NguAnn Wright
Photo of Women Cross DMZ walk in Pyongyang, North Korea at the Monument of Reunification (Photo by Niana Liu)
Xa saqala iprojekthi yethu "Abafazi bawela kwiDMZ,” we knew the landmines in the DMZ would be nothing compared to the explosions of anger, vitriol and hate from those who oppose any contact with North Korea. Some U.S. and South Korean government officials, academics, media talking heads and paid bloggers would have their knives out for any group that dared challenge the dangerous status quo on the Korean peninsula. No surprise that the knives have been attempting to slice away at the remarkable worldwide publicity our trip to both North and South Korea created.
Isilayi kunye nenqaku ledayisi lamva nje , "Indlela abaGqwetha boXolo baseNyakatho Korea baba ngabakhenkethi abakunye nabo,” by Thor Halvorssen and Alex Gladstein of the “Human Rights Foundation,” was published July 7, 2015 in Umgaqo-nkqubo waNgaphandle . Halvorssen and the “Human Rights Foundation” are ingxelo associated with an Islamophobic and anti-LGBT agenda.
Injongo yababhali ibonakala isoyikisa naliphi na iqela elisebenzela uxolo kunye noxolelwaniso eKorea ngokusebenzisa umba wokuphulwa kwamalungelo abantu baseNyakatho Korea ukoyikisa amaqela ukuba adibane neNorth Korea. Kwaba bagxeki, uxolo noxolelwaniso kwiindawo ngeendawo zehlabathi lunokuthetha ukuba baya kuphelelwa yimisebenzi nanjengoko ubomi babo busenziwa ekujongeni phantsi iinzame zokusombulula imiba enengxabano neyingozi.
In the lengthy article, their fixation on virtually every word, written or spoken, made by members of the delegation, centered on two themes: the only possible result of visiting North Korea is to give legitimacy to the government, and if you don’t hammer the North Korean government on human rights issues on your first visit, you have lost all credibility. It seems apparent that the authors have never been involved in the delicate art of diplomacy. As a diplomat in the State Department for 16 years, I learned that if your goal is to foster dialogue you must first build some level of familiarity and trust before you can go on to difficult issues.
Of course, Halvorssen and Gladstein’s commentary is not unique. In every international challenge, whether it deals with Iran, Cuba or North Korea, a cottage industry of writers emerges to make their fame and fortune on a confrontational approach to the governments. Some of the “think tanks” and organizations they represent are bankrolled by a handful of ideological billionaires or corporations in the weapons industry that benefit from fueling the status quo, continued sanctions, and a military approach to problems that only have political solutions.
From the beginning our mission was clear: to bring international attention to the unresolved issues created 70 years ago by the division of Korea in 1945 by the United States and Russia. We call for all parties to implement the agreements agreed to 63 years ago in the July 27, 1953 Armistice. We firmly believe that the unresolved Korean conflict gives all governments in the region, including Japan, China and Russia, justification to further militarize and prepare for war, diverting funds for schools, hospitals, and the welfare of the people and the environment. Of course, this justification also is used by U.S. policy makers in their latest strategy, the U.S. “pivot” to Asia and the Pacific. We call for an end to that very profitable war footing, which is why the knives are out for us.
Ngaphandle kwamathandabuzo, abantu baseNyakatho naseMzantsi Korea banokuninzi ukusombulula kwinkqubo yoxolelwaniso kwaye mhlawumbi ekugqibeleni bahlanganisane, kubandakanywa nemiba yezoqoqosho, yezopolitiko, yenyukliya, amalungelo oluntu kunye nabanye abaninzi.
Injongo yethu ibingekuko ukujongana nemiba yamazwe aseKorea ngokwethu kodwa kukuzisa ingqwalasela yamazwe ngamazwe kwezo zingasonjululwanga ngamazwe conflict that is very dangerous for us all and to encourage dialogue to begin again, particularly among the United States, North Korea, and South Korea.
That’s why our group went to both North and South Korea. That’s why we called for reunification of families and women’s leadership in peace building. That’s why we walked in North Korea and South Korea—and crossed the DMZ—calling for an end of the state of war on the Korean peninsula with a peace treaty to finally end the 63-year old Korean War.
Yiyo loo nto siya kuhlala sisebenzisana nokuba iipundits zibhala ntoni na, kuba ekugqibeleni, ukuba amaqela anje ngawethu akalunyanzelisi uxolo, oorhulumente bethu bathambekele ekulweni.
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Ann Wright served 29 years in the US Army/Army Reserves and retired as a Colonel. She also served as a U.S. diplomat in US Embassies in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan and Mongolia. She resigned from the US government in March 2003 in opposition to President Bush’s war on Iraq. In her letter of resignation, she mentioned her concerns about the Bush administration’s refusal to engage/dialogue with North Korea to resolve issues of concern.
I mpendulo
Astonishing that Ann Wright can write 13 paragraphs about North Korea without mentioning that it is a totalitarian police state that the UN human rights commission has compared to the Nazi regime because of the things they do to their own people. I read the article by Gladstein/Halvorssen and am very glad I did–Ann Wright is embarrassed that someone has turned the lights on and she was caught–the Foreign Policy article has a link to a picture of Ann Wright bowing her head and placing flowers at a memorial for Kim il-Sung. Has she no shame? There is a huge difference between diplomacy (a necessity when states deal with each other, to be polite and engage in realpolitik) and traveling to a dictatorship and serving as a PR tool. Wright’s efforts seem aimed at changing policy in the U.S. and South Korea, not in North Korea. The cause of North Korean human rights violations is not U.S. policy, South Korea policy, Japan policy–it’s the fact that one family has controlled North Korea for 60 years as a feudal system. WomenCrossDMZ has no shame and certainly no concern for women’s rights. It’s a scandal!