Later this month, the United States and South Korea are set to conduct combined military exercises, which mobilize considerable weapons, equipment and US troops on the Korean Peninsula. As Reuters reports, “these military drills … could for the first time in years include more weaponry and troops, and more aggressive messaging as tensions with North Korea rise.”

These provocative military exercises have long been a trigger point for heightened military and political tensions on the Korean Peninsula. To avoid further escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula and the risk of military conflict, the governments of South Korea and the United States should suspend the combined military exercises and instead actively pursue a path to peace. Suspending these costly and highly provocative military exercises will be a crucial step toward restarting genuine diplomacy with North Korea.

To jumpstart fruitful negotiations and reverse militarization on the Korean Peninsula, we must address the root cause of tensions and hostilities between the US and North Korea — the unresolved Korean War. Urge your Member of Congress to cosponsor H.R.3446, the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act, in order to support peace and reconciliation, not military confrontation and pressure.