Nov. 1 - Korea Crisis Forum - UN Church Center

Nov. 1 - Korea Crisis Forum - UN Church Center

Wednesday, November 1, 2006, 7:00 -- 9:00 pm

UN Church Center, 777 UN Plaza (44th St. & 1st Ave.) ·

Ramsey Clark, forum U.S. Attorney General

Kwan Ho Choi, representative of Congress for Korean Reunification

Hwa Young Lee, representative of Korea Truth Commission

Please join us for this special forum at the United Nations Church Center on the growing crisis over North Korea; organized by the International Action Center, the Korea Truth Commission, and Korean Americans Against War and Neoliberalism (KAWAN). This meeting comes at a critical time! Almost four years ago, the Bush Administration launched the invasion of Iraq, claiming "weapons of mass destruction" to justify its actions. The attack followed twelve years of brutal sanctions that cost a million and a half Iraqi lives. Now, politicians in the Democratic and Republican parties are whipping up hostility against the people of Korea, once again using the pretext of "weapons of mass destruction" and calling for sanctions and even military action. It is clear that the current crisis arises, not from North Korea itself, but from the animosity of the U.S. government towards the people of that country.

North Korea has been trying to normalize relations with the U.S. for more than 50 years, but Washington refuses to sign a peace treaty that would formally end the Korean War. During that war, which concluded with a 1953 cease fire, the U.S. military killed 4 million Koreans.

The North Korean government has made every effort to work for peace in the region. It has repeatedly proposed the denuclearization of the region. It has called for a non-aggression pact. It has offered to abandon the quest for nuclear weapons in return for recognition of its sovereignty, guarantees against attack and normalization of relations with the U.S. government. It has done everything possible to avoid the conditions that make nuclear weapons necessary for defense and to protect its national sovereignty and survival.

From its early days in office, the Bush administration has labeled North Korea a part of the "Axis of Evil," and has targeted it for "regime change." As the whole world witnesses the torture, death and wholesale destruction that "regime change" has brought to the people of Iraq, the people of North Korea have every reason to be worried.

Currently, North Korea is encircled by U.S. warships, bomber and fighter squadrons, nuclear weapons and 30,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. It is important to put North Korea's missiles' launch in perspective to see which country is the real threat to peace in the region. North Korea tested one small nuclear weapon. The U.S. nuclear stockpile contains almost 10,000 nuclear warheads. This includes 5,735 active or operational warheads: 5,235 strategic and 500 nonstrategic warheads. The U.S. also has approximately 4,225 additional warheads held in the reserve or inactive stockpiles. Many of these weapons are in the region of the Korean peninsula, on planes, missiles and submarines. They pose a direct threat.

The U.S. is also the only country to ever use nuclear weapons against civilian targets. In the Nuclear Posture Review of 2002, the Bush Administration declared its right to use nuclear weapons against North Korea in its global crusade for regime change.

The real threat to peace and security in the region comes from Washington. The Bush Administration has created the present crisis. We must do all we can to prevent another war and to stop the U.S. campaign of demonization and sanctions against North Korea.

Join us for this special meeting this Wednesday to hear discussion of: ·