Christine Ahn

Christine Ahn is a Korean-American peace activist who serves as the Executive Director of Women Cross DMZ, an organization of women advocating for an end to the Korean War. In 2015, she led 30 international women peacemakers across the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) from North Korea to South Korea. She is also the 2020 winner of The US Peace Prize for her work for peace on the Korean peninsula and her advocacy for women's leadership in peace-building efforts.

Early life and education Ahn was born in South Korea and immigrated to the United States at age three. She is the youngest of 10 children, and according to Ahn, her mother, who was the breadwinner of the family, grew up in Korea during the period of Japanese colonial rule and had a sixth-grade education. and she earned a master's degree in International Policy from Georgetown University and a certificate in ecological horticulture from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Ahn is an American citizen and lives in Hawaii.

Women Cross DMZ Ahn is a co-founder and Executive Director of a non-profit group, Women Cross DMZ, which is known for organizing a group of thirty female activists in crossing the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea in 2015. Ahn and other activists, such as Gloria Steinem and Nobel Peace laureates, Mairead Maguire of Northern Ireland and Leymah Gbowee of Liberia, crossed the DMZ to bring attention to the need for peace between the two nations and for a formal declaration of the end of the Korean War.

In 2017, Ahn was barred from entering South Korea on her way to China; the Justice Ministry of South Korea stated that Ahn was denied entry because of a concern that she could "hurt the national interests and public safety" of South Korea.

In 2017, Ahn organized a letter writing campaign to the Trump administration with female activists from more than 40 countries to defuse tensions on the Korean peninsula and to express their concerns that inaction could lead to nuclear war.

Ahn is also a co-founder of Korean Americans for Fair Trade.

Media Ahn's OpEds have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post and Time Magazine, and she is a regulator contributor on MSNBC Democracy Now! and CNN.

Awards Ah is the recipient of multiple awards, including the 2023 Certificate of Recognition from the Honolulu City and County Council, the 2022 Social Activist Award from the Nobel Peace Laureates, and the 2020 US Peace Prize from the US Peace Memorial Foundation.

Selected writing

Ahn, C., Park, T., and Richards, K., "Anti-Asian Violence in America Rooted in US Empire," The Nation, March 19, 2021 Ahn, C., "For Biden, the answer to North Korea is now impossible to ignore," MSN, December 18, 2020 Ahn, C., Susskind, Y., and Wiesner, C., "Opinion: Women of Color Should be the Ones Remaking U.S. Foreign Policy," Newsweek, November 17, 2020 Ahn, C. and Steinem, G., "Opinion: Women marched for Korean reconciliation. Washington is in our way," The Washington Post, February 24, 2019 Ahn, C., "While Two Koreas Talk, Trump is Throwing Shade," Foreign Policy in Focus, February 8, 2018 Ahn, C., "Opinion: Unwanted Missiles for a Korean Island," The New York Times, August 5, 2011