Diplomatic Measures needed to reduce Korean tensions

Citizens of the World Call for a UN-led Korean Peace Settlement Conference and for diplomatic measures to reverse the tensions on the Korean Peninsula

                                               Rene Wadlow*

         Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have recently increased, highlighted by the nuclear weapon test of North Korea and the subsequent reactions.  In a 14 March 2013 message to the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Rene Wadlow, President of the Association of World Citizens, stressed that a crisis also can be an opportunity for strong initiatives and action.  The United Nations with historic responsibilities for Korea should take the lead.

         With conditions of insecurity growing, and also threatening Korea’s neighbours, the Korean situation is a “mater which may threaten international peace and security.”  There, the Citizens of the World call for a UN-led Korean Peace Settlement Conference to be organized during 2013 — the 60^th anniversary of the 1953 Armistice.

         In addition to UN leadership, there is a need for strong diplomatic measures by concerned states, in particular the two Koreas, China, Russia, the USA, and Japan.

         In the past, there have been a series of dangerous but ultimately resolvable crises concerning the two Korean states.  However, there are always dangers of miscalculations and unnecessary escalation of threats. Past crises have led to partial measures of threat reduction.

         Partial measures of cooperation between the two Korean states, the Six-Party talks on nuclear issues and a number of Track II diplomatic efforts have shown the possibilities but also the limits of partial measures.

         Therefore the Association of World Citizens stresses the need for a broader, comprehensive approach to Northeast Asia security that could be structured within a UN-sponsored Korean Peace Settlement Conference, now that all the states which participated in the 1950-1953 Korean War are members of the United Nations.

         Citizens of the World also stress that such a Peace Settlement Conference is of concern not only to Governments but is one in which the voices of civil society are legitimate and should be heard.

         *Rene Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens