(BIVN) – The County of Hawaii wants American leaders to seek a peaceful solution to the present situation between the U.S. and North Korea, given Hawaii’s geographic location and vulnerability in the event of a war between the two nations.

The Hawaii County Council held a hearing on Resolution 363-17, urging the U.S. to engage in diplomacy as tensions – and the threat of nuclear war – rise in the Pacific.

Councilmembers Aaron Chung and Valerie Poindexter introduced the measure, which was the idea of island-resident Koohan Paik, who grew up in South Korea. Her father was a refuge of the Korean War. “There is no wiggle room for a military strike,” Paik told the council. “If we were to go into nuclear war, if it ratcheted up with the insults back and forth. Right now we’ve got warships specifically sent from Pearl Harbor to ‘deal’ with North Korea. We can’t let it continue.”

“May your vote for peace send aloha ringing through the planet,” Paik said. “I hope that this resolution becomes publicized and people know where Hawaii stands on relations with other countries and about peace.”

The council voted to pass the resolution, 8 votes to 0. One councilmember was absent.

Here is the language of the measure:

A RESOLUTION URGING THE UNITED STATES TO SEEK A PEACEFUL AND DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION TO REDUCE TENSIONS IN THE KOREAN PENINSULA.

WHEREAS, the Democratic People’ s Republic of Korea (” North Korea”) has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006, including a recent hydrogen bomb test, and a spate of ballistic missile tests with ever-increasing range; and

WHEREAS, the United States has responded by, among other things, dispatching a naval armada to the Korean peninsula region earlier in the year, conducting bomber flights close to the North Korean border, and calling upon other countries to enact and enforce rigorous economic sanctions against the reclusive nation; and

WHEREAS, global tensions and anxieties have been further heightened by the uninhibited exchange of rhetoric between the leaders of those two countries; and

WHEREAS, on September 11, 2017, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2375, which received world-wide publicity for establishing a set of severe sanctions upon North Korea; and

WHEREAS, a lesser-publicized, but equally important, provision in the resolution reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in north-east Asia at large, and its commitment to a peaceful, diplomatic, and political solution to the situation through dialogue in order to reduce the tensions in the Korean Peninsula and beyond; and

WHEREAS, a large and growing number of leaders and citizens in the international community, including several former high-level, experienced U.S. government officials from both Republican and Democratic administrations spanning the past 30 years, are urging the principals to engage in peaceful and diplomatic talks; and

WHEREAS, a peaceful solution to the present situation between the United States and North Korea is of particular importance to the State of Hawai`i given our geographic location and vulnerability in the event of a war between the two nations; and

WHEREAS, a call by the people of Hawai`i for a peaceful resolution to any serious conflict situation, not just this one, is in keeping with our islands’ most treasured ideal, that of aloha”; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that it urges the United States to seek a peaceful and diplomatic solution to reduce tensions in the Korean Peninsula.

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the County Clerk shall transmit a copy of this resolution to the Honorable Donald Trump, President of the United States of America; the Honorable Kim Jong-un, Supreme Leader of the Democratic People’ s Republic of Korea; the Honorable Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State; the Honorable James Mattis, Secretary of Defense; the Honorable Mazie Hirono, United States Senator; the Honorable Brian Schatz, United States Senator; the Honorable Tulsi Gabbard, United States Congresswoman; the Honorable Colleen Hanabusa, United States Congresswoman; the Honorable David Y. Ige, Governor ofthe State of Hawai`i; and the Honorable Harry Kim, Mayor of the County of Hawai`i.