CAA Korea Colloquium on Contemporary Korean Affairs

“Crossing the DMZ: Reflections on Transnational Women’s Peacebuilding”

Christine Ahn, Founder and International Coordinator, Women Crossing DMZ

Thursday, March 9, 2017, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
International Affairs Building, Room 918
No registration required.

Co-sponsored by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality

Abstract:

On May 24, 2015, thirty women peacemakers from fifteen countries crossed the Korean De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) from North to South Korea. Organized by Women Cross DMZ, a movement of women working globally for peace in Korea, they drew global attention to the unresolved Korean War that has separated three generations of Korean families and threatens world peace. They held peace symposia in both Pyongyang and Seoul with hundreds of Korean women, and walked with 10,000 Korean women on both sides of the DMZ. The International Coordinator, Christine Ahn, will share her reflections on this historic crossing and the critical role of women in the Korean peacebuilding process.

 

Bio

Christine Ahn is the founder and International Coordinator of Women Cross DMZ. She helped found the Korea Policy Institute, Global Campaign to Save Jeju Island, and the Korea Peace Network. Christine has organized peace delegations to North and South Korea, and has presented in Congress, at the United Nations, and the Republic of Korea National Commission on Human Rights. Ahn was the Senior Policy Analyst at the Global Fund for Women and has also worked with the Oakland Institute,  Institute for Food and Development Policy, and Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainable Development. Christine is a columnist with the Institute for Policy Studies’ Foreign Policy In Focus, and her writings have appeared in The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, CNN and The Nation. Ahn has a Masters in public policy from Georgetown University.