6.15 South Side Committee: "U.S. and UN, Fully Lift Sanctions on North Korea"

Statement of the South Korean Committee for the Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration

President Moon Jae-in and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un are holding hands and talking at Panmunjom on June 30 last year. In the center is U.S. President Donald Trump.

On the 3rd, the South Side Committee for the Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration (hereinafter referred to as the South Side Committee) issued a statement urging "the United States and the United Nations to fully lift sanctions against North Korea."

In the statement, the South Side Committee said, "Amid the rapid increase in health and quarantine burdens worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the strict sanctions imposed by the United States and the United Nations have blocked the smooth supply of related goods to sanctioned countries such as North Korea, Iran, and Iraq."

The South Side Committee demanded, "As an urgent and essential measure to overcome COVID-19, we call for the immediate suspension of U.S. and U.N. sanctions against North Korea," and argued, "Sanctions should be stopped altogether, beyond just exemptions for extremely limited items."

The South Side Committee pointed out, "Organizations such as M?decins Sans Fronti?res, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the World Health Organization, and the Swiss government are also engaging in humanitarian support and cooperation, including sanction exemption approvals," but "despite these international appeals and efforts, the U.S. government maintains its principle of keeping sanctions."

The South Side Committee emphasized, "Talking about humanitarian aid while maintaining sanctions is illogical," and stressed, "It is necessary to lift sanctions beyond humanitarian support."

The organization appealed, "We also urge our government to take a more active role in suspending sanctions against North Korea and promoting inter-Korean cooperation," calling for proactive involvement from the South Korean government.

The South Side Committee stated, "Many countries are currently requesting cooperation from our government, but it is a very regrettable reality that the closest neighbors, South and North, cannot engage in direct cooperation," and argued, "If complete health cooperation without blind spots is achieved through the suspension of sanctions, it will create new opportunities not only to overcome the global health crisis but also to improve North Korea-U.S. and inter-Korean relations and realize peace on the Korean Peninsula."

The South Side Committee was launched on March 4, 2005, at Kumgangsan as a unification movement coalition organization encompassing political parties, religious groups, organizations, and individuals aiming to implement the June 15 Joint Declaration adopted by the North and South Korean leaders in 2000, as well as other inter-Korean joint declarations.

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