Korean American activist awarded Peace Summit Medal

Christine Ahn, founder and executive director of the peace activist group Women Cross DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) was awarded the 2022 Peace Summit Medal for Social Activism at last month’s 18th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The Oahu resident has dedicated the past 20 years of her life to peace advocacy, with much of her focus on bringing peace to the Korean Peninsula and healing for those who continue to be affected by tensions between north and south.

“The spectrum of violence that exists right now, whether it’s the separation of families, … the environmental destruction that is caused by rampant militarization, the threat of nuclear war — these are all the things that we don’t really talk about as a consequence of this unresolved war,” Ahn said.

Ahn started in peace activism while attending the University of Colorado at Boulder. As a Korean American, she was intrigued by Asian American history and soon found herself drawn into the activist culture on campus.

“I was in school at the time that North Korea was going through a famine,” she said. “I just was so heartbroken to see the North Korean people suffer that way.”

Through her studies, Ahn learned more about the history of the Korean War and the primary role played by the U.S. in dividing the Korean Peninsula. The more she learned, Ahn said, the more she felt the need to pressure the American government to make changes.

In 2014, she organized a group of women, including two Nobel Peace laureates and well-known American feminist and journalist Gloria Steinem, who would cross the DMZ alongside 10,000 Korean women in 2015. Their actions brought attention to their cause and support from eight other Nobel Peace laureates along with former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, former President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama, according to the Women Cross DMZ website.

In 2019, Women Cross DMZ and several other peace advocacy groups created Korea Peace Now, a global campaign that aims to bring about a formal end to the Korean War and a peace agreement between the U.S. and North Korea, according to Ahn.

She said their three-pronged strategy includes educating the community with the stories of those still affected by the war’s aftermath, amplifying conversations explaining the need for nuclear disarmament, and encouraging more women to become advocates of the anti-war movement.

“Women and children are disproportionately impacted by this war,” Ahn said. “To see women who have never really raised their voices lobby members of Congress, mobilize together — I think that is a beautiful thing and can only build a more just and equal world.”

Having moved to Hawaii almost a decade ago, Ahn continues much of her advocacy work from here. She is a board member of the Hawaii Peace and Justice advocacy group and also occasionally participates in conferences with the Center for Korean Studies at the University of Hawaii.

As Ahn continues her work, she wishes to one day see Hawaii become a place that can spark change.

“Hawaii being the place Pearl Harbor established as the headquarters to wage wars, what about changing that and Hawaii becoming the place to wage peace?” Ahn said. “That’s my hope for Hawaii, and I would say most people of Hawaii would probably agree.”

Linsey Dower covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national service organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.