The escalated tension between North and South Korea is alarming. It is not only the Korean people who fear another civil war; others in the Asia-Pacific region also have their fear and anxiety. Those with first hand experiences of wars who have survived today would fear the horrors, the suffering, and the catastrophic loses.
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| Map of North and South Korea |
From the political point of view, nearly one-half of the world’s population live in the countries bordering the Asia-Pacific region. More than half of the economic activities in the world are conducted here. Another war involving the major powers like the United States and China would again bring much instability to this region.
Shortly after the artillery attack on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, the news media informed the general public:
“The US President, Barack Obama, and the South Korean President, Lee Myung-bak, have agreed to hold joint military exercises this weekend as a first response to North Korea\'s deadly shelling of a military installation in the South.
The joint military exercise in the Yellow Sea, not far from where the shelling occurred, will include sending the aircraft carrier George Washington and a number of accompanying ships into the region. This is to deter further attacks by the North and to signal to China that unless it reins in its unruly ally it will see an even larger US presence in the vicinity.”
This ‘deterrent’ plan was confirmed during the morning news of November 25th. The nuclear-powered USS George Washington, carrying 75 warplanes with a crew of 6,000 had already left a naval base in south Tokyo, heading for South Korea. They would join the military exercises from Sunday to the following Wednesday.
On Sunday, November 28, the BBC reported, “The US aircraft carrier the USS George Washington and four other US navy vessels are being joined by South Korean destroyers, patrol vessels, frigates, support ships and anti-submarine aircraft.”
Tension remains high on the Korean peninsula and China is calling for an urgent meeting with Japan and Russia to discuss the crisis. It’s highly unlikely that China will get itself into another war with the Americans. They want to devote all efforts to the developments and advancement of their own country. Also their two economies are now closely bound together.
Last March, a South Korean warship named Cheonan was sunk in the Yellow Sea, near the island of Baegnyeong, killing 46 seamen. A team of international investigators confirmed that the warship was attacked by a North Korean torpedo.
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| Northern Limit Line (NLL) |
The government of North Korea always insists that the Cheonan had entered its maritime territory. The Northern Limit Line (NLL) had been drawn by the United States when the Korean Civil War ended in 1953, restricting the people of North Korea to use this northern part of the sea, which is arguably theirs. North Korea has never accepted this boundary line, seeing it as unreasonable.
Pyongyang blamed South Korea and the United States for provoking the recent artillery assault, which killed two South Korean marines and two civilians, and injured 15 others. The government of North Korea was furious with the enemy’s annual military exercises so close to its border. The North witnessed the firings from a short distance and claimed that a lot of shells had landed in their Northern water zone. They issued numerous warnings before the November 23 incident. Anger was reflected in the following statement:
"The U.S. and the South Korean puppet forces are foolishly contemplating an additional provocation aimed to orchestrate another farce and charade such as the "Cheonan" case while kicking up rows and holding confabs one after another such as the declaration of a ‘state of emergency’ and ‘a meeting of ministers in charge of security,’ far from drawing due lesson from the recent shelling.”
While the government of South Korea and the Americans are increasing the military forces and activities on the five islands close to North Korea, Pyongyang is making a threat of further attacks. It would be naive for the United States to expect China to restrain North Korea, given the bitter earlier history between the Americans and the Chinese and given the current US military involvement in South Korea.
The United States had become an enemy of China three decades earlier, when it provided massive military aid to Chiang Kai-shek - to eradicate the Chinese Communists during the Chinese Civil War (1927-1950). The Chinese would always be suspicious of the Americans and their motives.
The Americans played a key role in Korean affairs back in 1945, when the Second World War ended. The American administration then divided the Korean peninsula along the 38th Parallel, with American troops taking over the Southern half and Soviet troops occupying the Northern half. A national free election would never be held. The political division between North and South would become much deeper, with increased hostilities from both sides of the Parallel.
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| George Washington aircraft carrier |
In June 1950, when Northern troops invaded South Korea, the first UN military operation, here led by the Americans, repelled them. China stood behind North Korea and the two sides fought relentlessly until July 1953. The Korean Civil War ended with four million military and civilian casualties on both sides.
The situation of Korea was not in principle different from that of Viet Nam. Each country was divided in half by the United States – a divided country would be weaker than a united country. Viet Nam was divided at the 17th Parallel in 1954 and it was successfully re-unified in 1975. North and South Korea have remained as deadly enemies. For decades, small and weak nations have been used as pawns to settle the ideological differences and conflicts between powerful nations.
America’s old enemy, the Communist/Socialist China, has been spreading its economic influence in the neighboring countries. While competing for the American interests in the Asia-Pacific region, the United States is increasingly worried about China’s rapid growth and expansion.
On the surface, the Americans always claim that their mission is to ‘promote democracy abroad’. They want to convince other nations that the Americans are trying to bring peace and justice to the world. Back to 1966, when the “Vietnam War” was escalated, the US government sent a large number of combat troops to South Viet Nam, despite repeated public protests at home and elsewhere. Senator Fulbright, then Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said to the Americans, "It\'s unnatural and unhealthy for a nation to be engaged in global crusades for some principle or idea while neglecting the needs of its own people."
In the name of democracy, the Americans have organized and engaged in several foreign civil wars in modern times - namely the Chinese Civil War, the Korean Civil War, the Vietnam War, the Afghanistan War, the Iraq War…. Other nations are weary of the Americans and they are feeling uneasy at the fact that the United States has been the top producer of highly advanced weapons of mass destruction. Deadly weapons made in USA need to be consumed elsewhere but not on American soil. In practical terms, the US weapon industry helps provide millions of jobs to the Americans. Isn’t there an alternative type of employment for them? Certain interest groups in America have also benefited enormously from arms dealings and other wartime profits. President Eisenhower himself warned America about the negative influence of its own ‘military-industrial complex’, a warning still relevant half a century later and still referred to among many concerned people there.
There is no doubt that the majority of people in the world today have great fear of the United States of America. They fear America’s strong interest in wars and the unleashing of mighty raw power. Can the Americans be more than American and understand the suffering of people on both sides?
