Rita Linda V. Jimeno recently got back from a 5-day peace conference in Seoul, Korea that convened Japanese, Filipina, and Korean women leaders to talk about women’s role in securing peace in the larger Asia region and world. Following she posted an op ed entitled “World Peace and Korea” in the Manila Standard.

She writes, “World peace is walking on eggshells…The precariousness of world peace came to mind when I attended the Global Peace Conference in Seoul, Korea last week. Korea is now the only divided country in the world and it is not by its people’s choice. In fact, if the people had their way, they would rather unify as the separation of the North and South has separated thousands of families who have not seen each other for decades. The continuing division of the Korean peninsula into North and South poses a serious threat to peace, not only in Korea itself, but in the whole of Asia and even the world.

…Korea’s problem is every one’s concern. If war breaks out yet again in Korea, we can all be sure that the world’s superpowers and their allies will again take sides, drawing many nations in. This is an event we—the peoples of the world—should not allow because a nuclear war can eliminate populations and peoples in just hours or even minutes. It is imperative that everyone—nations and peoples—to exert pressure on North Korea and its allies toward reunification.”

The Global Peace Convention in 2017 will be held in Manila, Philippines and highlight practical approaches to peace to resolve the division of the unified Korea and securing regional and global peace.