{"id":8162,"date":"2010-12-28T22:36:30","date_gmt":"2010-12-29T07:06:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/?p=8162"},"modified":"2010-12-28T22:36:30","modified_gmt":"2010-12-29T07:06:30","slug":"two-articles-with-analysis-of-the-tensions-in-korean-peninsula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/?p=8162","title":{"rendered":"Two articles with analysis of the tensions in Korean peninsula"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mahalo to Marta Duenas of West Coast Famoksaiyan<\/a> for posting the following articles about the tensions in the Korean Peninsula on her listserve.\u00a0\u00a0 Another blog for Famoksaiyan is here<\/a>.\u00a0 I am just reposting what she sent in her email as it captures my sentiments.\u00a0 Mahalo to Satoko Norimatsu and her Peace Philosophy Centre blog<\/a>, to Gavan McCormack and the Japan Focus website<\/a> and Christine Ahn and Foreign Policy In Focus<\/a> for keeping us informed about critical issues in the Asia Pacific region.\u00a0 Please support these important groups.<\/p>\n

>><<<\/p>\n

From: Martha Duenas<\/strong>
\nDate: Tue, Dec 28, 2010 at 5:19 PM
\nSubject: [famoksaiyanfriends] Gavin McCormack on Korean Tensions \/ Christine Ahn on Resolving the Face-Off in Korea
\nTo: Famoksaiyan Friends <famoksaiyanfriends@lists.riseup.net><\/p>\n

Peace Philosophy Centre: http:\/\/peacephilosophy.blogspot.com\/<\/em><\/p>\n

Satoko Norimatsu of Peace Philosophy Center has posted valuable information & analysis on the Asia-Pacific region, US military presence and government compliance in creating the volatile tensions that threaten the true and genuine security of the people in this region. Jeju Island is under assault at this very moment with threats of SWAT team force and arrest for protecting their land and seas from US military expansion. The communities, the people in these regions desire the peaceful way of life we have all known in the past to secure the future for our children.<\/em><\/p>\n

War and all that exists for war makes money. War builds economies. But war kills. War destroys. War is not hope. We cannot want war.<\/em><\/p>\n

Please visit the links\u00a0at the bottom of this article\u00a0for more information on the work of Gavin McCormack and Satoko Norimatsu.<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n

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Monday, December 27, 2010<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Gavin McCormack on Korean Tensions<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
Gavin McCormack’s talk at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan (FCCJ) Professional Luncheon on December 15, 2010<\/strong><\/div>\n

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How the shadows have fallen over East Asia in the space of these past few years. Just three years ago, North and South Korean leaders met and signed an agreement to cooperate and work out a path to peaceful unification of their divided peninsula, and specifically to turn the contested West Sea area into a zone of peace and cooperation; two years ago Barack Obama came to office in the United States promising a better world, progress toward nuclear disarmament, an end to war, dialogue with all \u201cenemies;\u201d just over one year ago, Hatoyama Yukio became Prime Minister of Japan, promising change, the vision of an East Asian Community, equi-distant diplomacy with China and the United States, and transformation of the South China Sea into a \u201cSea of Fraternit\u00e9\u201d (Yuai no umi) (and Ozawa Ichiro led his famous friendship mission of 600 to Beijing, derided by Richard Armitage as the Japanese People\u2019s Liberation Army descending on China).<\/div>\n
Now, as 2010 moves towards its end, massive military exercises (war games) take place around the Korean peninsula and in the Sea of Japan. Are they defensive? Are they provocative? Are we heading towards war?The governments that came to power in Korea in 2008 and in US and Japan in 2009 turned away from peaceful change. LMB scrapped the cooperation agreement negotiated by his predecessor; Obama continued, and intensified the two wars he inherited (while engaging in pressures and threats, rather than negotiations, that suggested the possibility of a third and even a fourth, in Iran and North Korea); and Japan moves simultaneously towards participation in collective war-rehearsing exercises that are almost certainly unconstitutional, presses for construction of a new base for the Marines in Henoko, and to reinforce the SDF military presence on the outlying islands.<\/p>\n

The downward spiral accelerated through this year,, which has been punctuated by three major events: Cheonan in March, Senkaku in September, and Yeonpyeong in November.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE TEXT OF GAVIN McCORMACK’S TALK<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
http:\/\/peacephilosophy.blogspot.com\/<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
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McCormack, Takesada & Wada, Analysis on Korean Tension<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
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See HERE<\/span><\/a> for program information on the FCCJ website<\/span><\/div>\n
CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL: JAPAN FOCUS<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
http:\/\/www.japanfocus.org\/<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n

