The International Action Center urges all anti-war activists to participate in the below campaign, initiated by the Congress for Korean Reunification.
PLEASE JOIN OUR CALL IN PROTEST OF PRESIDENT BUSH'S RECKLESS REMARKS ABOUT THE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF KOREA! Video clips of anti-Bush Demonstrations in Korea
In his State of the Union address on January 29th, President Bush called the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) an “axis of evil,” along with Iran and Iraq, and he accused these three nations of supporting terrorism and manufacturing weapons of mass destruction
We believe this reckless and dangerous remark is nothing more than a thinly disguised effort to come up with an easy scapegoat for the Bush administration's hundreds of billions of dollars of military spending, which includes the financing of the new 'Missile Defense' program.
We believe Bush should drop his confrontational approach towards the DPRK, as well as Iran and Iraq, as it only creates tension and terrorizes the rest of the world.
President Bush is visiting south Korea on February 19th and we are launching a 15-day email protest campaign urging him to reverse his pro-war, anti-peace policy towards the DPRK.
Please join us in our call to send protest email letters to the White House before February 19th.
Please distribute this message to your other listserves.
Send your letter to: president@whitehouse.gov . You may use the sample letter below
The campaign is initiated by the CONGRESS FOR KOREAN REUNIFICATION, a not-for-profit, nationwide Korean American organization working for peace, reunification and self-determination for Korea.
Please send any inquiry to Yjeong2000@yahoo.com or OneKorea@onekorea.org .
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Mr. President Bush,
In your State of the Union address on January 29th, you called the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea an “axis of evil” along with Iran and Iraq.
We believe this reckless and dangerous remark is a misguided effort to justify more military spending, including your new 'Missile Defense' program.
Without any conclusive evidence you accused these three countries of supporting terrorism and manufacturing weapons of mass destruction.
Since 1950 the U.S. has placed the world's longest sanctions on north Korea, preventing economic growth and international trade and has continued to threaten the north with 37,000 US troops in south Korea and the full military might.
In the pursuit of enlightened self-interest, the former President Clinton engaged north Korea and began to normalize relations by signing a series of agreements with the DPRK, of which none has been kept by the U.S.
The first one was the Geneva Agreement signed on October 1994. In it, although the U.S. explicitly agreed to drop the economic sanctions on DPRK, it has not been upheld. The other was the U.S.-DPRK Joint Communique signed on October 12, 2000 along with Vice Marshal Jo Myong Rok.
Although the Joint Communique explicitly states that the two sides are:
“Recognizing the changed circumstances on the Korean Peninsula created by the historic June 15, 2000 inter-Korean summit, the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have decided to take steps to fundamentally improve their bilateral relations in the interests of enhancing peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region.
“The two sides agreed there are a variety of available means, including Four Party talks, to reduce tension on the Korean Peninsula and formally end the Korean War by replacing the 1953 Armistice Agreement with permanent peace arrangements.”
This also has not been followed through by the U.S.
Against this background, your renewed hostility towards DPRK creates grave concerns from both the domestic and international community. Commentators from China, Russia, the European Union as well as here in the U.S. have all raised concerns about your misinformed hard line stance.
We are extremely alarmed by your dangerous reversal off the course of peace unto the pursuit of war.
We urge you to drop this confrontational approach towards the DPRK, Iran and Iraq as it only creates hostility and terrorizes the rest of the world. World doesn't need anymore war.
Despite what you say, the DPRK is a responsible member of the international community, having denounced the international terrorism of September 11th and having signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) as well as seven out of twelve International Anti-Terrorist treaties. Both the U.S. and the DPRK are considering signing the remaining five treaties.
We believe you should continue the previous administration's open dialogue and negotiation with DPRK as well as lift the economic sanctions on the DPRK as outlined by the Geneva Agreement which is due to expire in 2003.
We also believe you should fully support inter-Korean reunification agreement outlined by the 6.15 North South Joint Communique signed by Kim, Jong-Il of DPRK and Kim, Dae-Jung of South Korea.
We sincerely urge on your visit to South Korea on February 19 to retract your remarks and take the necessary steps towards a peace and stability in Korea and Asia.
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Please join the Congress for Korean Reunification in this call to send protest email letters to the White House before February 19th. Please distribute this message to your other listserves.
Send your letter to: president@whitehouse.gov .
The campaign is initiated by the CONGRESS FOR KOREAN REUNIFICATION, a not-for-profit, nationwide Korean American organization working for peace, reunification and self-determination for Korea.
Please send any inquiry to Yjeong2000@yahoo.com or OneKorea@onekorea.org .
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