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Former President Moon Jae-in. (from Moon’s Facebook page)

Former South Korean President Moon Jae-in described the current situation on the Korean Peninsula as “extremely troubling” and stressed that it “urgently demands efforts toward dialogue.”

In a congratulatory statement read on his behalf by Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Kyung-hyup while the latter was attending a Korea Peace Conference event held Tuesday by the Korean-American voters’ group Korean American Public Action Committee (KAPAC), Moon said, “At a time when uncertainties have grown in the international political situation, dialogue between North Korea and the US has not been restored, and military tensions are increasing by the day.”

“Moments like this call for us to stand firmer with the values of peace and urgently necessitate efforts in various ways to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula,” he continued.

Moon also commented on the response to the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act bill, which was supported by 44 members of the US House of Representatives with terms calling for a declaration formally ending the Korean War, the pursuit of a peace agreement, the establishment of a North Korea-US liaison office, and reunions among separated family members in North Korea and the US.

“I would like to give special thanks to the members of Congress who took part with their signatures,” he said.

“Peace on the Korean Peninsula is a path toward shared benefits that align with the interests of South Korea, North Korea, and the US alike, and a robust South Korea-US alliance is a key value for guaranteeing a Korean Peninsula peace process,” he also stressed.

Marilyn Strickland, a US House representative of Korean heritage, speaks at the Korea Peace Conference event held Nov. 15 by the Korean-American voters’ group Korean American Public Action Committee in Washington.

During the event at a hotel in Washington, DC, Rep. Brad Sherman, who spearheaded the bill’s presentation, said the legislation was unlikely to be passed by the current House, which finishes its current term at the end of the year, but pledged to continue working toward its enactment.

Responding to comments that the signing of a peace agreement would undercut the legal basis for stationing US forces in Korea, Sherman observed that US troops continue to be stationed in Germany and Japan today even after the signing of peace treaties with them to end World War II.

Among those attending the conference were House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Gregory Meeks, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler, and several members of Congress who signed on to the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act. Nadler was also one of the signatories.

Other attendees included Korean American members of Congress Andy Kim, who was elected to a third term in the House in the midterm elections on Nov. 8, and Marilyn Strickland, who was elected to a second term.

Born to a USFK soldier father and a Korean mother, Strickland noted in a congratulatory address that she had been born in Seoul’s Yongsan area and lived in a very dangerous region just 30 miles away from the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). In her remarks, she emphasized the importance of the Korean Peninsula, stressing that no one wants regional instability.

By Lee Bon-young, Washington correspondent

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