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Former South Korean President Moon Jae-in delivers a video address to the 2024 Korea Peace Conference organized by the Korean American Public Action Committee, or KAPAC, held in Washington DC on May 23, 2024. (Lee Bon-young/The Hankyoreh)

In a video message that aired at a Korean American peace forum, former Korean President Moon Jae-in said that “the situation on the Korean Peninsula is currently in a state of crisis, with military conflicts possible at any moment.” Moon’s message was part of the 2024 Korea Peace Conference, which was hosted in Washington on May 23 by the Korean American Public Action Committee.

“The situation on the Korean Peninsula is even more disturbing amidst the increasingly confrontational international situation; communication is not being restored; the Sept. 19 military agreement, which has been a stabilizing force for peace on the Korean Peninsula, is being neutralized; and military tensions are at their highest,” Moon said. 

In connection with that, Moon said he hopes more members of Congress will cosponsor the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act, a bill that has been submitted to the US House of Representatives. The bill seeks to officially end the Korean War and to establish a liaison office between North Korea and the US.

Lee Jae-myung, the head of Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party, also submitted a video message to the forum. Noting that the unification and security policies of past Democratic Party administrations has been to keep working for permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula, Lee said that currently, the situation on the Korean Peninsula is “now more serious than ever.” 

The Democratic Party leader went on to remark that peace on the Korean Peninsula will require cooperation with the international community along with the efforts of both South Koreans and North Koreans. 

“I am confident that we can achieve peace, for we have you on our side,” he said in his message.

Brad Sherman, the US representative who is the sponsor of the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Bill, criticized US policy in a speech at the forum. Sherman noted that the US has kept the same policy on North Korea for decades even as the North has built up its nuclear arsenal.

Sherman remarked that it may be easy for American politicians to pound their desks and declare that North Korea shouldn’t have nuclear weapons, but nothing can be achieved by such an attitude. He said it was time for a new approach that would include a peace treaty and the establishment of a US-North Korea liaison office.

The Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act was submitted to the 117th US Congress (2021–2022) and was cosponsored by 46 representatives, but the bill died when session came to a close in January 2023. Sherman submitted the bill to the 118th US Congress in March 2023 and thus far has gained the signatures of 39 lawmakers from the Democratic Party and three from the Republican Party.

By Lee Bon-young, Washington correspondent

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