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Foreign Policy in Focus<\/div>\n
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Resolving the Face-Off in Korea<\/span><\/h2>\n

By Christine Ahn<\/span><\/a>, December 22, 2010<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

On Monday, the Korean peninsula averted a cataclysmic showdown that could have escalated into full-blown war. The United Nations Security Council wasn\u2019t able to conclude a statement that would defuse tensions, with countries lining up along Cold War divisions.<\/div>\n

Seconds before I appeared on Al-Jazeera International Sunday night, the producer informed me that South Korea, despite pleas from both Russia and China to cancel the live fire artillery drills, had in fact started the exercises. Having been to North Korea several times, and knowing how their worldview centers on the right to defend their sovereignty, I feared the worst.<\/p>\n

But by the time I returned home, the South Korean military drills were over. It lasted 94 minutes. North Korea, which had promised to retaliate with even more force than the November 23 shelling of Yeonpyeong island, decided that the South\u2019s aggression was \u201cnot worth reacting\u201d to. According to the North\u2019s Korean Central News Agency<\/em><\/span><\/a>, \u201cThe world should properly know who is the true champion of peace and who is the real provocateur of a war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peace Parlay<\/h3>\n

Without a doubt, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson\u2019s trip to Pyongyang was crucial to cooling the tensions. Richardson has experience dealing with Pyongyang. In 1996 he went to secure the release of an American civilian who had illegally crossed the Yalu River into North Korea. But as the former energy secretary in the Clinton administration and governor of the state that houses the Los Alamos National Lab, Richardson knows energy, especially policy governing nuclear energy. At the eleventh hour, Richardson was able to secure a deal with Pyongyang in which they agreed to allow UN inspectors to monitor its nuclear program and an offer to sell 12,000 plutonium fuel rods to South Korea. North Korean officials are also considering Richardson\u2019s recommendation to establish a hotline between North Korea and South Korea as well as a tri-lateral commission consisting of North Korea, South Korea, and the United States to address military disputes.<\/p>\n

In addition to Richardson\u2019s swift diplomacy, several other factors may have played a role in de-escalating the crisis. One, according to independent journalist Tim Shorrock, may have been the strong caution expressed in a December 16 press conference<\/span><\/a> by U.S. General James Cartwright, the number two ranking officer at the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Cartwright explained that North Korea, in response to South Korea\u2019s live artillery drill, could react and fire back on the islands, which \u201cwould start potentially a chain reaction of firing and counter-firing. What you don\u2019t want to have happen out of that is for the escalation to be\u2014for us to lose control of the escalation.\u201d According to an email from Shorrock, Cartwright \u201cseemed to be saying very diplomatically that South Korea should back off.\u201d<\/p>\n

An important Bloomberg story about the Northern Limit Line (NLL), which received very little play in the media, is key to understanding the root cause of the current crisis over the disputed waters in the West Sea. This area has been the site of multiple deadly naval clashes, which occurred in 1999, 2002, 2009, last March and November. The cycle of violence nearly ended on October 4, 2007 when then-South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il pledged to hold talks<\/span><\/a> to “discuss ways of designating a joint fishing area in the West Sea to avoid accidental clashes and turning it into a peace area.” According to Henry Em<\/span><\/a>, Associate Professor of East Asian Studies at New York University, \u201cThe 2007 agreement was thrown out as part of the new government’s strategy of getting tough with North Korea\u2026 [which] has been met with North Korea’s get-tough policy toward South Korea, with tragic and dangerous consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Disputed Boundary<\/h3>\n

North Korea felt justified in retaliating against the South Korean shelling on November 23 because the nearly 4,000 shots the South Korean military fired within a four-hour period emanated from waters Pyongyang considers to be North Korean territory. Although Yeonpyeong Island, and four other nearby islands, were designated as South Korean under the 1953 armistice agreement, the waters surrounding them were not. In 1953, to restrain then-South Korean leader Syngman Rhee from continuing to attack the North, the United States unilaterally drew the NLL, which follows the coast of North Korea approximately 3 miles off-shore.<\/p>\n

