ASIA: Stop war games, start peace talks – PCUSA signs onto statement

Pax Christi USA calls upon the U.S. and South Korean governments to stop the costly and provocative war games and take proactive steps to de-escalate the current tensions of the Korean peninsula. Pax Christi USA has signed onto the following statement from the Working Group for Peace and Justice in Asia and the Pacific.

Stop War Games, Start Peace Talks: Statement Opposing U.S.-South Korea Joint Military Exercises Key Resolve Foal Eagle

The Korean War, known in the United States as “The Forgotten War,” has never ended.  Every year, the United States stages a series of massive joint war games with its ally, South Korea (ROK).  These coordinated exercises are both virtual and real.  Among other things, they practice live fire drills and simulate the invasion of North Korea—including first-strike options.

While we – peace, human rights, faith-based, environmental, and Korean solidarity activists – are deeply concerned about North Korea’s third nuclear weapons test, we also oppose the U.S.-ROK joint war games as adding to the dangerous cycle of escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula.  North Korea views these war games as an act of provocation and threat of invasion like that which we have witnessed in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya and routinely condemns these maneuvers as aimed at “bring[ing] down the DPRK by force” and forcing it to“bolster up the war deterrent physically.”  South Korean activists also decry the role of these war games in the hostile perpetuation of the division of the Korean peninsula and are often persecuted for their protests under South Korea’s draconian National Security Law…

Click here to read the entire statement.