Women petition UN chief for Korea peace treaty

South Korean conservative activists hold placards showing the portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un during a protest denouncing North Korea’s nuclear test in Seoul. UNITED NATIONS: A hundred prominent women from 38 countries have directed a petition to UN Secretary General promise to achieve a permanent peace

In a letter made public on Tuesday, a diverse group of scholars, journalists, activists and writers pressed Ban who is set to step down in January to use his remaining time as UN chief to “initiate a peace process, together with the UN Security Council president, to - ment with a binding peace treaty

The signatories urged him to “conclude this peace process by - rea’s division into two separate states” and “ensure that women

- sides), the absence of a binding peace accord fuels fear, violations of human rights and economic deprivation caused by diverting resources in

Among the sources of tension, the letter lists North Korea’s recent nuclear and ballistic missiles tests -- which prompted international sanctions against Pyongyang -- as well as USSouth Korean military exercises and plans to deploy a US missile defense

The letter was co-sponsored by - last year -- and the Women’s Interna

Signatories include the American feminist champion Gloria Steinem, playwright Eve Ensler, Unesco goodwill ambassador Kim Phuc, former Peace laureates Mairead Maguire

ended with an armistice, not a formal peace treaty, leaving the Korean peninsula technically at war for the past Koreas must be signed by the United States and China, which both took