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Ever since I cast the lone vote against the global war on terror in 2001, I've been fighting for an end to the U.S.' forever wars. But the United States has been waging endless wars since long before 9/11. Though few realize it, the Korean War is America's longest overseas conflict. America's failure to end the war facilitated the relentless military buildup and instability of nuclear proportions on the Korean Peninsula—all bankrolled by U.S. taxpayers.
Recent events show the urgent need to end the war. Last week, the U.S. deployed a nuclear-capable submarine to South Korea for the first time in 42 years, prompting North Korea to fire two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea. The recent detention of American soldier Travis King is another reminder of the lack of diplomatic relations between our countries. These developments add even more fuel to the tinderbox on the Korean Peninsula that, if continued unchecked, could engulf the entire region in flames.
To prevent such a fire, my colleagues in Congress should use the occasion of this week's 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice to join me in supporting a formal peace agreement ending the Korean War.
My vote against the post-9/11 authorization for the use of military force was informed by my father's experience serving in the 1950-53 Korean War. Four million people were brutally killed in the war; mostly Korean civilians but also 33,000 American soldiers. U.S. fighter planes destroyed 80 percent of North Korean cities, forcing millions of Korean civilians to flee their homes and separating at least 10 million families. Fighting paused with a fragile ceasefire in 1953, with American and North Korean military commanders recommending the warring parties return within three months to negotiate a permanent settlement. That never happened.
The continued unresolved war may seem like a technicality, but the human impact is massive.
Separated families continue to live apart from one another, and many have died without ever again seeing their loved ones. The risk of a new conflict breaking out also remains high, especially during times of hostile rhetoric among leaders like we saw in 2017 when former President Donald Trump warned of raining "fire and fury" down on North Korea. The hostility continues today—the unresolved war is a root cause of heightened tensions and nuclear proliferation.
That's why I joined with my colleague Representative Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) to introduce H.R. 1369, the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act. Our bill calls for urgent diplomacy in pursuit of a formal end to the Korean War, a roadmap for a peace agreement, and other diplomatic efforts to ensure sustainable peace. This legislation offers a transformative, peace-first approach to ending the Korean War.
Not only is there severe risk of renewed fighting increasing on the Korean Peninsula—which could easily turn nuclear—but Americans suffer additional consequences every day. The Korean War helped usher in a new era of expanded U.S. militarism that continues today. According to University of Chicago historian Bruce Cumings, "[The Korean war] was the occasion for transforming the United States into a very different country than it had ever been before: one with hundreds of permanent military bases abroad, a large standing army and a permanent national security state at home." In just three years, the Korean War quadrupled U.S. military spending and inaugurated the U.S. military industrial complex.
The evidence is all around us. After decades of pouring personnel and resources into warfighting machinery at the expense of all other priorities, we now have a mammoth Pentagon apparatus that produces weapons that don't work, a Space Force we don't need, endless wars we can never win, and increasing wealth for military contractors. We learned during the COVID-19 pandemic the distressing impacts of valuing military might over other human needs. As we speak, the Pentagon budget is climbing dangerously toward $1 trillion, dwarfing all other agencies, as Americans struggle to pay back student loans, afford childcare, and manage their medical bills. But it doesn't have to be this way.
The Korean War is known as "the forgotten war" in the United States. It's time we wake up from our collective amnesia to remember the death and destruction that this war entailed and chart a new path forward, one based on global cooperation and rooted in human security.
It is not enough to treat the symptoms of endless war. We must put an end to the longest standing war in U.S. history and commit to building lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee was the only member of Congress to vote against the 2001 and 2002 AUMF to go to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Representative Lee is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and chair of the Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations. She serves as co-chair of the Steering & Policy Committee, former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, chair emeritus of the Progressive Caucus, co-chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Health Task Force, and co-chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus. She also serves as chair of the Majority Leader's Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity. As a member of the House Democratic Leadership, she is the highest-ranking Black woman in the U.S. Congress.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
