Women activists dismiss criticism as they cross Korean border
PUBLISHED : Monday, 25 May, 2015, 5:21am
UPDATED : Monday, 25 May, 2015, 8:34am
Agence France-Presse in Paju
Gloria Steinem (centre) and other activists march in Paju. Photo: AFP
An international group of women peace activists, led by American feminist Gloria Steinem, made a rare crossing yesterday of one of the world's most militarised borders between North and South Korea.
The group of 30 activists rode by bus through the demilitarised zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas in what Steinem described as a "triumph" for peace and reconciliation, dismissing criticism that the women had allowed themselves to be used as propaganda tools by the North.
"I'm so confident that once it is clear what we have experienced, these objections will go away," Steinem said on the South Korean side of the border.
Detractors argued the group had played into the North's hands by refusing to directly criticise its dismal human rights record during their stay in Pyongyang, where the activists held a peace gathering with North Korean women's groups.
They also suggested the interactions at the gathering were less than genuine given that the North Korean women had likely been specially selected by the authorities.
"I know we had real human exchanges with North Korean women," Steinem insisted.
"Nothing we do can change the image of North Korea. We are trying to make person by person connections, so that there is understanding."
The group had wanted to cross the DMZ through the Panmunjom "truce village", where North and South Korean soldiers stand just metres apart.
But South Korea opposed the plan and the women agreed "with regret" to Seoul's preference for a road crossing on the western part of the border. They were also prevented from walking over the actual border line, and had to move by bus instead.
With this year marking the 70th anniversary of the division of the Korean peninsula, the women said they wanted to draw attention to the need for a permanent peace treaty to replace the armistice that halted - but technically never ended - the 1950-1953 Korean war.
The group, which includes Nobel peace laureates Leymah Gbowee and Mairead Maguire, also highlighted the anguish of divided families who have had little or no contact since the separation into North and South.
"We are here today because we don't believe in war," Maguire said.
"You can get to human rights when you have a normal situation and not a country at war," added Maguire, who won the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize for her co-leadership of the women's peace movement in strife-torn Northern Ireland.
"The sooner we get a peace treaty signed ... and normalise relationships ... the quicker we will get to human rights," she said.
