Welcome to BASE21

From August 2 � 3, 2002 at College of St. Vincent in New York, Young Koreans United (YKU) of USA (President Yoon, Dae-Jung), in celebration of its 18th Anniversary, held its "Working for Peace in Time of War" Conference. The "Peace" Conference --- with forums, symposiums, group discussions, and other activities --- was a chance for 150 activists and participants from South Korea, Australia, Canada, and many regions in the United States, to reflect, discuss and find direction and means for a broader peace movement.

The "Peace" Conference opened with a Peace Rally at Union Square Park (14th Street and Broadway), Manhattan on Friday, August 2, 2002, at 12:00 P.M., co-sponsored by Korean Alliance for Peace and Justice USA (president Hong, Ki-Hwan), YKU of Canada (president Suh, Eun-Shim), and YKU of Australia (president Park, Hee-Soo), and endorsed by other peace and human rights organizations in the USA, such as PAX Christi, Peace Action, War Registers League, GABRIELA, and thirty other organizations. Demonstrators, holding banners and drums, with the leading beat of Poong-mul --- Korean traditional grassroots celebratory rhythm, music, and dance --- rallied and marched to the themes of "Stand up for Peace, Fight for Justice," "Peace from Korea to Middle East," "Successful North and South Korea Peace Dialogue," and civil liberties and rights for immigrants. At the Rally, the demonstrators expressed the frustration that the "Bush administration, on the foreign policy front, is using hardliner politics to deal with North Korea and countries in the Middle East that lead towards war and not peace, and on the domestic policy front, is using racially biased investigations that violate the civil liberties and rights of immigrants." The demonstrators also demanded that the Bush administration "stop its hardliner foreign politics that further escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula, reopen dialogues with North Korea, and promote stabilization and peace in all of Korea."

Following the Peace Rally, the "Peace" Conference continued its program with "Looking Back at the Peace Movement," with Bill Hagel, a peace and justice activist and vice-president of Queens Network for Peace and Justice, and Inbo Shim, representative of Korean Alliance for Peace and Justice USA. This discussion of the history of peace movements in the U.S. was then followed by YKU presentations from Australia, Canada, and different regions in the U.S., on the present situations of Korean overseas communities. "Peace" Conference participants had the chance to discuss issues related to these communities during these presentations.

On the second day, Saturday, August 3, 2002, a morning Symposium opened with the title, "Building a Peace Movement in our Communities." The symposium featured four peace and human rights activists:

Kathy Kelly, a co-coordinator of Voices in the Wilderness, who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 and 2001, reported on damages done to the lives of Iraqi children and women due to UN sanctions on Iraq.

Ninotchka Rosca, an award-winning novelist (1993 American Best Book Award for Twice Blessed) and a co-founder of GABRIELA Network USA, an organization working on issues of Pilipina Women뭩 Rights, discussed the rights violations and violence done to women during times of war. In paralleling Korean and Pilipina women뭩 experiences around American military stations in South Korea and the Philippines, she pointed out the problems emerging with US troops re-stationing in the Philippines after September 11. In so doing, she enlightened the audience of the costs of expanding US militarism throughout the world.

Martin Hart-Landsberg, author of Korea � Division, Reunification, and U.S. Foreign Policy, economics professor at Oregon Sate Portland City Louise-Ann Clark College, and research director for East Asian Research Institute, criticized the current Bush administration뭩 hardliner stance and policies against North Korea, and suggested basic strategies to bring peace on the Korean peninsula that emphasized importance of the constructive --- not the usual destructive --- engagement of the U.S.

Steve Yun, Executive Director of National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC), criticized the Bush administration뭩 civil rights and liberties violations against immigrants and introduced and suggested campaigns and actions to counter them.

Strategies sessions later that afternoon focused on the following five issues and campaigns: North Korea Food Aid Outreach and Fundraising, Creating a National Anti-Militarism (Solidarity) Network, Organizing on Civil Liberties and Immigrant Rights, "Justice For Comfort Women" Campaign, and Youth In Action Campaign.

Yoon, Han Bong, Executive Director of Korea Future Research Center in Kwangju, South Korea, then discussed the "Current Political Situation in Korea and East Asia."

The last event of the two-day Conference was a cultural performance titled, "Road of History." The "Peace" Conference concluded with all participants sharing communal time and fun in celebration of a successful "Peace" Conference, friendship, and progressive movements in the Korean Diaspora.

As a result of the "Peace" Conference, the further efforts of the participating peace movement activists will include among many: (1) promoting peace on the Korean peninsula through North Korea Food Aid outreach and fundraising, and (2) promoting civil liberties in the U.S. by campaigning for the D.R.E.A.M. (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act, H.R. 1918, that demands residential status to children of undocumented workers to guarantee equality in educational opportunities for self-realization.

Young Koreans United USA, established on January 1, 1984, seeks to promote progressive Korean American communities, peace and democracy on the Korean peninsula and the United States, and peace and justice throughout the world.