36th IARF Congress, Day 3: Peace Treaty for the Korean Peninsula, Rev. Dr. Esther Suter

Description

Rev. Dr. Esther Suter marks the seventieth anniversary of the 1953 Korean Armistice by asking what would be required to replace the continuing state of armistice with a genuine peace treaty. She describes the division of the Korean Peninsula as both an international security problem and a human one, with families separated across North and South and generations increasingly distant from direct memories of the Korean War. Church-led peace campaigns, she argues, are therefore not only attempts to collect signatures but forms of public education intended to challenge inherited enemy images and build a broader culture of reconciliation.

Suter reviews ecumenical and diplomatic initiatives involving the National Council of Churches in Korea, the Korean Christian Federation in the North and the World Council of Churches, including the 2018 Panmunjom Declaration and subsequent US-North Korean diplomacy. She links a peace treaty to the wider question of nuclear disarmament and regional security, warning that demands for unilateral denuclearization are unlikely to succeed where states continue to perceive nuclear or military threats. The presentation advocates sustained dialogue, de-escalation, confidence building and movement toward a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula within the broader global struggle against nuclear weapons.