Yoko Ono stopped working for peace because she wanted to be a mother to her son, Sean Ono Lennon. Now she has returned to working for peace — on account of her son.

Speaking at a press conference in Cologne last week, Ono recalled the incident that led her to reconsider.

"Last year in February I was with some friends, talking about the world situation," she said. "Sean was the only little boy there. We forgot about him and (continued) talking about how terrible the world is. Then Sean said, ’The world is so terrible, isn’t it? It’s horrible.’ "

Ono immediately reassured him. "Now, Sean, it’s not all that bad," she told him.

"I thought I sounded so hypocritical," she recalled. "I thought, this child is so pure. He said it: Yes, (the world) is horrible."

Ono, widow of former Beatle John Lennon and a successful artist in her own right, said this incident was the initial motivation for her latest album, Starpeace, and her current European tour, which will take her to both Western and Eastern countries.

She decided to go on tour, she said, because she wants to focus attention on peace.

"It is better to think about ’Starpeace’ than ’Star Wars,’ " she said. "Peace is around the corner, because the big forces are meeting and calling a peace summit ... so we can all unite and create a peaceful globe."

Ono has been active in the peace movement since her days as an avant-garde sculptor, painter, musician and film-maker in the early 1960s. She and Lennon were among the most vocal antiVietnam activists.

Today, Ono said, it is important to stress peace as a genuine alternative rather than focusing on the negative aspects of war.

"We can make a world where peace creates jobs," she said. "People seem to believe that violence is our nature, but I don’t believe that. Probably 99 percent of the human race will die without ever knowing the experience of killing somebody. Violence is irregularity — not our nature."

A petite woman who recently turned 53, Ono certainly created a peaceful atmosphere at the press conference. She greeted everyone, smiling and shaking hands, and answered every question posed by the journalists — even those pertaining to the death of her husband — with charm and grace.

"I was very angry," she said about Lennon’s murder. "Why was he violently killed? It’s such an injustice that he died! He was a peace-loving person."

She had received so many letters from Europeans expressing their grief at Lennon’s death, she said, that she wanted to come to Europe personally to express her gratitude. She believes people have shared her suffering and feels they are like a family.

Ono said music is the best way to share her philosophy. On Starpeace, she abandons her usual discordant style and presents a more commercial sound.

Rock music, she feels, breaks the foreign language barrier. "What I like about rock is that it’s a language of the people. ... It’s a way of communication and understanding each other.

The musicians on the album, who include guitarist Robbie Shakespeare and drummer Sly Dunbar, "understood what I wanted," she said. "They’re good heavy pop-rockers."

Despite Ono’s busy schedule and public life, she is still concerned about being a good mother to her son.

"Sean is leading a normal 10-year-old’s life," she said. "He is a sensitive and mischievous little boy who has a hard time getting up in the morning. My concern is if he’s going to wear a sweater on a cold day ..."