Letter from Korean Committee For Solidarity with the World People

Dear friends,

Warm Greetings from the Korean Committee for Solidarity with the world People!

The “Security Walls” built by the Zionist entity have already been branded as illegal by a decision of the International Court of Justice and a resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

There is something the world should be aware of.

Concrete walls with which Zionist State ’s “Security Walls” cannot stand comparison to wall that have already existed on earth for a long time.

They run along the southern edge of the Military Demarcation Line, which cuts across the small Korean peninsula for 240 kilometres long.

They measure from 5 to 8 metres in height, 10 to 19 metres wide at the bottom and 3 to 7 metres across at the top.

More than 800,000 tons of cement, over 200,000 tons of structural steel and upwards of 3.5 million cubic metres of mixture were used in building the walls.

Eight counties and 122 villages have been divided, and three railways, three roads and over 220 minor roads have been cut off by the walls.

The construction of the concrete walls took several years from 1977. In those days the south Korean authorities advertised them as “barriers against tanks” in case of “southward invasion” from north Korea .

However, this allegation did not persuade people at the time, just as today.

According to the military manual, anti-tank barriers mostly average two metres in height, but the concrete wall are several times higher.

The walls have been set up not only across roads and level ground, but also across places inaccessible to tanks.

It is an utter sophistry to call the walls anti-tank barriers in terms of structure and position.

Whom and for what were the colossal walls built for?

In those days the south Korean military dictator showed up at the construction site to press for the rapid completion of the walls, saying “We cannot live together with the communists in the north. They do not belong to our nation. I do not care whether the nation is split into two or three.”

Chon Du Hwan, who won notoriety later as the dictator of the fifth Republic in south Korea , personally directed the construction projects in the capacity of a divisional commander at that time. He said to his soldiers, “Why do we construct this wall? We tell foreigners we do so to prevent ‘southward invasion’ from the north, but it is a camouflage tactic. Frankly speaking, these concrete walls will be of no use in a modern war to be fought in three dimensions on land, sea and in the air, without distinction between the frontline and the rear. To tell the truth, the walls are built for the sake of internal security. In other words, they are aimed at checking the popular feeling for and rising trend to reunification. By building high concrete walls, we seek to convince those who want reunification into giving up all their hopes for it.”

This eloquently shows that the concrete walls are a product of the desperate attempt of the separatists against reunification of Korea and that they serve the purpose of gaining the recognition of “two Koreas ” at home and abroad and perpetuating Korea ’s division.

With the end of the World War II, Korea , which was not a defeated nation, suffered the tragedy of being divided into two by the big powers.

The Korean people have suffered a lot from national division and their aspirations for reunification grew stronger with every passing day.

As a consequence, in the early 1970s, high-level talks were held for the first time in the history of Korea ’s division and the 3 principles for national reunification with independence, peaceful reunification and great national unity were as the main points that were agreed upon as a joint programme for national reunification and proclaimed at home and abroad.

Frightened by the enthusiasm of the Korean people for reunification, the separatist forces in south Korea attempted in every possible way to stick to the “two Koreas ” policy and keep the north and the south divided for ever.

This was how they contrived the scheme of building concrete walls south of the Military Demarcation Line.

30 years have passed since the construction of the concrete walls that divided the territory and homogeneous nation into two in the small Korean peninsula.

The government changed many times in south Korea .

The zeal of all the Korean people at home and abroad for reunification has intensified without precedent.

While all the Korean compatriots raised their voices day after day in favor of inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation and national reunification, the meeting between the north and south Korean leaders took place in June, 2000 for the first time in the history of Korea’s division, a joint declaration which marked a milestone in Korean reunification was adopted to open up bright prospects for reunification.

This was followed by a sharp increase in many-ways: cooperation, interchange and mutual visits, the reconnection of railways and roads, which had remained cut off for a long time, and the removal of propaganda instruments along the Military Demarcation Line. As seen above, brisk affirmative efforts have been made to end confrontation and division and accomplish the historic cause of reunification.

But the problem is that while the south Korean authorities talk about “reconciliation”, the “improvement of north-south relations” and “reunification” by word of mouth, they keep silent about the demolition of the concrete walls, even about their existence.

In view of the trend of the times towards the disintegration of the Cold War structure between the Koreas , and of the atmosphere on the Korean peninsula heading for reconciliation, cooperation and reunification, there is no longer any justification for the concrete wall, the symbol of division and confrontation to continue to exist.

The Korean Committee for Solidarity with the World People is firmly convinced that the world progressive people and organizations who aspire the peace and security of the Korean Peninsula and the world, will require the dissolution of the concrete wall, the only remains of the Cold War and express their strong support and solidarity with the Korean People in their struggle for peace and reunification of Korea.

With Best regards,