Honoring 11 years of women’s leadership | WCDMZ Anniversary Newsletter
May 24, 2026
Posted in: Media • Newsletters • Political Education
Dear Friend,
Today is International Women’s Day for Peace and Disarmament! On this day in 2015, 30 women peacemakers from around the world crossed the DMZ to boldly call for peace. Women Cross DMZ’s 2015 peace walk follows in the footsteps of a long legacy of Korean and global women mobilizing for peace and an end to war in Korea.
In honor of this legacy, we share with you an inspiring and rich history of women seeking creative avenues to pursue dialogue, solidarity, and peace on the Korean peninsula.
1949 Asian Women’s conference in Beijing: The Women’s International Democratic Federation (WIDF) and the North Korean Democratic Women’s Union (NKDWU) co-convened this conference with Korean women attending from “all walks of life” – including farmers, students, and teachers. Over 190 representatives from 23 countries adopted resolutions on Asian women’s national independence, women’s and children’s rights, democracy, and world peace.
1951 WIDF Delegation to North Korea: At the height of the Korean War in May 1951, the WIDF sent a delegation of 21 women from 18 countries to investigate conditions in North Korea. They published “We Accuse,” a 1951 report following their investigation into alleged UN and US war crimes.
1989 Lim Su-kyung’s DMZ Crossing: Twenty-year-old Lim Su-kyung attended the 13th World Youth Festival in Pyongyang as a one-person representative to challenge Korea’s ongoing division and call for peaceful reunification. After crossing the DMZ back into South Korea, Lim was arrested and jailed under the South Korea’s National Security Law. She was later pardoned by President Kim Dae-Jung and eventually became a National Assembly member.
1991 “Peace in Asia: The Role of Women” Meetings in Tokyo: In 1991–92, South and North Korean and Japanese women gathered in a historic series of meetings to discuss Korean reunification and Japanese wartime sexual slavery and violence. This gathering marked the first meeting of North and South Korean women since the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement.
2002 North and South Korean Women’s Reunification Rally for Peace and the Implementation of the June 15 Declaration: About 700 women from North and South Korea gathered at Mount Kumgang to promote peaceful inter-Korean relations and cooperation through a series of talks, concert, art exhibit, and more in one of the largest inter-Korean women’s meetings in its history.
2008-12 Northeast Asian Women’s Peace Conference: International women from Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the US met in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012 to discuss implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, and produced policy recommendations on denuclearization, ending the Korean War, and peacebuilding across Northeast Asia.
2015 Women Cross DMZ’s Crossing: On the 70th anniversary of Korea’s division, 30 women peacemakers from around the world crossed the DMZ from North to South Korea. Delegates marched arm-in-arm with 10,000 Korean women on both sides of the DMZ and organized international peace symposiums in Pyongyang and Seoul. Delegates called for an end to the Korean War with a permanent peace treaty, reuniting separated families, and women’s involvement at all levels of the peacebuilding process.
2025 10-Year Anniversary Peace Walk: We commemorated our ten-year anniversary by marching with hundreds of women peace activists outside the largest overseas U.S. military base, Camp Humphreys, in Pyeongtaek. With this action, we renewed the call for an end to the 75-year-old Korean War and rampant militarism in Korea.
On WCDMZ’s 11th anniversary, we honor the tireless advocacy of all women peacebuilders who crossed divides and renew their call for genuine peace, collective liberation, and an end to wars everywhere!
For more, watch our webinar with Professors Suzy Kim, Na-Young Lee, and Ji-Yeon Yuh: The Gendered Impact of the Korean War: Past, Present, and Future.
To continue the fight ahead and honor this legacy of feminist peacebuilding, join our 2026 Korea Peace Advocacy Summer!
This year marks the 73rd anniversary of the Korean Armistice Agreement. The Korean War is the United States’ longest running overseas conflict. Sign up to join a series of online and in-person events to advocate for formally ending the Korean War with a peace agreement; challenge the bloated U.S. military budget; and organize grassroots events on justice for Korean women survivors of U.S. militarized violence.
Our first program, two virtual Online Power Hour Phone-Banking Sessions will be on Monday, June 22 at 12 pm ET and Monday, June 22 at 8 pm ET. We will also organize in-person and virtual meetings with congressional offices according to constituents’ availability.
Registration closes June 5, 2026. Sign up to secure your spot today!
📚 New Reads
Forget the World Cup—the Most Important Soccer Match Is Happening in Korea
WCDMZ Communications Associate Solby Lim and Executive Director Cathi Choi write on the recent women’s semifinal match of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Champions League in South Korea, marking the first time North Korea has sent athletes to South Korea to compete since 2018, and how civic, grassroots, and state responses to this match reveal the power of this moment to catalyze efforts for change.
Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (IL-03) recently introduced the Renewed Mandate for Human Rights. This bill serves as a comprehensive roadmap outlining the policies Congress must commit to, including affordable housing, universal health care, climate resilience, humane immigration, and the redirecting of the Department of Defense’s funding. Read more about the Renewed Mandate and WCDMZ Executive Director Cathi Choi’s statement in Congresswoman Ramirez’s press release here.
📍 Upcoming Events
June 6 at 4-6:30pm PT | The Minjung Art Movement: Decolonization and Democracy in South Korea | Midnight Books, Los Angeles
Join author Sohl Lee at Midnight Books for a special presentation on her recent publication, The Minjung Art Movement: Decolonization and Democracy in South Korea. In the 1970s and 1980s, a striking form of activist art emerged in South Korea during the mass pro-democracy struggles that culminated in the establishment of direct presidential elections in 1987. Known as the minjung (people’s) art movement (minjung misul undong), this multifaceted cultural activism defined the visual language of dissent under conditions shaped by authoritarian rule and the global Cold War. Drawing on Sohl Lee’s recent book—the first comprehensive art historical study devoted to the artists and collectives of the movement—this talk argues that minjung art articulated what Lee calls the conjoined aspirations of decolonization and democracy. RSVP and learn more here.
June 17 at 1:45-3pm ET | Expanding the Public Interest Toolbox: Litigation and Beyond at the Justice in Action Conference | Fordham Law School, New York City
Some of the most transformative victories for Asian American and immigrant communities never saw the inside of a courtroom; they came through transactional work, policy advocacy, and coalition-driven campaigns. Building on earlier sessions about partnerships between lawyers and community organizers, this session examines how lawyers can support community organizing using a range of legal strategies. WCDMZ Executive Director Cathi Choi and other speakers will draw on their own practice to discuss how and when to deploy each of these tools in service of community power. Through case studies and discussion, participants will leave with a broader and more flexible understanding of what community lawyering can look like. RSVP and learn more here.
✌️Follow Women Cross DMZ and Korea Peace Now! on Instagram! Say hello and check out our accounts!
🛍 Support the Korea Peace Movement: Show your support for Korea peace with one of our tote bags, hats, baby onesies, and clothing, available here. All funds will support Korea Peace Now!, our U.S.-based movement for peace in Korea led by Women Cross DMZ. Art by Peter Holland and lazy blender.
In peace,
Cathi Choi
