The guns fell silent 50 years ago, but the armistice that ended the Korean War is just a cease fire agreement. Technically, the two Koreas remain at war. In recent years, the process of securing an official and lasting peace has taken a back seat to the resolution of the nuclear issue, as many insist that peace is impossible as long as the North retains nuclear weapons.

As the Six-Party Talks seem to be yielding progress on the nuclear issue, the time may be right to revisit the peace process. The Venerable Pomnyun Sunim, chairman of the Good Friends and Peace Foundation, will lead a panel of Korean experts in a discussion of the current prospects for negotiating a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Venerable Pomnyun
Chairman
The Peace Foundation

Venerable Pomnyun is the chairman of The Peace Foundation and a Zen master in the Jungto Society. He also currently serves as the chairman of Good Friends for Peace, Human Rights and Refugee Issues and The Joint Togetherness Society. Venerable Pomnyun has been advocating for peace on the Korean Peninsula since 1997. He has also worked extensively to supply humanitarian aid to famine victims in North Korea and defend the human rights of North Korean refugees in China. In recognition of his efforts, Venerable Pomnyun won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Peace and International Understanding in September of 2002.  

Cho Seong-Ryoul
Board Member
The Peace Foundation

Cho Seong-Ryoul is a member of The Peace Foundation's board of directors as well as the director of the new security studies program at the Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS). Prior to joining INSS, Cho was a research fellow at the Research Institute for International Affairs in South Korea and a visiting fellow at both Tokyo University and Keio University in Japan. Cho holds a BS in chemical engineering from Seoul National University and an MA and Ph.D. in political science from Sungkyunkwan University. His writing on military and international issues in Northeast Asia has appeared in U.S. Forces in Korea: Retrospect and Prospect and The Korea Peace Regime: Denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and the Future of North Korea.