EarthAction: April 2019

UNFOLD ZERO encourages you to take action to ensure the Korean peace and denuclearization process does not unravel and return the region to the nuclear confrontation we saw as recently as 2017.

The peace process got off to a promising start with the Winter Olympic peace initiative in PyeongChang in February 2018, followed by the inter-Korean peace summits in April 2018, May 2018, and September 2018 and the North Korean/USA peace summit in Singapore 2018.

However, the most recent summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi (Vietnam) ended abruptly with no agreement and no plan for future talks.

A key area of disagreement is on the sanctions regime. North Korea wants some sanction relief in return for incremental disarmament steps they have already taken and other steps they are willing to take, but the US is not willing to grant such sanction relief this early in the process.

South Korea has supported the call for incremental sanction relief to allow humanitarian aid and limited economic cooperation between them and North Korea. Indeed, this was agreed in the Panmunjom Declaration.

Without some reciprocal good faith action by the US and the UN Security Council - such as limited sanction relief - it's quite possible that the peace process will fail. Indeed, on March 15, North Korea's vice minister for foreign affairs said that Pyongyang is considering halting the diplomatic process (See Arms Control Today, What Comes Next in U.S.-North Korean Negotiations?)

Call on the UN Security Council to Ease the Sanctions

In light of these developments, on March 21, 55 South Korean non-governmental organizations joined together in an impassioned plea to the UN Security Council to lift all sanctions related to humanitarian assistance and to support reciprocal, incremental measures for peace, especially those agreed in the Singapore summit.

The letter to the Security Council, which was coordinated by People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, notes that the sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council and the USA have hampered not only humanitarian aid to North Korea, but also the minimal economic cooperation that both North and South Korea desire, such as the resuming operation of Mount Geumgang tours and the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.

'As initial steps for peace, the two Koreas need to expand meeting and cooperation among them in order to end military tension and confrontation, and thus paving way for peace in the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia,' says the letter. 'The sanctions against the DPRK, which impede humanitarian assistance and building of cooperative relationships between the two Koreas, must be relieved as soon as possible.'

Please take action by contacting UN Security Council members and supporting the calls in the letter.

Click here for a list of UN Security Council member contact emails.

Learn more at UNFOLD ZERO