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S.K. Shrestha: Address to Summit 2022, Session II
Written by Subash Kaji Shrestha, Member, Central Advisory Committee, Nepal Communist Party (Maoist Center); Ex. Deputy. Mayor, Dhulikhel Municipality, Nepal
Thursday, August 11, 2022
Address to Summit 2022 and Leadership Conference,
Seoul, Korea, August 11-15, 2022
Excellences and distinguished participants, I feel greatly honored and privileged to be invited to speak in this session of the International Leadership Conference 2022 sponsored by Universal Peace Federation. I would like to focus my speech on the establishment of peace in the Asia-Pacific region with special focus on the Korean Peninsula.
Every country, big or small, wants independence, peace and prosperity. But the urge will be stronger if the country is an oppressed one or beset with conflicts or in a relatively backward and poor state. It was true in the past, it is true at present and will remain true in the future too. A country like Nepal, my country, wants independence, peace and prosperity. Although Nepal has never been colonized by any foreign power, it has been oppressed by imperialist and expansionist powers. Only in a peaceful environment can prosperity for the people be created.
We are meeting at a significant moment when we are entering a period of heightened opportunities for cooperative action in international life.
The easing of tensions is vital for peace. We praise the efforts Universal Peace Federation to establish world peace. We must support its initiatives for constructive dialog to resolve the conflicts that cause destruction at the national, regional and international levels.
Now, I would like to highlight some historic events in the path of achieving peaceful reunification of Korea.
The leaders of the DPR of Korea, President Kim Il-sung, General Secretary Kim Jong-il and Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, have given prime importance to the independent and peaceful reunification of the divided fatherland without the interference of foreign powers. In this regard, the joint statement made between DPRK and ROK on July 4, 1970 under the guidance of founding a Democratic Federal Republic of Korea with a 10-point program is the landmark. Three summit meetings between the North and South have been successfully held on June 15, 2000, October 4, 2007 and on April 27, 2018. Chairman of the State Affairs Committee of the DPR of Korea, Kim Jong-un, and President of Republic of Korea, Moon Jae-in, held a North-South Summit in Pyongyang from September 18-20, 2018 and signed the historic September Pyongyang Joint Declaration. The policies set forth the joint declaration published after the Summit Meetings have paved the way for the independent and peaceful reunification of Korea. Such reunification of Korea will make peace in the Korean peninsula concrete and Korean people as well as the peoples in the vicinity can thus enjoy enduring peace. The summit meeting with Marshall Kim Jong-un, the Supreme Leader of DPRK, and US President Donald Trump on June 12, 2018 has created a new hopeful environment to institutionalize peace and brighten the prosperity in the Korean peninsula. Yet, there are still several obstacles to be cleared up.
The Panmunjom Declaration which was signed by Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un and President Moon Jae-in on April 27, 2018 solemnly declared that “the north and the south agreed to totally stop all hostile acts against the other side in all spaces including the ground, sea and air, the root cause of military tension and conflicts, and that they agreed to stop all the hostile acts including the loudspeaker broadcasting and scattering of leaflets in the areas along the Military Demarcation Line from May 1, dismantle their means and make the DMZ a substantial peace zone in the future.”
I hereby think it appropriate to highlight a joint resolution released on June 2, 2018 by the North, South and Overseas Headquarters of the Pan-national Alliance for Korea’s Reunification (Pomminryon) stressing that the “Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Reunification of the Korean Peninsula,” adopted at Panmunjom on April 27, 2018, is a historic landmark for ushering in a new era of independent reunification by carrying forward the July 4 joint statement, the June 15 joint declaration and the October 4 declaration. The resolution said:
The north, south and overseas headquarters of Pomminryon pledges as follows, hailing together with 80 million Koreans the historic Panmunjom declaration and reflecting the firm will to implement as early as possible this valuable agreement common to the nation:
- We will positively put in practice the Panmunjom declaration, a new landmark for independent reunification.
Pommuinryon will strictly reject outsider interference and arbitrary practices threatening the destiny of all Koreans, open up a new era of independent reunification only in the principles and spirit of By Our Nation Itself, and actively work to establish a mechanism for permanent and durable peace of the Korean peninsula.
- We will arrange a joint national event involving all circles of people without fail to lay a foundation for holding a great pan-national gathering for reunification.
Pomminryon will make the joint national events specified in the Panmunjom Declaration successful ones, and thus rev up the atmosphere for north-south reconciliation and cooperation and demonstrate the stronger will to achieve great national unity and independent reunification.
Pomminryon will provide a foundation for the successful great pan-national gathering for reunification in the future by successfully hosting joint national events.
- We will strive to immediately resolve the humanitarian issue caused by national division and make non-governmental exchange and cooperation brisk.
Pomminryon will make efforts to urgently settle the humanitarian matters caused by the national division and confrontation and vitalize non-governmental exchange and cooperation.
Excellences and distinguished participants, the Korean peninsula is technically at war. Any slight misjudgment and ill statement rattling the other party under the present situation where acute military tension persists may become a spark triggering off a dangerous conflict and a full-blown war. This is a fact known by all the peace-loving people of the world. One cannot imagine anyone implementing a “preemptive attack” on the nuclear weapons state. So, both sides must not ramp up the tension with confrontational acts.
As everyone knows, the Korean nation is now standing at a crucial crossroads: whether to advance along the road of peace and reunification after breaking the serious deadlock in the north-south relations, or continuously suffer the pain resulting from division in the vicious cycle of confrontation and the danger of war.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the current inter-Korean relations have been brought back to the time before the publication of the Panmunjom Declaration, and the dream for national reunification has become more distant.
I think that the present frozen north-south relations cannot thaw by the efforts of one side nor be resolved by themselves with the passage of time. If one sincerely aspires after the country’s peace and reunification, being concerned for the destiny of the nation and the future of posterity, one should not look with folded arms on this grave situation but take proactive measures to repair and improve the present north-south relations which are in a crisis.
I strongly hold that it is necessary to take a stand to solve the basic problems in the north-south relations, halt all acts of hostility toward the counterpart, and prudently deal with and honestly implement the north-south declarations.
I think we who are gathering here to promote peace and peaceful reunification of Korea should try our best to correctly understand the main cause why the north-south relations which had developed on good terms in the past were frozen abruptly and brought back to confrontation, and help to get rid of all obstacles and hurdles in the way of peaceful reunification and world peace. The question is whether the north-south relations may return to a new starting point of peace and prosperity in the near future as they were in the spring of four years ago. A new road toward improvement of the north-south relations based on firm trust and reconciliation can be paved only when both sides strictly control and root out any abnormal anti-reunification conduct.
The efforts of the Universal Peace Federation, founded by Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon and her late husband, are very much appreciated for its Track II diplomatic peace initiatives to bring peace in the Korean peninsula. I am confident that our discussions here today will make a positive contribution to advancing the search for new pathways to achieving sustainable peace in the Asia-Pacific based on Universal Humanism.
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