{"id":4749,"date":"2025-01-30T15:56:55","date_gmt":"2025-01-30T20:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapeacenow.org\/?p=4749"},"modified":"2025-09-15T15:57:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T19:57:45","slug":"letter-sent-to-the-trump-administration-regarding-korea-peace-priorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapeacenow.org\/letter-sent-to-the-trump-administration-regarding-korea-peace-priorities\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter Sent to the Trump Administration Regarding Korea Peace Priorities"},"content":{"rendered":"

January 30, 2025<\/p>\n

The Honorable Donald Trump
\nPresident of the United States
\nThe White House
\n1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
\nWashington, DC 20500<\/p>\n

Dear President Trump,<\/p>\n

The undersigned coalition of national organizations write to urge you as you take office to pursue a diplomatic, peace-first approach with North Korea focused on improving relations, ending the Korean War, and reducing nuclear risk. As groups working together to establish a just peace on the Korean Peninsula through engagement, trustbuilding, peacebuilding, reconciliation, and dialogue, we hope you will dedicate urgent attention to this critical issue.<\/p>\n

We encourage you to continue on the progress you made in your first administration toward improving relations with North Korea. Years of multiple administrations\u2019 policies have not only failed to meet their stated goal of denuclearization, but have resulted in worsening tensions and an increased threat of war on the Korean Peninsula. We believe your administration has a unique opportunity to pursue a new approach that prioritizes peace in ways that would meaningfully advance US-North Korean relations and reduce nuclear risk where decades of pressure have failed.<\/p>\n

In fact, there are growing voices in Congress that recognize the importance of a peace-based approach with North Korea. In the 118th Congress, the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act (H.R. 1369), which calls for the State Department to outline a clear roadmap to peace, garnered a record 53 cosponsors on both sides of the aisle.\u00a0We strongly urge you to focus on the hard work of sustained diplomacy with North Korea and commit to the following principles:<\/p>\n

End the Korean War<\/strong>. Even though active hostilities between the United States and North Korea ended in 1953 with an Armistice Agreement, there was never a formal end to the war with a peace agreement. This continued state of war is the root cause of militarism and tensions that must be resolved if there is to be real progress with North Korea. A peace agreement that ends the wartime status quo would reduce tensions and foster more effective engagement on critical issues such as improved human rights and denuclearization. Formally ending the Korean War is the foundational trust-building mechanism in achieving a durable peace and would remove North Korea\u2019s stated justification for nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n

Agree to a gradual, reciprocal, verifiable process<\/strong>. The United States cannot realistically expect North Korea to unilaterally disarm before providing any sanctions relief, security guarantees, or other incentives. We urge you to reject calls to pursue a maximalist \u201call or nothing\u201d approach and instead focus on actions that can move us towards advancing peace and denuclearization.<\/p>\n

Normalize relations by building confidence and reducing tensions<\/strong>. There are many steps that the administration can take to shore up the potential for a successful diplomatic process. These steps include, but are not limited to:<\/p>\n