Reaction to Canadian boycott of UN Conference on Disarmament by Dwain Epps and Erich Weingartner

[This discussion was originally posted as comments under “Canada boycotts UN body over North Korea“. However we felt these opinions by CanKor Brain Trust member Dwain Epps and CanKor Editor-in-Chief Erich Weingartner were substantive enough to deserve a blog post of their own. –CanKor.]

Conference on Disarmament - 2011 Session (UN photo/Pierre Albouy)

Dwain Epps writes:

One can only lament this announcement that comes as yet another sign that the present Canadian Government has no mind of its own and is apparently either unaware of or repudiates Canada’s distinguished past in international relations. Though Canada has never been a declared Non-Aligned nation, in the midst of the Cold War it played a critical role as one of the “Middle Powers” serving as a bridge between the two great nuclear powers. It was widely recognized as a constructive player in the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe in the 1970s, and again in the early 1980s it provided a bridge during the nuclear weapons standoff when the great powers stubbornly refused to negotiate.

Commemorating the 6.15 Inter-Korean Summit: A Time for the Future of Peace by Lim Dong-won and Paik Nak-chung

[Lim Dong-won is former ROK Minister of Unification. Paik Nak-chung is Professor Emeritus, Seoul National University. Both are Co-representatives of the Korea Peace Forum. This article was the opening speech for the 11th anniversary commemoration (11 June in Seoul) of the inter-Korean summit meeting that took place on 15 June 2000. Under the original title (“A Time for the Future of Peace: the 11th Anniversary of the 6.15 Inter-Korean Summit”) it appeared in the Northeast Asia Peace and Security Network (NAPSNet), a publication of the Nautilus Institute. –CanKor.]

As we welcome the 11th Anniversary of the 6.15 inter-Korean summit, we increasingly realize how important the spirit and agreements of 6.15 are in times of regressing inter-Korean relations. The various North and South Korean interactions that extended from the 6.15 agreement have come to a standstill, resulting in heightened tension and anxiety. Only disappointments remain in place of cooperation and exchange. Slander and defamation prevail, and instead of exchanging dialogue, we now exchange bullets. The Cold War, which we aimed to curtail through the 6.15 agreement, has now returned and threatens our peace and stability.