PRESS RELEASE As the Korean Border Falls Silent, Global Peace NGO Calls for Reopening the
Korea – New York -Homeland News
Human Path Between North and South
Washington, D.C., — As the border between North and South Korea grows increasingly
silent and new laws restrict civil action related to inter-Korean engagement, an international peace organization
is urging political leaders to confront the deeper human cost of division and to reopen pathways for peaceful
exchange between people long separated by history.
HWPL, a global civilian peace organization in consultative status at the United Nations, released a renewed call
this week for reconciliation and people-centered peace on the Korean Peninsula. The appeal draws on the heart
and experience of HWPL’s founder Lee Man-Hee, a former frontline combat soldier during the Korean War who
witnessed firsthand the consequences of a divided nation.
“Is dividing the nation and its people, which our ancestors handed down to us, into two (north and south) done
for the sake of the nation and its people? Isn’t it to ruin and to destroy the nation and its people? Dividing the
nation and its people that our ancestors handed down into two and having them kill each other in wars is not
true politics…
” Says HWPL’s Chairman Lee.
Recent reporting has highlighted an unprecedented quiet along the Demilitarized Zone, with military
loudspeakers silenced and cross-border messaging curtailed. At the same time, South Korea has passed
legislation granting police authority to halt civilian leafleting activities directed toward the North, reigniting
debate over freedom of expression, security, and the rights of civilians to participate in peacebuilding.
HWPL feels that these developments should prompt a broader international conversation not only about
security, but about humanity, freedom, and reconciliation. HWPL’s Chairman shared further: “The North and
South used to live as one nation and one people in the same national land. The path, which the outside powers
have blocked, must be opened even one day sooner and have people freely come and go.
” He urged that this
was the “shortcut to reunification.
”
HWPL was founded by its chairman after he served as a combat soldier during the Korean War, where he
witnessed many promising young people from both the North and South lose their lives fighting in the
Independence Army. Following the war, he dedicated his life to peace work, eventually establishing HWPL as a
global movement promoting peace, cessation of war, and international law, dialogue, and civic engagement.
Over the past decades, HWPL has conducted peace missions in more than 30 countries, convened heads of
state, legal experts, and civil society leaders, and collected written commitments from political leaders affirming
support for global peace initiatives. The organization also advocates for the Declaration of Peace and Cessation
of War (DPCW), a proposed international legal framework aimed at preventing armed conflict and protecting
human dignity.
Changing a world of war and conflict into a world of peace is a mission in which all can participate – HWPL, its
partners, and everyone else around the globe. As HWPL’s Chairman Lee has said,
“
…we must reflect on history”
and “
…become messengers of peace and leave a lasting legacy of peace for future generations.
”
