Korea

More info here 

21 May, international forum hosted by the local government.

“Disarmament and Human Security“
The world spent an astronomical amount of $1,917 billion(2.377 quadrillion in KRW) of military spending in 2019 which is 2.2 percent of the world’s GDP. It is increasing arms trade and arms production day by day. Military spending of South Korea is also the same. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and climate crisis are asking us what “security” should be to protect the earth and humanity. The world has spent astronomical amounts to prepare for war, but it has lost the opportunity to respond to what actually threatens human safety.

In this session, we will look at current levels of military spending globally from a critical perspective and discuss disarmament and the need to change the concept of security.

Time : 15:10 pm – 16:30 pm (Seoul Time), 06:10 am – 07:30 am (UTC), 02:10 am – 03:30 am (EST) on 21 May 2021
Simultaneous Korean-English interpretation will be provided

Moderator : Yongsuk LEE (Activist, World Without War)
Presenter 1. Jordi Calvo Rufanges (Vice President, International Peace Bureau (IPB))
Presenter 2. Chloé Meulewaeter (Chair, The Centre Delàs)
Presenter 3. Sooyoung HWANG (Manager, Center for Peace and Disarmament, PSPD)
Presenter 4. Tori Bateman (Policy advocacy coordinator, American Friends Service Committee)

April 26

An open forum about the 2018 inter-Korean Summit is being organized. A joint statement was released on May 2 by PSPD. This Panmunjeom Declaration based on building military trust, without using force, shall divert the military spending to welfare and peace settlement. Read the joint declaration here!

April 18th, 2017
The GDAMS preparatory committee of Korea (PSPD & World Without War) will issue a Joint Statement and will also translate IPB’s material into Korean. Contact: Sooyoung Hwang: swimming@pspd.org

People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy(PSPD) reports on behalf of 28 peace organizations in Korea.

Read here the Joint Statement issued by Parliamentarians and civil society in South Korea on the Global Day of Action against Military Spending . 22 MPs and 28 NGOs endorsed this statement and had a joint press interview in front of Parliament.

In the afternoon on the same day, CSO activists went downtown to distribute 1000 leaflets and do picketing protest. More than 20 activists and volunteers joined this street campaign. Not only in Seoul but also in Daejeon (Middle Area) and Jeju Gangjeong(Island down south), NGOs had street campaign with one voice.

To see more pictures, Click here. View below the campaign web poster and the leaflet.

They also conducted various online actions including thunderclap and 1 person protest at the Online News Show. One of PSPD activists, SeungHwan Kim showed up at a live online news show.  Please check out the video clip here.

Read the Republic of Korea-Japan Joint Statement which was endorsed by 39 organisations and led by Peace Boat and the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy.