Pd20160519 발신공문 south korean ngos call us president(연대)

KOREA PEACE COALITION 16, Jahamunro 9-gil, Jongno-Gu Seoul ROK 03036 Tel +82 2 723 4250 Fax +82 2 6919 2004 Email peace@pspd.org

The President The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, D.C. 20500

Cc: Secretary John Forbes Kerry | The US Department of State Ambassador Mark Lippert | The US Ambassador to the Republic of Korea

May 19, 2016

Dear Mr. President:

Korea Peace Coalition is a voluntary organization of people from religious groups and diverse sections of civil society in Korea, with an aim to address issues on the Korean Peninsula and seek peaceful solutions. We would like to offer our appreciation for your efforts towards nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, which have been made since you outlined your vision toward a “Nuclear Free World� in Prague in 2009. Moreover, we greatly appreciate and welcome your decision to visit Hiroshima on 27 May, which will be the first of its kind by a sitting U.S. president.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the first cities in history where nuclear weapons were used against people. Hundreds of thousands of civilians died or were injured and a number of people still suffer from the effects of radiation exposure. What happened in the two cities is a good example of the humanitarian consequences of the use of nuclear weapons and military strategies dependent thereon. Considering the fact that you have shared a bold vision towards a world without nuclear weapons, and are the leader of the largest nuclear-armed state, which was also the first to build and use these weapons of mass destruction, we are confident that your visit to Hiroshima will serve as an important turning point in our advance towards a nuclear-free world. With this in mind, we hereby deliver our call for the following:

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KOREA PEACE COALITION 16, Jahamunro 9-gil, Jongno-Gu Seoul ROK 03036 Tel +82 2 723 4250 Fax +82 2 6919 2004 Email peace@pspd.org

First, we ask that you to extend your nation’s sincerest apologies during your visit to Hiroshima Peace Memorial to the victims who were killed by those atomic bombs and who still suffer from their ramifications. In particular, we would like to point out that around 10% of the victims of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki – about 70,000 of the 740,000 – were Koreans (Koreans under Japanese colonial power). Most of them were conscripted for forced labor, which comprises a part of Japan’s war crimes. Although some 2,600 Koreans affected by the bombings still survive today, they continue to live in pain and misery. We strongly urge you to deliver an official message of sincere apology to them.

Second, we appeal to you to declare to the world, in Hiroshima, that nuclear weapons are inhumane weapons, and to present specific action plans for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons, not only in the U.S. but in all countries around the world. We were disappointed that the U.S. government committed one trillion dollars to its nuclear modernization program even after your vision for a nuclear-free world was made public. Moreover, we find it disheartening that your administration has only passively accepted the policy of no first use (NFU). Furthermore, it is a shame that nuclear disarmament, beyond protecting fissile material from nuclear terrorism, has not been raised as an agenda at the Nuclear Security Summit. There is no such thing as a safe nuclear weapon. Nuclear weapons should disappear from this planet.

Third, we urge you to make special efforts so that your visit to Hiroshima will not justify, in any way, Japan’s war crimes, or lead to an expansion of Japan’s military role in Asia. The Abe administration has constantly lived in denial of its past war crimes and continues to make moves against historical facts, in violation of the intent of the Japanese Peace Constitution. To our regret, the U.S. administration has reinforced its military alliance with Japan while the Japanese government has turned away from its responsibility and history. The stronger alliance between the two countries has played a part in placing the Japanese Peace Constitution in jeopardy, which is regarded as the last chance for peace in Northeast Asia. Your visit to Hiroshima should be for the sake of peace, and should serve as an opportunity to further strengthen the historic value and significance of the Japanese Peace Constitution.

Last but not least, we sincerely ask that the U.S. will pursue policies of “mutual cooperation and coexistence” with China, instead of military confrontation in East Asia. In addition, with regard to the North Korean nuclear program, which raises military tensions in Asia, we would like to suggest that

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KOREA PEACE COALITION 16, Jahamunro 9-gil, Jongno-Gu Seoul ROK 03036 Tel +82 2 723 4250 Fax +82 2 6919 2004 Email peace@pspd.org

the U.S. realize denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and establishment of a peace regime (peace treaty) through dialogue and negotiation with Pyongyang instead of military pressure and forward deployment of strategic arms.

Mr. President, you have achieved peaceful cooperation with and improvements to relations with former U.S. adversaries in other regions. We sincerely hope that you will also achieve an establishment of peace in East Asia based on the principles of mutual cooperation and coexistence.

We would like to conclude by thanking you for your time in reading this letter.

Sincerely,

KANG Woo-il (Bishop, Jeju Diocese, Former President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea) KWON Tae-seon (Co-president, Korean Federation for Environmental Movements) KIM Keum-ok (Standing Representative, Korean Women's Association United) KIM Young-joo (Representative of the National Council of Churches in Korea) Ven. Do-beop, (Chairperson, the order's Hwajaeng Committee for Harmonious Debate) LEE Myeong-hye (President, YWCA Korea) LEE Sun-jong (Former Head, Eun Deok Cultural Center of Won-Buddhism) LEE Shin-ho (President, National Council of YMCAs of Korea) LEE Yun-bae (Chairperson, Young Korean Academy) IN Myung-jin (Co-Standing President, Korean Sharing Movement) CHUNG Ki-sup (President, the Association of Companies in Kaesong Industrial Complex) CHUNG Hyun-baek, Chairman of Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation JI Eun-hee (Former Minister, The Ministry of Gender Equality CHOI Byung-mo (Former President, MINBYUN-Lawyers for a Democratic Society)

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