Friday, August 16, 2024
5:00 - 6:30 pm ET
Korean Atomic Bomb Victims Seek Justice
— And The Outlaw of Nuclear Weapons— through People’s Tribunal
Moderator: Brad Wolf
Presenters: Elliot Adams, Joseph Essertier, Kapsong Kim, Gil Kim, Juyeon JC Rhee, Margaret Engel
Description: As an effort to abolish nuclear weapons in the world, this panel will introduce a journey for justice by Korean atomic victims. In August of 1945, 70,000 Korean a-bomb victims were in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They had been forcibly removed from their homeland by the Japanese and became victims of the atomic blasts. They were noncombatants and were not enemies of the United States. While they suffered for the past 79 years through neglect, discrimination, and oppression, they have won individual victories from the Japanese government for medicare and from the Korean government for social welfare. And now, they seek an apology from the United States. They also seek through this people’s tribunal a legal ruling that the US atomic bombings in 1945 violated international law at that time, and that nuclear weapons and the threat to use nuclear weapons are currently in violation of international law.
The tribunal has gathered participants and a renowned legal team from around the globe to build a case and move it forward with the opening gavel set for 2026 in New York City to coincide with either the UN Review Conference for the Non-Proliferation Treaty or the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The tribunal is supported by numerous peace and social justice organizations and seeks to highlight the many dangers and unintended victims of nuclear weapons, particularly in this current age where the threat to use nuclear weapons has increased dramatically by nuclear weapons states.
Not only providing necessary backgrounds, the panel will discuss their own perspectives on the nuclear abolition, U.S.’s deterrence strategy, Korean a-bomb victims, and international people’s tribunal.
Juyeon JC Rhee is a Board member of Korea Policy Institute, a steering committee member of Koreans for Woori School, and belong to other peace and anti-war organizations in the US. She has been working for peace and Reunification of Korea as a diasporic Koreanfor the last 30 years.
Brad Wolf is a former prosecutor, lawyer, and director of Peace Action Network of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He co-coordinated the Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal and is the coordinator of the US organizing committee of The International People’s Tribunal on the Atomic Bombings of 1945. He recently published a book on the writings of Philip Berrigan entitled a “A Ministry of Risk” and writes for numerous publications.
Ann Wright is a delegate of 2015 crossing of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Korea, a member of Advisory Board of World BEYOND War, and a juror of the Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal. Ann is a retired US Army Reserve Colonel and a former US diplomat who resigned in 2003 in opposition to the US war on Iraq. She received the State Department’s Award for Heroism for her actions during the civil war in Sierra Leone. She is the co-author of Dissent: Voices of Conscience.
Elliot Adams is a a member of Veterans For Peace(VFP), New York State chapter and past president of VFP’s National Board. He served in the army as a paratrooper in the infantry in Viet Nam, Japan, Korea and Alaska in the 1960s. Over time, Elliott transformed into a nonviolent warrior, applying himself to building movements focused on creating justice and ending our war culture. Actively engaged in resisting violence, he has participated in various campaigns to close Guantanamo, peace in Gaza and Korea.
Joseph Essertier's activism has included participation in street protests against nuclear power following the Fukushima disaster, resisting Nanking Massacre denialists, hundreds of street protests against U.S. bases in Okinawa, and educational events on Korea. Recently, Essertier has written and spoken about the dangers of nuclear weapons and NATO’s eastward expansion. He has been the Coordinator of the Japan chapter of World BEYOND War since 2017, is an editor of The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, and is an associate professor at the Nagoya Institute of Technology in Japan.
Kapsong Kim is National Coordinator for Korean American Peace Fund, and Director for MinKwon Center. Since 1984, Kapsong has served at community organizations in LA, SF, DC. NY/NJ as a staff or board member for 40 years. He was also a journalist for 20 years, which includes the role of editor-in-chief at The Korea Daily New York.
Gil Kim is a member of Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea (SPARK). Participated in the 2024 Second International Forum in Hiroshima for The International People’s Tribunal to hold the U.S. accountable for dropping Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki as an English interpreter.
