--- description: A female group of peace activists left China for North Korea, in the hope of crossing the demilitarized zone (DMZ) to South Korea title: Gloria Steinem in North Korea for DMZ Peace March image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt618da8122bb59273/698850ed3c1639365f457fc1/ap733779928778.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Gloria Steinem Joins Female Activists in North Korea for DMZ Peace March by [Sabrina Toppa](/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 20, 2015 8:48 AM CUT  Activist Gloria Steinem, center right, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire, center left, along with other delegation members, visit Mangyongdae, the birthplace of North Korea's late leader Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang on May 20, 2015 Activist Gloria Steinem, center right, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire, center left, along with other delegation members, visit Mangyongdae, the birthplace of North Korea's late leader Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang on May 20, 2015Kim Kwang Hyon—AP by [Sabrina Toppa](/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 20, 2015 8:48 AM CUT An all-female group of peace activists [landed](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/19/northkorea-southkorea-idUSL3N0YA1KW20150519 "undefined") in North Korea on Wednesday in the hope of crossing the demilitarized zone (DMZ) to South Korea on May 24, International Women’s Day for Peace and Disarmament. The women hope crossing the fortified border will signal that Korean reunification is not a distant goal but a realistic possibility. The [WomenCrossDMZ](https://www.womencrossdmz.org "undefined") group, which includes noted American feminist Gloria Steinem, will conduct a peace symposium and two walks for peace, according to Reuters. The women have already begun meeting female North Koreans and are scheduled to visit a women’s factory, maternity hospital and children’s preschool in Pyongyang. “I believe that we are, basically by crossing the DMZ, breaking through this mental state that this is a permanent division,” said Christine Ahn, the group’s coordinator. The 1950–53 Korean War terminated in an uneasy truce, leaving South and North Korea officially still at war. The border is dotted with just three checkpoints and crossings remain unusual, but the group secured permission from both countries to hold their event. However, they are currently awaiting permission from the U.N. Command, which controls the Panmunjom border crossing. Ahn said she was fully aware of the entrenched animosity that persists between the two neighbors. “We have no illusions that our walk can basically erase the conflict that has endured for seven decades,” she added. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/19/northkorea-southkorea-idUSL3N0YA1KW20150519 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3890280/gloria-steinem-north-korea-south-womencrossdmz/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3890280/gloria-steinem-north-korea-south-womencrossdmz/"},"headline":"Gloria Steinem Joins Female Activists in North Korea for DMZ Peace March","datePublished":"2015-05-20T08:48:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:27:04.678Z","description":"\"I believe that we are ... breaking through this mental state that this is a permanent division\"","url":"https://time.com/3890280/gloria-steinem-north-korea-south-womencrossdmz/","keywords":["North Korea","South Korea","Peace","Gloria Steinem","International Women's Day"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt618da8122bb59273/698850ed3c1639365f457fc1/ap733779928778.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sabrina Toppa","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/sabrina-toppa/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt618da8122bb59273/698850ed3c1639365f457fc1/ap733779928778.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Activist Gloria Steinem, center right, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire, center left, along with other delegation, visit Mangyongdae, the birthplace of North Korea's late leader Kim Il Sung, in Pyongyang, Wednesday, May 20, 2015","caption":"Activist Gloria Steinem, center right, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire, center left, along with other delegation, visit Mangyongdae, the birthplace of North Korea's late leader Kim Il Sung, in Pyongyang, Wednesday, May 20, 2015","creditText":"Kim Kwang Hyon—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3890280/gloria-steinem-north-korea-south-womencrossdmz/","name":"Gloria Steinem Joins Female Activists in North Korea for DMZ Peace March"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"10 Questions for Gloria Steinem","description":"The feminist icon talks about her new HBO documentary, the current state of feminism and why she once considered getting a ‘tramp stamp’ tattoo","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/zHI7xfDR/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2011-08-04T19:15:24.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zHI7xfDR.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3890280/gloria-steinem-north-korea-south-womencrossdmz/","duration":"PT5M22S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3890280/gloria-steinem-north-korea-south-womencrossdmz/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```