This year, July 27th will mark the 70th anniversary of the signing of the temporary Military Armistice Agreement that stopped the fighting after two years of over 575 talks between warring parties.
Three days of events in Washington, DC from July 26-28 will mark the 70th anniversary with a call for a peace agreement to end hostilities on the Korean peninsula.
I was in Korea 70 years ago and I witnessed the cease fire. We U.S. soldiers in Korea welcomed the armistice and were told that a peace agreement would be negotiated in quick order.
It never happened.
I came away from the Korean war realizing that war is not the answer. I saw myself in my enemy. Yes, their skin color and shape of their eyes were slightly different than mine but so much more was just like me. It struck me that we are eternally “interconnected.” The very opposite of war and hatred.
In connection with the 70th anniversary of the Armistice, I am appealing to all parties to finally end the lingering U.S. war in Korea.
Having a peace agreement instead of an Armistice would end the dangerous nuclear threats between North Korea and the U.S. A peace agreement could transform the tragic division of Korea. Korea has a rich culture and long history of being a united country dating back more than 1,000 years. We owe a peace agreement to the Korean people because the U.S. and the Soviet Union arbitrarily divided Korea into two countries at the end of WWII.
North Korean painting depicting the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement on 27 July 1953.
After 70 years, let’s replace the outdated Military Armistice in Korea with a peace agreement. Let’s take confidence-building steps with North Korea so three-party talks to negotiate a peace agreement can begin.
For the past 70 years, the United States has an obsessive desire to interfere overtly and covertly in the internal affairs of other nations causing many nations of the world to fear and resent us.
I am 92 years old. I have a “vision” of the United States renouncing all forms of war and in its place being recognized for its moral power. It’s a vision and in a vision, anything is possible.
Jack Doxey was in Korea with the 7th Regiment, U.S. Army Third Division from1952-1953. He is a member of Veterans For Peace, San Diego.
