How have women been leading the movement calling for a formal end to the Korean War? What does feminist leadership in peace movements look like?  

Formed in 2014 to organize a historic crossing of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) by an international delegation of 30 women peace activists, Women Cross DMZ (WCDMZ) mobilizes women globally for peace in Korea through education, advocacy, and organizing. In 2019, WCDMZ co-launched the Korea Peace Now! campaign to press for an official end to the Korean War by replacing the armistice with a peace agreement. We will hear from WCDMZ’s Echo and Solby on the recent Korea Peace Now! Grassroots Network activities and how Women Cross DMZ continues to advocate for peace in Korea and in the region, women’s leadership in the Korea peace process, and a feminist approach to U.S. foreign policy.

Echo is the Director of Activism and Special Campaigns for Women Cross DMZ. A longtime activist and organizer, she is the Representative of Washington Butterfly for Hope (Nabi DC), a grassroots organization working on “comfort women” issues. She is also the Co-Chair of the committee for the Washington Statue of Peace in Annandale, Va., which symbolizes the victims of sexual slavery by the Japanese imperial army during World War II, and is an instructor of Korean traditional percussion (PoongMul) for the ChunJiEum troupe in Fairfax, VA. She joined Women Cross DMZ in 2019.

Solby is an oral historian and Communications Associate at Women Cross DMZ. She is a Korean diasporic researcher and storyteller based out of New York, NY. Solby earned her Master’s degree from Columbia University’s Oral History Master of Arts program, where she completed her thesis on a critical oral history of Asian/American student organizing at Barnard College and Columbia University.