On 24 May 2015, 30 women from across the world visited North Korea and then made an historic crossing of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to South Korea.
This crossing marked a new chapter of international feminist solidarity with all Korean women, but also all Koreans, who are trying to build a sustainable peace in Korea and also to challenge Cold War ‘forever war’ frameworks.
There had been a coalition of international women during the Korean War itself, during the years of active fighting, between 1950 and 1953, that bore witness and reported back to the world of the horrors that they were witnessing, of the millions of civilians being killed.
And now, it is important to draw attention to what ‘forever war’ means. The Korean War has not been ended. Families are divided. We have millions of landmines still buried at the DMZ.
Cathi Choi, from ‘Women Cross DMZ’ (a global movement of women mobilizing for peace on the Korean Peninsula) speaks to Dae-Han Song about the significance of that crossing in 2015, the movement that has since come together, and its campaigning work for a peace settlement in Korea....