Celebrating women’s international solidarity for Korea peace

March 8, 2024

Dear Friend,

Happy International Women’s Day.

On March 6, we held a webinar, “The Gendered Impact of the Korean War: Past, Present, and Future,” with feminist scholar-activists Suzy Kim, Professor of Korean History at Rutgers University, and Na-Young Lee, Professor at Chung-Ang University, moderated by Women Cross DMZ board member Ji-Yeon Yuh of Northwestern University.

Here’s a recap:

March 8 is International Women’s Day. What does gender have to do with the Korean War?

International Women’s Day (IWD) grew out of women’s labor activism in the early 20th century. It was a major socialist holiday, celebrated by women throughout the world. But because it was happening on the “other side” of the Iron Curtain, IWD wasn’t celebrated in the Western world until the 1970s.

The Women’s International Democratic Federation (WIDF), an international organization founded in Paris in 1945 to see an active women’s role in the peace movement, spearheaded the UN initiative to mark IWD and to designate 1975 as International Women’s Year.

Korean women were part of WIDF through the Korean Democratic Women’s Union, formed in 1945. In 1951, they invited WIDF to investigate potential war crimes during the Korean War. 21 women from 17 countries traveled to North Korea and documented their findings in a report.

In centering the experiences of women, WIDF called out the impact of the war on women and explicitly included examples of sexual violence. They called out US and UN forces for violating women’s rights in this way.

Why did the women risk their lives? For international solidarity and peace. In 2015, Women Cross DMZ organized a delegation of 30 international women to cross the Demilitarized Zone from North to South Korea to call for peace.

On September 29, 2022, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Korea made a historic ruling for women's rights. It finally acknowledged the Korean government’s responsibility for the “comfort women” system in US military camptowns.

The ruling was significant for several reasons: Acknowledged the illegality of the State and restored victims’ honor and dignity; Valued women’s experiences and voices; Victory for the victims and the women’s movement; Awakened “us” from collective forgetfulness and historical distortion

Help us continue the legacy of international women’s solidarity for peace in Korea by joining our movement at KoreaPeaceNow.org.

To learn more, watch the webinar and read Suzy Kim’s blog post “International Women’s Day: Suzy Kim of Among Women across Worlds” and Na-young Lee’s article, “Un/forgettable histories of US camptown prostitution in South Korea: Women’s experiences of sexual labor and government policies.”

In peace and solidarity,

Christine Ahn

Celebrating women’s international solidarity for Korea peace

March 8, 2024

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