A Joint Statement Calling for an End to the Korean War

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A Joint Statement Calling for an End to the Korean War

On July 27, 1953, the bullets on the Korean Peninsula stopped firing, but the war never ended. The armistice was always meant to be temporary. The ceasefire was intended to be followed by a peace agreement, but it has still yet to come more than 70 years later. Two generations of Koreans and Americans have grown up under the shadow of a war that was never resolved.

We, the undersigned civil society organizations—people of faith and conscience, Korean Americans, veterans, scholars, and advocates—join our voices to call upon the U.S. government to take responsibility and end the Korean War by engaging the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) in good faith and replacing the 73-year-old armistice with a permanent peace agreement.

The Cost of an Unfinished War

The consequences of this unfinished war can be measured in the continued division of the Korean Peninsula, the tragic and ongoing separation of Korean families, and the extreme militarization and unceasing arms race that define the region. The Korean Peninsula remains one of the most heavily armed places on Earth and one of the world’s most dangerous nuclear flashpoints. Each year the war is left formally unended, the risk of miscalculation, accident, or escalation persists—endangering the security of Koreans, Americans, and all in the region and globally.

This is the United States’ oldest “forever war.” The U.S. spends over $3 billion per year of taxpayers’ money to maintain military deterrence and troop presence in South Korea. Instead of funding an endless cold war, this money should be used for healthcare, childcare, housing, and education. As Americans, we believe we have a duty and a moral responsibility to help bring this war to a close.

A Peace-First Approach Can Pave the Way Toward Security

Decades of failed U.S.-DPRK negotiations show that U.S. policies focused on isolation, sanctions, and military threats have failed to achieve stated goals of denuclearization and security. The United States demanding North Korea’s full denuclearization up front, while maintaining crushing sanctions and continuing military exercises, will not entice North Korea back to the negotiation table. While past talks were aimed primarily at North Korea’s denuclearization, future negotiations that instead address the root cause of the security crisis have the potential to build toward longer-lasting agreements and mutual trust. 

A Moment of Limited Opportunity

We recognize this anniversary not only as a moment of mourning, but as a moment of limited possibility. Although Inter-Korean relations have faced significant challenges, the Lee Jae Myung administration has made peaceful coexistence the cornerstone of its approach to the North, publishing a “Policy for Peaceful Coexistence on the Korean Peninsula” and committing to respect North Korea’s system, forgo any pursuit of unification by absorption, and refrain from hostile acts—seeking to lower military tensions and rebuild trust through actions rather than words. The United States also has an opportunity to take steps towards peace.

The American People Support Peace

Ending the Korean War reflects what most Americans already want. A majority of U.S. adults believe the U.S. government should formally end the Korean War by signing a peace agreement, and two-thirds believe the U.S. should lift sanctions that interfere with humanitarian aid and public health.

The public has consistently chosen communication, humanitarian cooperation, and practical problem-solving over confrontation. These are the values that must guide U.S. policy.

Our Call to the U.S. Government

On the occasion of the 73rd anniversary of the Korean War Armistice, we call on the Trump administration to honor the will of the American people and the cause of peace by taking concrete, achievable steps to formally end the Korean War:

• First, reopen direct diplomacy with North Korea at the highest level by prioritizing peace rather than applying pressure, which fuels North Korea’s provocations. Reestablishing regular working-level channels of communication and pursuing renewed leader-to-leader engagement is pivotal to avoiding escalation and starting to build mutual trust. This includes meeting Seoul’s pursuit of peaceful coexistence with partnership in order to reduce the risk of conflict and nuclear war.

• Second, take reciprocal steps to lower tensions. The United States can break the cycle of escalation through measures that invite a matching response, such as ending provocative military exercises and strategic-asset deployments, lifting economically coercive sanctions, and announcing U.S. intention to improve relations with North Korea. This could invite North Korea to freeze nuclear and long-range missile testing in turn.

• Third, work to officially end the Korean War. Declare an end to the war and launch a sustained, good-faith process to replace the armistice with a permanent peace regime. This would close the door on a state of suspended war that has endured for nearly three-quarters of a century.

• Fourth, restore human connection and protect the innocent. Lift sanctions that impede humanitarian activity in North Korea and deprive ordinary North Koreans of food, medicine, and the means of survival; end the restrictions on Americans’ travel to North Korea and on people-to-people exchange; and restart efforts to reunite Korean families separated for generations and to recover the remains of U.S. service members who never came home from the war.

A genuine and lasting security cannot rest on the threat of mutual destruction. It must be built on dialogue, mutual respect, and the recognition that the human security of the American and Korean people are intertwined. We carry with us the hopes of divided Korean families, of all who have lived their entire lives under the weight of this unended war, and of the children on both sides of the Pacific who deserve to inherit a peninsula at peace.

The power to end this war exists. We are calling for our leaders to use it.

Endorsing Organizations:

1. Action Committee for Sovereignty and Peaceful Reunification of Korea – Washington, D.C.
2. Activist San Diego 
3. Afghans For A Better Tomorrow
4. Alliance of Baptists
5. American Friends Service Committee
6. Amerigrante Nova
7. Baltimore Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (BaltCHRP)
8. BAYAN USA
9. Binhi UMBC
10. Black Alliance for Peace
11. Catholic Worker
12. Channing and Popai Liem Education Foundation
13. Coalition of Koreans in America
14. CODEPINK
15. Columban JPIC Korea
16. DSA – Metro DC
17. Friends Committee on National Legislation
18. GA Peace Forum
19. General Board of Global Ministries, UMC
20. Grassroots Global Justice Alliance
21. Haebang Collective
22. Han Park Peace Institute
23. Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice
24. International Women’s Alliance 
25. Just Foreign Policy
26. Katarungan DC
27. Korea Art Forum
28. Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network
29. Korea Policy Institute
30. Korean American Citizens for Democracy
31. Korean American Peace Fund
32. Korean American Public Action Committee
33. MADRE
34. Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
35. Mennonite Central Committee U.S.
36. Migrante USA
37. Milwaukee For Yemen 
38. Missionary Society of St. Columban
39. Muslim Justice League
40. NAKA (National Association of Korean Americans)
41. National Council of Churches
42. NC Alliance for Truth and Hope
43. New England Korea Peace Campaign
44. Nodutdol for Korean Community Development
45. Pax Christi USA
46. Peace Action
47. Peace Catalyst International
48. Peace, Justice, Sustainability NOW!
49. People’s Power Assembly
50. Presbyterian Church (USA), Office of Public Witness
51. ReconciliAsian
52. Resist U.S. Led War Movement
53. Seattle Evergreen Coalition
54. Sixth World Solutions 
55. Skacas
56. Somali Human Rights Association (SOHRA)
57. Struggle for Socialism Party 
58. United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society
59. United Church of Christ
60. Veterans For Peace – Baltimore, MD; Phil Berrigan
61. Veterans For Peace – Chapter 113-Hawaii
62. Veterans For Peace Korea Peace Campaign
63. Washington Butterfly for Hope
64. Win Without War
65. Women Cross DMZ
66. Women in Struggle (Mujeres en Lucha)
67. Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom US
68. Woori Center
69. World BEYOND War
70. 미주한인 우리 세상 (Korean Podcast in America)
71. 미주희망연대 (Coalition of Koreans in America)
72. 세월, 사람, 평화 세계 연대 (Korean People Action Global Network)
73. 우리학교와 함께 하는 동포모임 (Koreans for Woori Schools)

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