June 25, 1950
Anniversary of the Start of the Korean War

Demand U.S. Sign a Peace Treaty to End the Korean War! U.S. Troops Out of Korea Peninsula!

On June 25, 1950, the U.S. imperialists, under the aegis of the United Nations, launched a brutal illegal war of aggression against the Korean nation. The coalition involved troops from 16 other countries including Canada.[1]

Today, when the U.S. imperialists and their appeasers, such as Canada, are stepping up war preparations in the Asia Pacific, it is more important than ever to remember the terrible tragedies visited upon the Korean people during that war that must never again be permitted.

On this occasion, the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) pays tribute to the Korean people and their heroic resistance to foreign aggression that taught the invaders a lesson they have never forgotten, and who continue to affirm their right to be by fighting for an independent and united Korea, and for peace on the Korean Peninsula. CPC(M-L) calls on Canadians to demand that the U.S. sign a permanent peace treaty to end the Korean War and end the no war/no peace situation it has imposed since the armistice was reached on July 27, 1953. The U.S. has violated this armistice with impunity ever since then. The terms of the armistice were that the U.S. would withdraw its troops and bases from the south of Korea, never deploy nuclear weapons there and sign a permanent peace treaty. The U.S. must be held to these terms.

On June 25, 1950, at 4:00 am local time, troops from the south of Korea under direction from the U.S. launched an attack north across the 38th parallel, a line imposed by the U.S. to divide Korea. The U.S. accused the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) of “starting the war” when it was they who were interfering in the internal affairs of Korea which, through the efforts of the people themselves, had won its independence by defeating the Japanese occupation in August 1945.

First the U.S. illegally divided Korea into north and south. It then mobilized the UN to intervene in a civil war which constituted foreign interference in the internal affairs of a country and is illegal under the UN Charter. The UN Security Council used the fact that the People’s Republic of China had not yet been permitted to take its seat because the U.S. was supporting the deposed Nationalist Chinese regime of Chiang Kai-Shek that had taken refuge in Taiwan, and Russia was absent in protest of this refusal to seat the legitimate government of China, to adopt the resolution. It adopted the resolution to wage war on the Korean people in contravention of Article 32 of the UN Charter which calls for parties to the dispute to be present at the discussions of the problems – and paragraph 3 of Article 27 of the UN Charter, which provides that a Security Council resolution is only valid if approved by a vote of Council members, including approval by all permanent Council members. Neither condition was met since, at the time, neither the Soviet Union nor China were present.

Pyongyang in 1953, the result of U.S.-led barbarity in the Korean War.

During the Korean War, the U.S. and its allies carried out massive bombing raids, massacred hundreds of thousands of civilians in the north and south of Korea, engaged in germ warfare and chemical warfare and bombed cities and infrastructure north of the 38th parallel in order to force the DPRK to submit. Civilians were buried alive, dismembered, burned to death and drowned. Many were forced to dig their own graves before being executed in the same manner that the Nazis massacred civilians, particularly those who resisted.

All this was documented by the Commission of the Women’s International Democratic Federation to Korea May 16-27, 1951. In their report We Accuse! the Commission condemned these crimes that were being committed against defenceless civilians and called for the UN to demand an end to all fighting, that all foreign troops be pulled out of Korea and for the Korean people to determine their own affairs.

U.S. Army photos show the summary execution of south Korean political prisoners by the south Korean military and police at Daejeon over several days in July 1950.

When finally, after complicated negotiations which were constantly sabotaged by the U.S., the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed on July 27, 1953, the U.S. refused to comply with the Agreement, the main point of which was for the two sides to sign a peace treaty as soon as possible. From the time of the Korean War until now, the U.S. has refused to sign a peace treaty which betrays its true aims on the Korean Peninsula. The U.S. and south Korea, as well as a militarizing Japan, continue to carry out military exercises and war games aimed at sparking another Korean war and overthrowing the government of the DPRK by force which are also in violation of the Armistice Agreement.

It is high time the U.S. signed a peace treaty with the DPRK and brought a formal conclusion to the Korean War. The Korean people have the right, like all people, to live in peace and reunify their divided country. This is the demand of the Korean people and all humanity.

Instead, the U.S. warmongers use their method of disinformation and propaganda for war to accuse the DPRK of being a “nuclear threat,” despite the direct experience of the peoples of the world that it is U.S. imperialism which threatens the use of nuclear weapons to blackmail others to submit or face the consequences. Armed to the teeth with nuclear and other weapons, U.S. imperialism operates on the basis of the dictum that “might makes right” to blackmail any nation or people who affirm their collective right to be, just as the DPRK is leading the Korean people in doing.

The significance of the Korean War takes on new meaning today as the U.S. imperialists beat the war drums over the Korean Peninsula to justify another Korean War, a nuclear war that threatens the very survival of the Korean people and peoples of the world. It must not pass!

While diplomatic relations between the DPRK and Canada were established in 2000, no effort was made by the Canadian government to normalize relations with the DPRK which would be a real contribution to peace on the Korean Peninsula, and instead are more and more embroiled in U.S.-led aggression and violations of international law against the DPRK in the name of high ideals.

Canadians have an opportunity to make amends for Canada’s involvement in the Korean War by ensuring that another war does not break out on the Korean Peninsula and that Canada get out of the sanctions regime and demand a permanent peace treaty.

Note

1. The countries that fought alongside the U.S. in the Korean War were: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey and the United Kingdom.