2. Medea Benjamin. CommonDreams. Urgent Warning: Time to Hit the Reset Button on US-Korean Policy
The massive war games have been taking place every year in March, with smaller ones scheduled for August. A halt would alleviate tensions and pave the way for negotiations. So would halting the deployment of the destabilizing THAAD system so disliked by South Korean villagers, North Koreans and the Chinese….Given the specter of nuclear war, the rational alternative policy is one of de-escalation and engagement. President Moon has called for dialogue with the North and a peace treaty to permanently end the Korean War. North Korean diplomats have raised the possibility of a “freeze for a freeze.” Time has proven that coercion doesn’t work. There’s an urgent need to hit the reset button on US-Korean policy, before one of the players hits a much more catastrophic button that could lead us into a nuclear nightmare.
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/07/29/urgent-warning-time-hit-reset-button-us-korean-policy
3. Negotiations, Not War: Green Party’s Jill Stein Warns About U.S. Escalating Tension with N.Korea
That’s right. Well, you know, initially, as president, he did oppose THAAD. And then he’s done a real turnaround. Ever since his summit with Donald Trump, he’s really backed off. So, you know, I think what’s exciting now is that there is sort of an international coalition that’s developing among the peace and democracy groups between South Korea and the U.S. And we’re really both trying to work at both ends of the problem and to get the U.S. to back off and, likewise, to get South Korea to stand up for sovereignty. It has been essentially an occupied peninsula, occupied—it’s been a battleground, actually, of the great powers for the last century, initially occupied by Japan, then—you know, by Japan throughout the Second World War, and then immediately occupied by the Soviet Union and the U.S.
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/1/negotiations_not_war_green_partys_jill
4. Christine Ahn. The New York Times. OP-ED, The North Korea Travel Ban Will Do More Harm Than Good
Two years ago, I crossed the world’s most fortified border, from North to South Korea, with 30 women from 15 countries calling for a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War, which was halted six decades ago with only a cease-fire. The North Korea travel ban will impede citizen diplomacy initiatives like our march. From the “Ping-Pong diplomacy” of Chinese and American table tennis players in the 1970s that opened the door between Beijing and Washington to the people-to-people exchanges between the United States and the Soviet Union that helped thaw relations during the Cold War, citizen diplomacy fosters understanding between countries otherwise closed off to each other. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/opinion/the-north-korea-travel-ban-will-do-more-harm-than-good.html?ref=opinion&referer=https://www.nytimes.com/pages/opinion/index.html?nytmobile=0&nytmobile=0
5.PBS. How close is North Korea to launching a nuclear missile?
“The North Koreans have brought their nuclear program far enough and with the current tension between North Korea and the United States, that we may stumble into a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula”
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/how-close-is-north-korea-to-launching-a-nuclear-missile/#.WYCJmfpyX5A.twitter
6.CBS News. Face The Nation. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, July 30, 2017
I think the only solution is a diplomatic one...And I think that the administration, and this is one of the reasons that I hope General Kelly will be able to be effective, even beyond a chief of staff, is to begin some very serious negotiation with the North and stop this program.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/transcript-senator-dianne-feinstein-on-face-the-nation-july-30-2017/
7.2017 J-CSIS Forum | Keynote Remarks by The Honorable James Clapper, former U.S. National Intelligence Chief via Michael Wong from Korea Peace Network
What would we demand in return? I don’t really know if the North would find any of this appealing, even if we were to make such an offer. I think realistically, all we could demand in return would be to get them to agree to a verifiable stop to their underground nuclear device tests, and their missile tests. This would be, I think, a positive move to stop their development of capabilities that have not been fully tested or proven to work. https://www.csis.org/analysis/2017-j-csis-forum-keynote-remarks-honorable-james-clapper
8.Robert Kelly. North Korean Nukes are almost certainly for deterrence and defense
https://twitter.com/Robert_E_Kelly/status/891375445974953986
9.Max Fisher. North Korea’s Nuclear Arms Sustain Drive for ‘Final Victory’ New York Times
North Korea envisions the United States one day concluding that it has grown too powerful to coerce and the status quo too risky to maintain, leading Washington to accept a grand bargain in which it would drop sanctions and withdraw some or all of its forces from South Korea. North Korea appears bent on following that progression. A nuclear program that can threaten the United States, making war unthinkable, would be only step one — and may, with the missile tests this summer, now be complete. Though it is difficult to imagine today an American president flying to Pyongyang to shake Mr. Kim’s hand and normalize relations, it was not much easier, in the 1960s, to picture President Richard M. Nixon’s 1972 trip to Beijing.