Friday, August 16, 2024
5:00 - 6:30 pm ET
Korean Atomic Bomb Victims Seek Justice
— And The Outlaw of Nuclear Weapons— through People’s Tribunal
Moderator: Brad Wolf
Presenters: Elliot Adams, Joseph Essertier, Kapsong Kim, Gil Kim, Juyeon JC Rhee, Margaret Engel
Description: As an effort to abolish nuclear weapons in the world, this panel will introduce a journey for justice by Korean atomic victims. In August of 1945, 70,000 Korean a-bomb victims were in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They had been forcibly removed from their homeland by the Japanese and became victims of the atomic blasts. They were noncombatants and were not enemies of the United States. While they suffered for the past 79 years through neglect, discrimination, and oppression, they have won individual victories from the Japanese government for medicare and from the Korean government for social welfare. And now, they seek an apology from the United States. They also seek through this people’s tribunal a legal ruling that the US atomic bombings in 1945 violated international law at that time, and that nuclear weapons and the threat to use nuclear weapons are currently in violation of international law.
The tribunal has gathered participants and a renowned legal team from around the globe to build a case and move it forward with the opening gavel set for 2026 in New York City to coincide with either the UN Review Conference for the Non-Proliferation Treaty or the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The tribunal is supported by numerous peace and social justice organizations and seeks to highlight the many dangers and unintended victims of nuclear weapons, particularly in this current age where the threat to use nuclear weapons has increased dramatically by nuclear weapons states.
Not only providing necessary backgrounds, the panel will discuss their own perspectives on the nuclear abolition, U.S.’s deterrence strategy, Korean a-bomb victims, and international people’s tribunal.
Juyeon JC Rhee is a Board member of Korea Policy Institute, a steering committee member of Koreans for Woori School, and belong to other peace and anti-war organizations in the US. She has been working for peace and Reunification of Korea as a diasporic Koreanfor the last 30 years.
Brad Wolf is a former prosecutor, lawyer, and director of Peace Action Network of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He co-coordinated the Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal and is the coordinator of the US organizing committee of The International People’s Tribunal on the Atomic Bombings of 1945. He recently published a book on the writings of Philip Berrigan entitled a “A Ministry of Risk” and writes for numerous publications.
Ann Wright is a delegate of 2015 crossing of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Korea, a member of Advisory Board of World BEYOND War, and a juror of the Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal. Ann is a retired US Army Reserve Colonel and a former US diplomat who resigned in 2003 in opposition to the US war on Iraq. She received the State Department’s Award for Heroism for her actions during the civil war in Sierra Leone. She is the co-author of Dissent: Voices of Conscience.
Elliot Adams is a a member of Veterans For Peace(VFP), New York State chapter and past president of VFP’s National Board. He served in the army as a paratrooper in the infantry in Viet Nam, Japan, Korea and Alaska in the 1960s. Over time, Elliott transformed into a nonviolent warrior, applying himself to building movements focused on creating justice and ending our war culture. Actively engaged in resisting violence, he has participated in various campaigns to close Guantanamo, peace in Gaza and Korea.
Joseph Essertier's activism has included participation in street protests against nuclear power following the Fukushima disaster, resisting Nanking Massacre denialists, hundreds of street protests against U.S. bases in Okinawa, and educational events on Korea. Recently, Essertier has written and spoken about the dangers of nuclear weapons and NATO’s eastward expansion. He has been the Coordinator of the Japan chapter of World BEYOND War since 2017, is an editor of The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, and is an associate professor at the Nagoya Institute of Technology in Japan.
Kapsong Kim is National Coordinator for Korean American Peace Fund, and Director for MinKwon Center. Since 1984, Kapsong has served at community organizations in LA, SF, DC. NY/NJ as a staff or board member for 40 years. He was also a journalist for 20 years, which includes the role of editor-in-chief at The Korea Daily New York.
Gil Kim is a member of Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea (SPARK). Participated in the 2024 Second International Forum in Hiroshima for The International People’s Tribunal to hold the U.S. accountable for dropping Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki as an English interpreter.