Joint open letter from Pax Christi Korea and Pax Christi USA

On March 10, our colleagues with Pax Christi Korea published the following letter addressed to President Trump, urging diplomatic engagement with North Korea in order to achieve peace and denuclearization on the Korean peninsula.

Dear President Trump,

We, the undersigned representatives of Pax Christi Korea and Pax Christi USA, write to you with an urgent and heartfelt appeal to prioritize renewed diplomatic engagement with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in pursuit of a lasting peace agreement on the Korean Peninsula. As faith-based organizations committed to nonviolence, justice, and reconciliation, we believe that peace and security in the region cannot be achieved through isolation or military deterrence alone, but rather through meaningful dialogue and negotiated solutions.

The unresolved status of the Korean War, which ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty in 1953, has left the Korean Peninsula in a perpetual state of tension and insecurity. The absence of a formal peace agreement continues to fuel distrust and militarization, perpetuating the suffering of millions of Koreans and posing a persistent threat to regional and global stability.

We acknowledge and appreciate your previous diplomatic efforts in engaging with the North Korean leadership during your [first] administration (2017-2020). The unprecedented summit between the United States and North Korea in Singapore in June 2018 offered a glimpse of what could be achieved through direct negotiations. However, the absence of sustained follow-through has resulted in setbacks, and tensions have since escalated once again.

We urge you, as President of the United States, to:

1. Reinitiate diplomatic talks with North Korea – The pursuit of peace requires sustained engagement. We call on your administration to reopen channels of dialogue with North Korean officials to foster trust, reduce hostilities, and explore viable steps toward a comprehensive peace process.
2. Negotiate a peace agreement – The Korean War must officially end through a peace treaty. A formal agreement between the relevant parties, including South Korea, North Korea, China, and the United States, is essential to building the foundation for lasting security in the region.
3. Support denuclearization through reciprocal measures – A peaceful resolution to nuclear concerns should be approached through confidence-building measures that address security guarantees, economic cooperation, and phased denuclearization.
4. Promote an enabling environment for peaceful unification – Lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula will ultimately depend on the ability of the Korean people to determine their own future. The United States has a moral and political responsibility to support initiatives that contribute to reconciliation and peaceful coexistence.

As organizations devoted to the principles of peace and justice, Pax Christi Korea and Pax Christi USA stand in solidarity with the Korean people of both North and South Korea who long for an end to war and division. We believe that the United States has a unique role to play in facilitating a new era of cooperation and trust in the region. We urge you to take bold and decisive steps toward peace, demonstrating to the world that diplomacy, not confrontation, is the path forward.

We welcome the opportunity to discuss these matters further and to contribute to efforts that foster reconciliation and security for all.

The letter was signed by Anselmo Lee, co-founder and co-president of Pax Christi Korea, and Charlene Howard, Executive Director of Pax Christi USA.