The Japanese Constitution called ‘Peace Constitution’ was announced in November, 1946 and took effect in May, 1947. The core of the Peace Constitution lies in the Preamble and the Article 9, which appeals renouncing war, banning the maintenance of military forces, and denying the right of belligerency of the state. The article has never been revised up until now, which is June, 2007. The content is as follows.

==Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. 2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.==

However, the Cabinet and the ruling class are trying to abrogate Article 9 and promote militarily big Japan. Following the Koizumi regime, the Abe government is also trying to abolish the Peace Constitution and make the Self-Defense Forces a regular army. n order to make that happen, the law for national referendum has already been established to revise the Constitution in favor of the group supportive of the law revision. The ruling power of the US is strongly demanding militarily big Japan to maintain its hegemonic power in East Asia. Occurring in line with strengthening US-Japan military alliance, the revision of the Peace Constitution, regularizing the Self-Defense Forces of Japan and dispatching the army overseas make unstable East Asia more unstable and threaten peace in the region.

Therefore, the revision of Japanese Peace Constitution and the regularizing Self-Defense Forces should be obstructed for the unification of Korean peninsular and peace in East Asia. This is the duty for those who advocate peace, going beyond that of Japanese citizen. The movement to defend and save the Peace Constitution is a movement to keep peace.
Accordingly, it is urgent to support the movement for saving the Peace Constitution ‘overseas’, which was limited inside of Japan. Gathering of Korean peace movement as an overseas force is urgent to save Article 9 of Japanese Peace Constitution.

Accordingly, we formed < Korean citizen’s gathering to save Article 9 of Japanese Peace Constitution> and appeal the following activities.
First, we should support peace movement in Japan, trying to obstruct Japanese conservatives’ offensive to incapacitate the Peace Constitution, which is the US strategy to hold its supremacy in East Asia.
Second, we consider Japan’s militarism and a big military Japan as a movement to threaten peace of Asian people, and we should promote alliance of Asian people to obstruct the offensive movement in Japan.
Third, we recognize that the spirit of the Peace Constitution, which bans war and use of force as a means to solve international disputes, is a universal spirit effective not only for Japan but also for the whole world. Therefore, we should prevent the trend of nationalism and militarism that has been promoted by the conservatives in Korea. Also we should develop activities from the bottom in order to keep peace and oppose war and force.

July 17, 2007
Advocates: Kim Seung Kuk, the representative of ‘Peacemaking’/ Jung Jong Kwon/ No Se Geuk/ Han Seok Ho

Statement by the Korean anti-war and peace movement calling for the release of the Korean hostages in Afghanistan and the immediate withdrawal of the Korean troops:

1. 23 Korean civilians are being held in captivity since their abduction by the Taliban on the 19th of July. The Taliban has threatened to execute the hostages unless the Korean government agrees to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan and also make with their demand to free 23 Taliban prisoners. We are deeply distressed by this incident and hope that the 23 civilians will return safely.

2. The practice of abducting and threatening to execute innocent civilians only induces a vicious cycle of violence. The Korean people are equally mourning for the countless war victims killed in Afghanistan and believe that there should be no additional victims of similar tragedies. We request a safe release of the hostages.

3. We condemn the Korean government for supporting the U.S. government's Global War on Terror and participating as part of the coalition. The Korean government did not inform its people of the underlying purpose and role of the dispatch nor of the actual situation in Afghanistan. We strongly urge the government to withdraw the troops immediately.

4. We clearly state that we understand this situation is part of the disaster caused by the U.S. government's Global War on Terror. The U.S. invasion following other foreign invasions and internal warfare has ravaged the land of Afghanistan and devastated the lives of the Afghans. The armed resistance of the Taliban against the U.S. occupation is escalating, resulting in frequent abductions and terrorist attacks. The war and occupation in Afghanistan must come to an immediate end and the international community is obliged to strive to eradicate such ruthless violence.

5. Our wish is an end to the foreign occupation in Afghanistan and the restoration of peace by its own people. The Korean anti-war and peace movement has been exerting a collective effort for this purpose, and will continue to do so. We appeal to the international community for unreserved efforts and support for the safe release of the Korean nationals in captivity.

July 25, 2007

The Korean Action against the Dispatch of Troops is a collation of 351 peace and human rights NGOs working against the dispatch of Korean troops in Iraq.