NO TO WAR OF AGGRESSION IN THE KOREAN PENINSULA

NO TO WAR OF AGGRESSION IN THE KOREAN PENINSULA Statement on the intensifying tremors of war of aggression in the Korean Peninsula between the United States of America-Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 01 April 2013 We are individuals and migrant workers organizations in South Korea who are greatly alarmed and concerned on the possibility of eruption of war of aggression in the Korean Peninsula. We, in the strongest terms oppose and resist any attempt from the contending countries and states to start a direct armed confrontation and the use of both conventional and high tech war armaments including nuclear weapons to achieve their political-military and economic ends. The provocations through the Joint US-ROK military exercises should be stopped now. The DPRK responses to the provocations, as we understand them are all on the defensive, for since the Armistice of 1953, the US-ROK joint military exercises have always been intended to overthrow the government of the DPRK. We recall that on March 11, 2013 the Joint US- ROK began its annual “Key Resolve” and “Foal” war games. These, and the “Ulchi” games that took place in August 2012, rehearse invasions of North Korea for several months each year. Far from creating security in the region as those governments claim they do, these games deliberately provoke and stir up animosity towards the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea (DPRK), extend the state of civil war, and promote war as a solution to a conflict instigated and perpetuated by US imperialism with the support of other imperialist countries. This heightened tension has reached an alarming level and people are anticipating at anytime war will broke out, but it seems that the ROK and the diplomatic communities in Seoul are just waiting to evacuate their nationals and are remained silent over the critical situation in the Korean Peninsula. Recently, on the first day of April, the advanced, radar-evading F-22 Raptors were deployed to Osan Air Base, the main US Air Force base in the ROK, from Japan to support ongoing bilateral exercises, the US military command in the ROK said in a statement that the DPRK to restrain itself. On Thursday, March 28, the US flew two radar-evading B-2 Spirit bombers on practice runs over the ROK.They flew from the US and back in what appeared to be the first exercise of its kind, designed to show America's ability to conduct long-range, precision strikes "quickly and at will", the US military said. Upon knowing of this Kim Jung-Un, leader of the DPRK, responded swiftly by signing the plan on technical preparations of strategic rockets of the Korean People's Army, ordering them to be on standby for fire so that they may anytime strike the US mainland,its military bases in the operational theatres in the Pacific, including Hawaii and Guam, and those in the ROK," media sources have disclosed. Since coming into power in 2009, the ruling Senuri/Grand National Party US subservient government of the ROK has been undoing all the progress to reunify the peninsula and bring about peace worked out by the previous liberal governments, by churches, NGOs and communities. Continuous war games in recent years have caused an escalation of tensions. They have caused the DPRK to hold underground nuclear tests. This year, in fact, the persistent engagement in war exercises has prompted the DPRK to renounce the July 1953 Armistice Agreement and stand ready to make a counter-attack at any time as of March 11. The situation today is therefore extremely volatile. We call on the governments of labor sending countries, specifically of the Philippines and the Republic of Korea as sovereign states to make a resolute resolve and appropriate actions to stop the war games and de-escalate the tensions in the Korean Peninsula, and prevent armed conflict to happen for there are not less than 42,000 Filipinos out of more than one million foreign residents that work in South Korea, a big number of Filipinos that will be displaced once war will ensue, which we believe given the unemployment situation of the Philippines will be out of jobs and fail to sustain the life of their families. The government of the Republic of Korea has so much to lose in the war and the whole region of Northeast Asia will be in total destruction. The ROK should exercise its sovereign will to stop the military exercises and immediately get into bilateral and multilateral negotiations to make a permanent peace treaty and work towards the reunification of the Korean nation. We call on the government of the United States of America (USA), President Barack Obama, the Congress and Senate to act upon new foreign policies that are based on lasting justice and peace and prevent the political-military institutions in pursuing military solutions to problems around the world, but rather put the basic humanity of peoples and nations as the top priority. The Americans should not be robbed by the government by using their taxes for violating national sovereignty and instigating wars around the world just to pursue the United State’s economic interests such as the control and monopoly of oil, mineral and other natural resources of countries around the world. We call on all justice and peace loving members of the global community to raise their voices against the war of aggression of the United States and other imperialists countries and to support all efforts and actions to evolve a new, just and peaceful world. We support a peaceful resolution of the present crisis in the Korean Peninsula by ending the Korean War once for all with a peace treaty, removing of the United States military from the region, and reunification through dialogue and political process. + --Migrant workers in Korea--