Dreaming of Peace in Korea: A Conversation with Christine Ahn, founder of Women Cross DMZ

Joining us to discuss her work towards peace on the Korean Peninsula - and ending the Korean War - is activist-scholar-teacher Christine Ahn, founder of Women Cross DMZ, a global movement of women mobilizing for peace on the Korean Peninsula. This show is the sixth show in a series focused on looking at the Korean War – we have used Bertha von Suttner’s 1912 essay, The Barbarization of the Sky, as a focal point for this discussion - and we have focused on how the the Sky was used in that war. From the aerial bombardment with napalm to leaflet filled propaganda bombs used in the PsyWar campaign, we have discussed how the US Airforce used the Korean Sky. For this show, we turn to another thread connected to Bertha von Suttner’s work, the role of women in securing peace. This work began well over 100 years ago when Bertha and other women organized to support the creation of non-violent dispute mechanisms such as the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Today, this work continues as a group of international women organized by Christine Ahn are laboring to end the Korean War. An important moment of this work occurred 5 years ago in 2015, when Christine’s organization, WomenCross DMZ, crossed the DMZ - the most heavily fortified border in the world - in attempt to restart peace talks and to bring awareness to issues on the Korean Peninsula through people to people diplomacy. Special guest Christine Ahn joins us today to discuss this moment and her subsequent work towards peace in Korea.