," one man told AFP, loading bags of cucumbers onto his truck.

His indifference is shared by other South Koreans along the border.

"I actually feel safer" with Seoul's armed forces nearby, said Lee Kyung-ae, who runs a cold noodle restaurant in Myungpari, at the eastern end of the DMZ.

The sound of the South's artillery drills has become so frequent she has "stopped paying attention", Lee said.

Her village, on the way to the North's scenic Mount Kumgang resort, prospered when South Korean tourists flocked across the border until Seoul banned the programme 10 years ago after a Northern soldier shot dead one of the visitors.

The recent peace-making efforts on the peninsula could bring travellers back to her village, Lee said, and to her restaurant, named after the North Korean capital.

A formal declaration to end the conflict could gradually reduce the number of troops stationed along the Korean border.

For Heo Beom-koo, who has sold backpacks, face paint and other military goods to soldiers in Yanggu county for around 40 years, that would mean a major setback in business.

"That's my problem," Heo said. "As a South Korean ... I think an improvement in relations between the US and North Korea is necessary."

If things go really well, the 63-year-old imagines he could even relocate his store to the North, "since the military is vital for defending the Korean peninsula".

But if conflict erupts again he has a different vision for his future.

"If a war breaks out, I will take all these goods to the military and fight the war with the army."</s>SINGAPORE: Two South Korean men were arrested on Thursday (Jun 7) for allegedly trespassing at the home of the North Korean ambassador in Joo Chiat.

The men, aged 42 and 45, are working for South Korean broadcaster KBS News, said the Singapore police in a news release on Friday, adding that they were alerted to the case at about 3.50pm.

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Two other South Koreans, a 31-year-old working for KBS News and a 29-year-old guide and interpreter for the group, are under investigation.

All three men from KBS News are not accredited media personnel in Singapore, police added.

KBS said in an emailed statement it was ready to take any action Singapore authorities deemed necessary.

"We do not know exactly what the situation is or whether it is illegal. We will respect the results of the investigation by the local police and will take necessary measures as soon as the results come out," KBS said.

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The national public broadcaster of South Korea operates radio, television and online services.

When asked about the arrests, a spokesman for South Korea's presidential Blue House said it would use "utmost diplomatic effort to prevent such troubles" and urged journalists to be "cautious and prudent".

The issue was seriously discussed during a tea meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his officials earlier in the day, Yonhap news agency cited presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom as saying to reporters.

The North Korean flag (right) seen at the entrance of the ambassador's house in Joo Chiat.(Photo: Fann Sim)

The arrests come days before Singapore is due to host the highly anticipated summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un on Jun 12. Authorities have reminded all foreigners visiting Singapore to abide by local laws.

More than 3,000 foreign journalists are expected to fly in to cover the summit.

“Those who break the law will be dealt with firmly, and this may include termination of visas and repatriation,” said the police.

“Members of the media who commit any offence in Singapore will also not be accredited and thus will not be able to cover the summit between the United States of America and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”

If convicted of criminal trespass, the South Korean men could be jailed for up to three months, fined up to S$1,500 or both.</s>YEONCHEON, June 8 — The way to rice farmer Choi Ki-joong’s paddy fields goes through a military checkpoint where soldiers stand guard against nuclear-armed North Korea only a few kilometres away, a legacy of the war that stopped in 1953.

Declaring a formal end to the Korean War, when hostilities ceased with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, will be on the agenda when US President Donald Trump and the North’s leader Kim Jong Un meet next week in Singapore for their unprecedented summit.

Although residents living along the Demilitarized Zone dividing the Korean peninsula have grown indifferent to the propaganda broadcasts and gunfire that punctuate their daily existence, they still hope the diplomatic drive will lead to peace.

Choi lives in the northernmost border village of Samgotri in Yeoncheon county, alongside the DMZ. The 75-year-old is only allowed to access his fields during daylight hours, and at times of high tensions cannot do so at all.

“We just put up with it and live our daily lives,” he said. “We can live like this, in peace with no war, or if both sides want it we can hold hands and live together as Koreans and go back and forth.”

Yeoncheon county saw heavy fighting during the war, including the ‘Battle of Pork Chop Hill’ which killed thousands of US and Chinese troops.

US Vice President Mike Pence’s father was among the Americans who took part and received a Bronze Star for his service — which now sits on Pence’s desk in his White House office.

The rural farming area, only 60 kilometres away from the capital Seoul, brims with the legacy of a war that never technically ended.

A group of soldiers patrolled Samgotri’s empty roads on a weekday afternoon, where a fading wooden sign read: “If you want true peace, be ready for war.”

In recent years, the residents have been forced to evacuate twice after the North fired gunshots and artillery rounds to protest the South’s propaganda activities along the border.

The holes made by North Korean bullets in 2014 are on display in front of the district office as a glaring reminder, with a quote: “The war has not ended. We are still in a truce.”

But the villagers’ sense of fear has diminished.

“We are quite used to gunshots and artillery rounds,” one man told AFP, loading bags of cucumbers onto his truck.

His indifference is shared by other South Koreans along the border.

“I actually feel safer” with Seoul’s armed forces nearby, said Lee Kyung-ae, who runs a cold noodle restaurant in Myungpari, at the eastern end of the DMZ.

The sound of the South’s artillery drills has become so frequent she has “stopped paying attention”, Lee said.

Her village, on the way to the North’s scenic Mount Kumgang resort, prospered when South Korean tourists flocked across the border until Seoul banned the programme 10 years ago after a Northern soldier shot dead one of the visitors.

The recent peace-making efforts on the peninsula could bring travellers back to her village, Lee said, and to her restaurant, named after the North Korean capital.

A formal declaration to end the conflict could gradually reduce the number of troops stationed along the Korean border.

For Heo Beom-koo, who has sold backpacks, face paint and other military goods to soldiers in Yanggu county for around 40 years, that would mean a major setback in business.

“That’s my problem,” Heo said. “As a South Korean... I think an improvement in relations between the US and North Korea is necessary.”

If things go really well, the 63-year-old imagines he could even relocate his store to the North, “since the military is vital for defending the Korean peninsula”.

But if conflict erupts again he has a different vision for his future.

“If a war breaks out, I will take all these goods to the military and fight the war with the army.” — AFP
Two South Korean media personnel from KBS News are arrested for trespassing the home of a North Korean envoy in Singapore.