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Female activist hails DMZ crossing as symbol of peace, unification of Korea

All News 16:44 May 25, 2015

SEOUL, May 25 (Yonhap) -- A recent crossing of the heavily fortified inter-Korean border by a group of women represents unification and peace on the Korean Peninsula, which has been tainted by a history of war and conflict, a U.S. activist said Monday.

On Sunday, about 30 female activists from around the world, including Gloria Steinem and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire of Ireland, marched down from the North to the South across the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to mark the International Women's Day for Disarmament.

The DMZ, which bisects the Korean Peninsula, is a 259-kilometer-long and 4-kilometer-wide strip of rugged no-man's land stretching from coast to coast, serving as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

"The Women's Peace Walk across the DMZ is a symbol of the possibility of unification, not only for North and South Korea, but also of peace between women and men, between religions, between economic classes," Steinem said at a forum in Seoul.

The 81-year-old feminist said she has childhood memories of World War II and the Korean War, which pulled her to participate in the campaign. Also, her country had an experience with a civil war that divided the nation in two and separated families, she added.

"I suffered nothing compared to those of you within combatant countries, but I say this to remind us that war and division anywhere affects people everywhere," said Steinem. "And it goes long into the future."

She called for more positive involvement by women in global issues in order to iron out lingering differences and tensions throughout the world, saying that women played a major role in ending violence in Ireland and bringing about peace in Liberia.

"I believe it's especially crucial that women help initiate and pursue peace efforts," she said. "We will thrive on this fragile spaceship Earth that we love so much."

Female activists of WomenCrossDMZ had arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday to meet with North Korean women to deliver their message and marched down to the South via a western land corridor.

Originally, they planned to walk through the truce village of Panmunjom, which sits in the middle of the DMZ. But they changed their plans after accepting Seoul's recommendation to march through the western land route.

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