Not only is the NLL illegitimate because North Korea never agreed to it, international maritime convention considers 12 miles to be the boundary of any country\u2019s waters. Yeonpyeong Island, from which South Korea conducted live artillery drills on November 23 and earlier this week, lies within 12 nautical miles of North Korea\u2019s coastline. North Korea\u2019s insistence that the South was conducting live artillery drills within its territorial boundaries is therefore not without basis.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just the North Koreans who think the NLL isn\u2019t legal. On December 17, two Bloomberg<\/span><\/a> reporters discovered secret telegrams sent by former secretary of state Henry Kissinger in 1975 stating that the Northern Limit Line is \u201cclearly contrary to international law.\u201d The confidential February 1975 telegram<\/span><\/a> from Kissinger reads, \u201cAs we have noted before (Ref B) Northern Patrol Limit Line does not have international legal status. NPLL was unilaterally established and not accepted by NK. Furthermore, insofar as it purports unilaterally to divide international waters, it is clearly contrary to international law and USG law of the sea position. Armistice provides two sides must respect each other\u2019s \u201ccontiguous waters\u201d, which negotiating history indicates would mean as maximum 12 miles.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bloomberg reporters also quote a December 19, 1973 cable to Washington from Ambassador Francis Underhill who wrote, \u201cThe ROK and the U.S. might appear in the eyes of a significant number of other countries to be in the wrong\u201d if an incident occurred in disputed areas. According to Mark J. Valencia, a maritime lawyer with the National Bureau of Asian Research, \u201cIf it ever went to arbitration, the decision would likely move the line further south.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to The New York Times<\/em>, \u201cPark In-kook, the South Korean ambassador, noted that the line had been established in 1953 and that North Korea had accepted it under a 1992 agreement, diplomats said.\u201d Park may be referring to the North-South Joint Agreement on Reconciliation, Nonaggression, and Cooperation and Exchange<\/span><\/a>, which did not specifically mention the Northern Limit Line, and in fact neither side has implemented it.\u00a0 The clearest expression of agreement between North and South Korea addressing the disputed West Sea waters was set forth by North and South Korean leaders in their 2007 summit meeting.\u00a0 In that meeting both sides agreed to establish a \u201cpeace zone\u201d in the West Sea. Unfortunately, as soon as President Lee Myung Bak took office in 2008, he backed away from the agreements made in the 2000 and 2007 North \u2013 South summit meetings in favor of a more hard-line approach to the North.<\/p>\n

Resolving the Stalemate<\/h3>\n

Since it’s unlikely that Lee Myung Bak will revive the 2007 agreement between North and South Korea, veteran Korea expert Selig Harrison proposed<\/span><\/a> a solution in a New York Times<\/em> op-ed last week: \u201cThe solution could be quite straightforward: the United States should redraw the disputed sea boundary, called the Northern Limit Line, moving it slightly to the south.\u201d It\u2019s that easy. And Harrison asserts that this is possible because \u201cPresident Obama has the authority to redraw the line\u201d as the United States is still the head of the United Nations Command for Korea. After consulting with Seoul and Pyongyang, the United States should get to work to not only redraw the line but also seriously move toward peace talks. This could be the first priority of the trilateral commission, if it were established.<\/p>\n

As I remained fixed to my computer watching for developments and following twitter feeds over the weekend, I couldn’t help but feel both anxious and enraged. This ongoing game of brinkmanship played by our world leaders could have had horrific consequences. As I watched footage of elderly Koreans forced out of their homes and into bunkers, I imagined how traumatic it must have been, especially for the survivors of the Korean War.<\/p>\n

Tragically, Koreans on the peninsula and in the diaspora must not only live with the painful memories of the Korean War, which claimed millions of lives and separated millions of families. We must also live with the hard truth that the Korean War is still not over 60 years later and the country remains divided. And all for what purpose and whose objectives? Certainly not for the security of the lives of ordinary Koreans, north and south.<\/p>\n

Christine Ahn is a columnist with Foreign Policy In Focus, a policy analyst with the Korea Policy Institute<\/span><\/a>, and a member of the National Campaign to End the Korean War<\/span><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.fpif.org\/articles\/resolving_the_face-off_in_korea?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FPIF+%28Foreign+Policy+In+Focus+%28All+News%29%29&utm_content=FeedBurner<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mahalo to Marta Duenas of West Coast Famoksaiyan for posting the following articles about the tensions in the Korean Peninsula on her listserve.\u00a0\u00a0 Another blog for Famoksaiyan is here.\u00a0 I am just reposting what she sent in her email as it captures my sentiments.\u00a0 Mahalo to Satoko Norimatsu and her Peace Philosophy Centre blog, to … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Two articles with analysis of the tensions in Korean peninsula”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2409],"class_list":["post-8162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-movements-resistance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8162"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8162"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8164,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8162\/revisions\/8164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}