“The key to understanding Kim Jong-un’s long-term strategy has to do with ‘byungjin,’ ” said John Delury, a professor at Yonsei University in Seoul. Byungjin, or parallel advance, is Mr. Kim’s policy of developing the economy alongside the nuclear program.
“Ideally, from his perspective, he could replicate the Chinese model by normalizing foreign relations, from the U.S. down, on the basis of a nuclear deterrent,” Mr. Delury said. Only then, with its economy, in theory, allowed to catch up to its neighbors’ and its leadership accepted abroad, could North Korea feel secure.
In a war, nuclear powers with small arsenals, like North Korea, would feel strong pressure to fire quickly before their weapons are destroyed, even if they believe they will lose, according to research by Caitlin Talmadge, a professor at George Washington University. While such a situation is remote, the North’s strategic ambitions have introduced this risk.
If the world wishes to avoid these risks, Mr. Myers wrote, it would need to confront the “troubling explanations for North Korea’s armament, instead of continuing to ignore them.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/29/world/asia/north-korea-nuclear-missile.html?smid=tw-nytimesworld&smtyp=cur
10.Give Up on Denuclearizing North Korea
The question now is how to convince it not to use its weapons. This day has been a long time coming. North Korea began its nuclear efforts in the 1950s. But the world is long since past the point of deciding whether or not to accept a nuclear-armed North Korea. The question is how the United States can convince the world that these new weapons are unusable, and convince its allies that it means what it says. The first step: deciding, on its own, what to do.
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/07/give-up-on-denuclearizing-north-korea/535347/?utm_source=twb
11.South Korea is Preparing a Surgical Strike Against the North: Report
On June 23, Moon Jae-in visited the field…
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-31/south-korea-preparing-surgical-strike-against-north-report
12.Bruce Bennet. RAND Corporation. Surgical strike isn’t going to work….it would start a major war https://twitter.com/RANDCorporation/status/892958976786157570
13.NPR. North Korea Confusion Illustrates Trump Administration’s Divide Over Foreign Policy
JOEL WIT: I think that the administration really doesn't have a strategy and really doesn't know what to do.
14.New York Post. China welcomes Tillerson’s assurances on North Korea
BEIJING — China on Thursday welcomed comments by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that the United States does not seek to topple the North Korean government and would like dialogue with Pyongyang at some point, saying China had always supported talks. Tillerson reiterated that Washington sought to persuade North Korea to give up its missile and nuclear weapons programmes through peaceful pressure. The United States does not seek regime change, the collapse of the regime, an accelerated reunification of the peninsula or an excuse to send the US military into North Korea, Tillerson said. Speaking to reporters, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China “attached great importance” to Tillerson’s remarks and his reiteration of what Wang called the “Four Nos” principle. http://nypost.com/2017/08/03/china-welcomes-tillersons-assurances-on-north-korea/
15.The Global Times. `Courage’: China applauds Rex Tillerson’s Soft Approach on North Korea
In a press conference Monday, Tillerson stated, “We do not seek a regime change, we do not seek the collapse of the regime, we do not seek an accelerated reunification of the peninsula, we do not seek an excuse to send our military north of the 38th Parallel.” Instead, he claimed the United States was “trying to convey to the North Koreans: We are not your enemy. We’re not your threat. But you are presenting an unacceptable threat to us, and we have to respond.” In a column praising Tillerson for his “courage,” the Global Times argued, “Many Americans would think Tillerson is showing weakness, but we see his statement as the most courageous expression from Washington regarding the Korean Peninsula issue.”
