The war that never ended: families separated by the Korean War
Last Saturday, President Donald Trump tweeted that “only one thing will work” in dealing with North Korea. He has said that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is “wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man,” using a pejorative term to describe North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. As leaders of two American organizations, the Council of Korean Americans (CKA) and the Coalition of Families of Korean & Cold War POW/MIAs, still looking for answers from the Korean War, we are appalled by such an unnecessary taunt. Inserting bellicose rhetoric into an unstable situation renders all Americans more vulnerable. It particularly threatens humanitarian efforts on behalf of American families who are still suffering the effects of war on the Korean Peninsula.
In 2016 — before a nuclear war between the United States and North Korea seemed like a real possibility — CKA and the Coalition began working together as part of a consortium of humanitarian organizations, faith-based organizations, veterans groups, and peace activists who advocate for diplomacy and dialogue between the United States and North Korea. Our message to policymakers and members of Congress was simple: there are tens of thousands of Korean Americans and families of missing American servicemen who want our government and the government of North Korea to make progress on our divided families and POW/MIA remains recovery issues — which are humanitarian and should be separated from politics — before it’s too late.
Furthermore, there are an estimated 100,000 Korean Americans who have family members in North Korea and know nothing about their whereabouts. They too are “missing in action.” One of CKA’s members, Dr. Jason Ahn, made a documentary film called Divided Families that tells their stories, inspired by his grandmother’s last wish to see her younger sister in North Korea before she died. There are thousands of Americans like Jason for whom wartime division is still real and invoke a sense of deep personal loss.
The Coalition of Families of Korean & Cold War POW/MIAs represents Americans who desperately want closure for thousands of American service members from the Korean War who are MIA and unaccounted for. It was founded by Rick Downes, whose father, Lt. Hal Downes, went missing in action in North Korea in 1952. According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, there are over 7,000 Americans still missing from the Korean War, as compared to 1,600 from the Vietnam War and 126 from the Cold War.
Through public events, constituent meetings, and meetings with government officials, CKA and the Coalition were heartened by support for the unique urgency of our issues. Senior aides at the White House and the Department of State have acknowledged that addressing separated Korean American families and the recovery of U.S. service members might even be a path to foster goodwill and trust between both countries.
This is why President Trump’s latest comment that negotiations are useless and that the United States will “do what has to be done” is so troubling. As Americans whose personal connections to the Korean War live on today, we reject any talk that increases the likelihood of another war. War should be the absolute last resort. Millions of lives on the Korean Peninsula and in the region are at stake. We know personally that war has a lasting impact on families across generations.
Resuming joint recovery operations of American servicemen inside North Korea would be historic. Similarly, a reunion for Korean American divided families would answer the deep and abiding need of thousands of Americans and Koreans still waiting to connect with their loved ones. Congress — the only branch of government that can declare war on another country — must consider the impact on American citizens and military families carefully as it responds to escalating tensions.
Progress on de-escalating tensions is stalled because we are not talking. If we resume dialogue between the two nations on the issue of divided families and POW-MIAs, it may open a path to conversations on other issues, including the nuclear issue. By talking about humanitarian concerns, we can begin to build trust, which is necessary for both sides to take risks and negotiate in good faith. We owe it to our citizens and to our fallen heroes. And our lives may depend upon it.
Next Friday, October 20, 2017, CKA and the Coalition will host a public educational event at the Senate Dirksen Building to discuss these issues. Please visit http://summit2017.councilka.org/program/ for more information.
Sam Yoon is the executive director of the Council of Korean Americans, a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization of successful Korean American leaders. Rick Downes is the president of the Coalition of Families of Korean & Cold War POW/MIAs, an organization whose mission is to pursue answers to the fate of American soldiers, marines, airmen, and sailors still missing-in-action from the Korean War and the Cold War.