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Participants in a press conference on a declaration of peace on the Korean Peninsula gather around a peace symbol made of flowers to remember those killed in the Korean War and pray for peace in Korea on July 27, the 70th anniversary of the armistice that paused the fighting of the Korean War. (Kim Hye-yun/The Hankyoreh)

Various events were held in Paju last Thursday to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Armistice Agreement that suspended the hostilities of the Korean War, including press conferences and peace declarations in front of the Unification Bridge and Mangbaedan Memorial Altar at Imjingak Park.

Representatives of civic groups from Korea and across the world take part in a press conference calling for peace on the Korean Peninsula on July 27, the 70th anniversary of the armistice that paused the fighting of the Korean War. (Kim Hye-yun/The Hankyoreh)

In front of a barricade at the Unification Bridge that morning, a press conference by representatives of South Korean and overseas civil societies was held to announce a “Korean Peninsula peace declaration” for the armistice’s 70th anniversary. That afternoon, artists from around the globe read poetry and a declaration of peace in Korea at the Mangbaedan memorial under the title “Let’s Cry for Peace with the Power of Art.”

Expressing messages of opposition to war and peace on the peninsula, artists from across the world came together to read statements of peace and create graffiti on the theme of peace.

After the press conference, participants hang ribbons with messages of peace on a chain-link fence in Paju, near the DMZ. (Kim Hye-yun/The Hankyoreh)

Representatives of civic groups from Korea and across the world take part in a press conference calling for peace on the Korean Peninsula on July 27, the 70th anniversary of the armistice that paused the fighting of the Korean War, in front of the barricade on Unification Bridge. (Kim Hye-yun/The Hankyoreh)

Sweltering heat causes mirages on Unification Bridge in Paju on July 27. (Kim Hye-yun/The Hankyoreh)

Thespians read out a declaration of peace on the Korean Peninsula at the Mangbaedan memorial in Paju’s Imjingak on July 27, the 70th anniversary of the armistice that paused the fighting of the Korean War. (Kim Hye-yun/The Hankyoreh)

Leodav, a graffiti artist, makes art on the theme of peace at the Mangbaedan memorial in Paju’s Imjingak on July 27, the 70th anniversary of the armistice that paused the fighting of the Korean War. (Kim Hye-yun/The Hankyoreh)

Kiyoe Kawazu, a Japanese poet, speaks for peace in Korea alongside New Zealand painter/poet Sue Zhu and Azerbaijan artist Nagia Rzaeva in Paju on July 27. (Kim Hye-yun/The Hankyoreh)

By Kim Hye-yun, staff reporter

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