… “Washington should show goodwill to Pyongyang, not through diplomatic rhetoric, but through sincere actions,” the column suggested. “The US and South Korea should respect the national path North Korea has chosen and help North Korea remain stable and develop its economy. When Pyongyang can feel this goodwill, it will have fewer motives to develop nuclear and missile technology.”
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/08/03/courage-china-applauds-tillersons-soft-approach-north-korea/
16.The Conversation. South Korea’s president is getting his North Korea policy badly wrong
This balance was struck with some success during the administration of Roh Moo-hyun, in which Moon served as chief of staff. The nuclear issue and inter-Korean relations followed parallel paths; the two Koreas had a relatively functional relationship at the time, and denuclearisation negotiations were confined to the Six Party Talks, in which South Korea was at most a facilitator. Whenever the nuclear issue is allowed to overshadow inter-Korean relations, only North Korea benefits. It’s time for Seoul to correct course away from the nuclear trap that has confounded previous administrations. It could instead consider externally mediated options such as China’s freeze-for-freeze proposal, under which North Korea would freeze its nuclear programme in return for the US South Korea ending their large-scale joint military exercises. Instead, Moon is stubbornly treating the nuclear issue and inter-Korean relations as inextricably entwined. By doing so, he’s passing up crucial opportunities, diminishing his country’s role in the region while Pyongyang marches unconstrained towards its nuclear goals. http://theconversation.com/south-koreas-president-is-getting-his-north-korea-policy-badly-wrong-81047?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=twitterbutton
17. Yi Yong-in. Washington correspondent. Hankyoreh. [News analysis] What’s behid Tillerson’s softer tone on North Korea?
The fact that leading media in the US are calling for direct dialogue between North Korea and the US should also strengthen the State Department’s position. “Mr. Trump needs to face the reality that he cannot solve this crisis by proxy [China],” the New York Times opined in an editorial in its Aug. 1 edition. “Mr. Trump should drop the bluster and dispatch Secretary of State Rex Tillerson or some other high-level envoy to Pyongyang to explore whether there is any basis for negotiations.” The newspaper also emphasized that “talks should begin without preconditions.” http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_northkorea/805417.html
18. Simone Chun. Interview with Brian Becker, Loud & Clear, U.S. tells North Korea `Time for Talk is Over,’ Blames Russia and China for Missile Launch. August 1, 2017
The United States has said that the ‘time for talk is over’ after North Korea’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile test and the Moon Jae-in administration in the South considers expanding the deployment of the U.S. THAAD missile system. Simone Chun of the Korea Policy Institute joins Brian. https://www.spreaker.com/user/radiosputnik/u-s-tells-north-korea-time-for-talk-is-o?utm_medium=widget&utm_source=user%3A8544886&utm_term=episode_title
18. Donald Gregg: The Time For Negotiations with North Korea Is Now
Don Gregg is right in thinking talks should begin without preconditions. Now is the time to do so. http://time.com/4872018/north-korea-us-negotiations-talks/
19. Peace Treaty National Campaign (in Korean) 평화협정 범 국민 서명 운동
http://www.hanion.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=5592
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeGmXcoR0wyjf0yvzDaFF94D7A4h4X0lkFRmWuUNK94DSNirw/viewform
김대중, 노무현 대통령님께서 북핵과 남북대화및 외교는 구분하면서 대북 강경책을 선택하지 않았는데 북한이 미국 목표한 미사일 발사했다고 사드 추가 배치한 문재인 대통령 정책에 미국내 한국을 염려하는 많은 평화 운동가들에게 실망을 안겨 주고 있습니다. 한반도 평화 정착의 마지막 기회라고도 할 수 있는 앞으로 5년, 반드시 67년 한국 전쟁을 종식시키고 당당하고 평화로운 주권 대한민국을 후손들에게 물려 줄 수 있다고 믿습니다.
1) July, 2016: Inspirational Seongju candlelight that helped to restore democracy and elect President Moon Jae-in, South Korea
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