Press Release.  May 29th 2015

A Korean Peace Initiative  - the Kiwi Connection.

A small group of Kiwi motorcycle riders blazed the trail for an historic peace walk across the heavily militarised border between North and South Korea by a group of high profile female peace keepers that has captured headlines across the globe.

A group of 30 international women including feminist icon Gloria Steinem and two Noble Peace prize Laureates crossed over the DMZ from North Korea into South Korea last Sunday May 24th calling for a declaration of peace on the Korean Peninsula. 

The walk for peace has caught the attention of the world. A group of Kiwi motorcyclists led by Gareth and Jo Morgan paved the way for this major event when they rode across the DMZ in 2013.

This triggered the formation of WomenCrossDMZ.org, a group of female peace activists working to bring an end to the long-running Korean War. They want to see the 1953 armistice between the two Koreas replaced with an internationally agreed upon peace settlement that ends the six decades of pain for families separated by the conflict. 

The first step in this campaign has been to follow in the pioneering footsteps of the Kiwis with the DMZ crossing in the name of peace last Sunday. 

Peter Wilson, of the NZ DPRK Society, travelled to North Korea to witness the women crossing. He was able accompany the women through the Kaesong Industrial Park, deep into the DMZ and watch as they marched about a kilometre to the North Korean customs and immigration checkpoint. 

“The departure was an incredibly emotional moment,” he said.

“The North Korean women, with tears flowing, were hugging and hugging the international women as they said goodbye.

“The pain of 10 million artificially and inhumanely separated families was raw for all to see.”

Prior to crossing the DMZ a joint declaration, drafted with input from both North and South Korean women was read at Panmunjom. This affirmed their“commitment to support the desires of the Korean people and all people of conscience around the world to work towards the peaceful reconciliation and reunification of the Korean peninsula.”

WomenCrossDMZ say they will march across the DMZ again next year on May24, this time from South Korea into North Korea. 

The Morgan motorcycle team was able to ride across the DMZ because of the efforts of the NZ DPRK Society and South Korean based explorer Kiwi Roger Shepherd who escorted them through the North Korean section. In 2011 the Society facilitated Shepherd to visit Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea.  He returned two times and spent months tramping and camping in the backblocks photographing hallowed mountains, some of which had not been photographed for many decades. Subsequently he produced a photo-art book capturing mountains of both North & South Korea. 

 Shepherd introduced the Morgans to key North Korean officials who enthusiastically endorsed the concept of a North – South peninsula long  motorcycle ride  in the name of peace.  These officials negotiated all sorts of bureaucratic hurdles and made it happen.

More Information:  

https://www.womencrossdmz.org/

https://www.facebook.com/WomenCrossDMZ

"I know who is going to end the war in Korea - Woman!"

http://sur.conectas.org/en/i-know-who-is-going-to-end-the-war-in-korea-the-women/

26th April 2017

Fearing Korean Nuclear War, Women of 40 Nations Urge Trump to Seek Peace

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/04/26/world/asia/north-korea-trump-nuclear-war.html?&moduleDetail=section-news-0&action=click&contentCollection=Asia%20Pacific%C2%AEion=Footer&module=MoreInSection&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&pgtype=article&referer=

Letter to the Editor New York Times

2nd September 2015

http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/How-women-could-ease-the-Korean-crisis-6484033.php

A DEFENSE OF WOMENCROSS DMZ: WHEN “HUMAN RIGHTS” HURTS NORTH KOREANS

http://riseuptimes.org/2015/08/30/ann-wright-a-defense-of-womencross-dmz-when-human-rights-hurts-north-koreans/

July 2015

http://www.codepink.org/women_peacemakers_who_crossed_korean_dmz_hold_congressional_briefing

http://webtv.un.org/watch/lecture-series-on-women-peace-and-security-entitled-walking-the-line-women-cross-de-militarized-zonedmz-for-peace/4370890410001#full-text

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/07/31/time-end-korean-war-lessons-past

https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-resolution/384/text

https://www.womencrossdmz.org/

https://www.womencrossdmz.org/press.html

https://www.womencrossdmz.org/endorsements.html  

http://www.3news.co.nz/world/activists-cross-the-korean-dmz-2015052512#axzz3blZIiQ8x

http://www.abc.net.au/radio/programitem/pglxVLzwmG?play=true

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/25/world/asia/peace-activists-cross-demilitarized-zone-separating-koreas.html

