http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2015/images/women_cross_dmz.jpgA television news program opens with a clip of marching soldiers, an obligatory image when the subject is North Korea. A voiceover intones: "A bold, ambitious plan apparently sanctioned by Kim Jong Un. Is he in league with the women's group to promote peace between North and South Korea?" The program in question is the April 6th broadcast of CNN's Situation Room, with Wolf Blitzer and Brian Todd. The focus, an organization called Women Cross DMZ, and its audacious plan for thirty women peacemakers to walk across the demilitarized zone from North to South Korea in a symbolic gesture for peace. Symposiums will be held in Pyongyang and Seoul, where the group will engage in dialogue with women on both sides of the Korean border. Participants, Women Cross DMZ says, will "share our experiences and ideas of mobilizing women to bring an end to violent conflict." The walk is timed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the division of the Korean Peninsula, and one of its chief aims is to help spark progress towards Korean reunification. Organized by activist Christine Ahn, the group includes an array of luminaries, including such well-known figures as honorary co-chair Gloria Steinem, and Nobel Peace Prize laureates Leymah Gbowee and Mairead Maguire. The Situation Room had a different perception of Women Cross DMZ, however. In the lead-in to the show, Wolf Blitzer tips his audience as to how he wants them to react, terming Gloria Steinem's participation "shocking." Brian Todd chimes in by calling the walk "just plain strange." The opening segment asks if North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is "in league" with Women Cross DMZ "to promote peace between North and South Korea." This statement is "just plain strange," to borrow Brian Todd's phrase. Do the hosts mean to suggest that Women Cross DMZ and Kim Jong Un secretly got together to plan the event? Are we meant to suppose that promoting peace between North and South Korea is a nefarious act?

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