“Ceasefire can never mean the
termination of war and it cannot guarantee peace.
“This is a serious lesson
taught by history.
“The ceasefire that has lasted unprecedentedly long in
history is like a time bomb set, threatening peace and security in the Korean
peninsula, region and the rest of the world.” [Korean Central News Agency]
Koreas 1950 – 2018
1950
August 12, 1950 the Air Force of the United States “dropped 625 tons of
bombs on North Korea” and in two weeks “the daily tonnage had increased to some
800 tons.”
The Korean split was a US/USSR Cold War scheme. In an escalating conflict
between the two Koreas, instead of assisting by mediating the conflict, the
Soviet Union and China backed the North and the United States backed the South,
providing some 90% of the military personnel. Technically, the UN forces of 21
nations backed the ROK.
Armistice and North South fight for unification 1951 – 1958 –
The president of the Republic of Korea (ROK, South Korea), Syngman Rhee
opposed peace talks and supported an “independent and unified country,” a
position opposed by the United Nations Command but later accepted by the
National Assembly of South Korea.
1953
The Korean Armistice Agreement though designed to end hostilities was
not an end to war. The document signed on July 27, 1953, by U.S. Army
Lieutenant General William Harrison, Jr. representing the United Nations
Command (UNC), North Korean General Nam Il representing the Korean People’s
Army (KPA), and the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army (PVA) was reportedly designed
to
“…ensure a complete cessation of hostilities and of all acts of armed force in Korea”—“until a final peaceful settlement is achieved.”
1958 US Unilateral Breach
Though the Armistice Agreement had mandated that “neither side
introduce new weapons into Korea, other than piece-for-piece replacement of
equipment,” the United States, unilaterally, and despite concerns of UN allies,
violated the Armistice Agreement by, provocatively, deploying atomic bombs.
In January 1958, the United States deployed “nuclear armed Honest John
missiles and 280mm atomic cannons to South Korea”; and later that same year
deployed “atomic demolition munitions and nuclear armed Matador cruise missiles
with the range to reach China and the Soviet Union.”
1998 - 2008 Attempt at Rapprochement Obstructed
South Korean President Kim Dae-jung proposed the “Sunshine Policy” aimed
at softening “North Korea’s attitude toward South Korea.” Under the policy, “North-South
cooperative business developments began” and South Korean citizens traveled
between the two countries until 2008.
The first conference in the post-Korean War period came in 2000. South
Korea’s Kim Dae-jung and North Korea’s Kim Jong-il met at a summit meeting and
in mid June of that year completed a five-point agreement:
to settle the problem of independent reunification,to promote peaceful reunification,to solve humanitarian problems such as the issue of separated families,to encourage cooperation and exchange in their economy, andto have a dialogue between the North and South.
However, the new administration in Washington discouraged rapprochement
and insulted the Koreans smearing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as part
of an “axis of evil.” North Korea responded by renouncing the nonproliferation
treaty, kicking out UN inspectors, and restarting its nuclear program. Causing
further cooling in North-South relations was a short naval skirmish in 2002 over
disputed fishing territory that left six South Korean naval soldiers dead.
Nevertheless progress
2000 North-South Joint Declaration signed by the Republic of Korea President
Kim Dae-jung and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Chairman, Supreme
Leader Kim Jong-il declared
The South and the North have agreed to resolve the question of reunification independently and through the joint efforts of the Korean people, who are the masters of the country.
For the achievement of reunification, we have agreed that there is a common element in the South’s concept of a confederation and the North’s formula for a loose form of federation. The South and the North agreed to promote reunification in that direction.
The South and the North have agreed to promptly resolve humanitarian issues such as exchange visits by separated family members and relatives on the occasion of the August 15 National Liberation Day and the question of unswerving Communists serving prison sentences in the South.
The South and the North have agreed to consolidate mutual trust by promoting balanced development of the national economy through economic cooperation and by stimulating cooperation and exchanges in civic, cultural, sports, health, environmental and all other fields.
The South and the North have agreed to hold a dialogue between relevant authorities in the near future to implement the above agreements expeditiously.”
2005 Truth and Reconciliation
Established December 1, 2005, the South Korean Commission for Truth and
Reconciliation, a governmental body, “investigated numerous atrocities
committed by various government agencies during Japan’s occupation of Korea,
the Korean War, and the authoritarian governments that ruled afterwards”; and estimated
“that tens of thousands of people were executed in the summer of 1950”
Among the victims discovered were “political prisoners, civilians killed
by US forces, and civilians who had allegedly collaborated with communist North
Korea or local communist groups.
Sanctions Warfare, Blowback
More than 50 years after the U.S. breach of the Korean Armistice,
repeated war games provocations, and the imposition of “a new wave” sanctions
aggression, the North Korean president declared the 1953 Armistice “invalid”;
and on March 13, 2013, affirmed that North Korea had “ended the 1953 Armistice,”
declaring the DPRK unrestrained “‘by the North-South declaration on
non-aggression.’”
At the end of March that year
North Korea stated that it entered a ‘state of war’ with South Korea and declared that ‘The long-standing situation of the Korean peninsula being neither at peace nor at war is finally over.’”
2016 Proposal to End War
North Korea reportedly approached the United States about conducting
formal peace talks to formally end the war.
North Korean and United States “agreed to secret peace talks” but “rejected”
the terms of a peace treaty that would include “nuclear disarmament.”
2018 North-South talks
North Korea and South Korea on reportedly agreed on April 27 “to talks
to end the ongoing 65-year conflict” and committed to completing “denuclearization
of the Korean Peninsula.”
Because of the continued Republic of Korea (ROK)-United States military
drills, the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea (PDRK) on May 15, 2018, cancelled
a high-level meeting.”
This week’s News Reporting
“South Koreans are now increasingly calling for adopting a declaration
on the end of war in this year that marks the 65th anniversary of the Korean
armistice. The People for Achieving Peace and Unification, the headquarters of
the movement for conclusion of peace agreement and other civil society
organizations of all social strata held demonstrations, rallies and press
conferences to urge the US to work for the adoption of the declaration, saying
the US demands the unilateral denuclearization of north Korea and it should
also fulfill its responsibility to establish a permanent peace mechanism.…”
Republic of Korea “Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha also has
spoken to “the need to hold a north-south meeting—or a tripartite meeting
involving the United States—in order to declare the end of war this year.”
Sources
Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)
“Declaration of Termination of War Is First Process for
Peace: KCNA Commentary” July 25, 2018 | Source: DPRK Today (English) | https://kcnawatch.co/newstream/1532509238-983185363/declaration-of-termination-of-war-is-first-process-for-peace-kcna-commentary/
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_15th_North%E2%80%93South_Joint_Declaration
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_and_Reconciliation_Commission_(South_Korea)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Policy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_15th_North%E2%80%93South_Joint_Declaration
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Armistice_Agreement
Korean Central News Agency
“South Koreans demand declaration of war termination” by
Song Jong Ho PT July 24, 2018 https://kcnawatch.co/newstream/1532426452-357035003/south-koreans-demand-declaration-of-war-termination/
Foreign Minister of South Korea Kang Kyung-wha is the first woman
nominated for and appointed to the position. Kyung-wha is also “the first
Korean woman to hold a high-level position in the United Nations.” She “joined
the South Korean delegation for the third Inter-Korean Summit in Panmunjom
becoming the first foreign minister to participate in such summit.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kang_Kyung-wha
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