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2015/06/03-women-cross-dmz-korea-moon

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Women-Crossing-the-Korean-by-Press-Release-Dmz_Korea_Korean-Unification_Peace-150603-874.html

https://www.womenpeacemakersprogram.org/news/international-media-coverage-of-the-dmz-crossing-by-international-women-peacemakers/

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/692678.html

http://mic.com/articles/119134/13-photos-of-gloria-steinem-and-feminists-marching-from-north-to-south-korea

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/05/the-march-towards-peace-in-korea-118301_Page3.html#.VXIsk8-qqko

http://newscontent.cctv.com/NewJsp/news.jsp?fileId=297652

http://boingboing.net/2015/05/23/womencrossdmz.html

http://www.codepink.org/stitching_korea_back_together

http://vowpeace.org/peace-activists-travels-through-north-and-south-korea-a-small-step-in-long-walk-to-peace-porter/

http://eng.ywca.or.kr/sub.asp?maincode=472&sub_sequence=486&sub_sub_sequence=&exec=view&strBoardID=kui_486&intPage=1&intCategory=0&strSearchCategory=%7Cs_name%7Cs_subject%7C&strSearchWord=&intSeq=46

http://www.aparchive.com/search?startd=05%2F19%2F2015&endd=05%2F25%2F2015&allFilters=AP%7C8976%3APartner%2C05%2F19%2F2015-05%2F25%2F2015%3ADate&query=north+korea+women&advsearchStartDateFilter=05%2F19%2F2015&advsearchEndDateFilter=05%2F25%2F2015&searchFilterHdSDFormat=All&searchFilterDigitized=All&searchFiltercolorFormat=All&searchFilteraspectratioFormat=All

http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/conferencessummits/3rd-international-conference-on-financing-for-development-addis-ababa-ethiopia-13%E2%80%9316-july-2015/multi-stakeholder-round-tables/watch/lecture-series-on-women-peace-and-security-entitled-walking-the-line-women-cross-de-militarized-zonedmz-for-peace/4370890410001?page=15

May 24th 2015   

Today 30 women crossed the DMZ from the DPRK into the ROK as a means drawing attention to the plight of the tragically divided Korean people.

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In August 2013 a group of five Kiwi motorcyclists completed a trail blazing ride North – South along the entire length of the Korea Peninsula.  Nobody thought they could do it. But they did.

https://sites.google.com/site/nzdprksociety/visits-to-pyongyang/new-zealand-bikers-roar-across-korean-border-on-ride-for-peace

 "Korea really is one country. The issue we all face is how do we get back to that?" said Gareth Morgan in an interview with Reuters after crossing the DMZ.

Two years later this pioneering ride across the DMZ has inspired an International Women’s Peace March across the same demilitarized zone.

https://www.womencrossdmz.org/

Women Bridge Divide Between Koreas By Crossing the DMZ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPzb7IJYycw&feature=youtu.be

A women's peace walk across the Koreas

http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2015/0506/A-women-s-peace-walk-across-the-Koreas

Seoul leans toward allowing group of women to cross DMZ

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11436900

Women’s group gets North Korea support to walk across DMZ

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/womens-group-gets-north-korea-support-to-walk-across-dmz/2015/04/03/74d93d32-d9be-11e4-bf0b-f648b95a6488_story.html

Go Gloria Go  !

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/soc.culture.usa/aaBZz6sSiWM

Gloria Steinem on why she’s going to North Korea

http://www.rifenews.com/gloria-steinem-on-why-shes-going-to-north-korea/

Women Peace Marchers Cross Minefields between North & South Korea

http://blog.timesunion.com/wagingpeace/women-peace-marchers-cross-minefields-between-north-south-korea/6907/

http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_editorial/687612.html

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/asia/korean_peninsula/AJ201504030097

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/korean-activists-brave-landmines-in-bid-to-spread-peace-message-10154898.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/12/world/asia/women-aim-for-peace-in-korea-with-plan-to-walk-across-Demilitarized-Zone.html

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11415876

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/11/gloria-steinem-women-plan-walk-across-korean-demilitarised-zone

https://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/26605099/nobel-laureates-among-women-planning-march-across-korean-dmz/

https://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/christine-ahn/walking-together-imagining-new-chapter-in-korean-history

http://fpif.org/why_women_must_end_the_korean_war/