On the 26th, Democratic Congressman Brad Sherman (California) held a press conference in front of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., where he announced the reintroduction of the Peace on the Korean Peninsula Act. This bill calls for an official end to the Korean War and the establishment of a binding peace treaty. Rep. Sherman emphasized that the bill seeks to initiate diplomatic efforts between the United States, North Korea, and South Korea to finally conclude the Korean War, which has technically never ended since the armistice in 1953.
The bill instructs the U.S. Secretary of State to engage in diplomatic negotiations with both North and South Korea to work toward a peace treaty and requires the submission of a report to Congress detailing a roadmap for achieving this goal. The proposed legislation also includes provisions for negotiating the establishment of liaison offices in each other’s capitals and conducting a comprehensive review of U.S. travel bans on North Korea.
Rep. Sherman clarified that the bill is not intended as a concession to North Korea but rather as a measure to build trust between the two countries. “This bill will not resolve all of our conflicts with the North Korean regime, but I hope it will be a first step toward a solution by changing the mood,” Sherman stated at the press conference. The bill is co-sponsored by 33 House members, with Reps. Judy Chu (D-CA) and Dave Min (D-CA) also attending the event and expressing their support.
This is not the first time Rep. Sherman has proposed such legislation. He introduced similar bills in the 117th Congress (2021) and the 118th Congress (2023), though both were scrapped due to the expiration of their respective terms.
Meanwhile, the conservative group Truth Forum voiced strong opposition to the bill. Members of the group held up placards reading, “There is no peace without justice” and “The bill ignores the suffering of the people and rewards dictatorship” at the back of the press conference, highlighting concerns about the potential consequences of engaging with North Korea without addressing the regime’s human rights abuses.