Preventing the Continuation of the Korean War
Every day the North Korean nuclear weapons program advances. The nuclear program has existed for nearly thirty years without being resolved by the past and current US policy regarding the threat. China refuses to work with the US and South Korea in stopping the rogue regime’s WMD development and is punishing the Republic of Korea for building new US made missile defense systems in response to recent North Korean ballistic missile tests. If China refuses to stand up to North Korea’s nuclear weapons and the previous diplomacy and military tactics have not shut down the North Korean nuclear weapons program, then something needs to change in order to prevent the looming threat of a North Korean nuclear attack against South Korea, Japan, or the US. The US should encourage and support the increased militarization of South Korea and Japan in order to match the increased North Korean aggression and deter the possibility of a North Korean first strike.
The Eastern Asian coast is a region of the world full of tension, decades of conflict, and extraordinary military presence. This tension, conflict, and military presence is the result of a culmination of previous wars that have soured the relations of many of the countries within this region as well as these country’s allies. All of these factors have led to the current situation that the region is subject to; that current situation is a rouge, nuclear armed North Korea and a China who is unwilling to reign in their unpredictable “ally” which is North Korea. The unpredictability and threat of North Korean aggression has led to South Korea, the US, and Japan feeling very threatened and on the defensive at all times. While North Korea is launching ballistic missiles into the Pacific Ocean off of the coast of Japan, the US, South Korea, and North Korea have thousands of armed and ready soldiers guarding the North and South Korean border, the 38th Parallel. As a result of the frightening increase in the number of missile tests from North Korea, the US is constructing a new Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system in South Korea. China is responding hostilely towards South Korea for approving the construction of THAAD. This statement from Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang sums up China’s feelings toward THAAD, “I want to emphasize again that China is firm in its resolve to oppose the deployment of THAAD in the ROK and will resolutely take necessary actions to safeguard its own security interests. Any consequences entailed from that will be borne by the US and the ROK. We strongly urge relevant parties to stop the deployment process and not to go further down that wrong path” (MFAPRC). What China means to say is that the US can use THAAD’s powerful radar equipment to monitor Chinese aircraft thus defeating the element of surprise in the situation of a Chinese first strike attack. China has been opposing THAAD by shutting down South Korean businesses within China, conducting cyber-attacks against said business’s servers, and banning tourist packages to South Korea. It is highly unjust for China to punish a sovereign nation as a result of them having legitimate concerns about their WMD wielding neighbor and constructing improved missile defenses to deter an attack. China is South Korea’s largest trade partner so China is definitely acting as an antagonist here and is abusing their position of a powerful trade figure. South Korea is a power to be contended with both in economical and modern military might. With support from the US, South Korea should challenge China’s response.
The US is responding to China’s refusal to cooperate with South Korea, Japan, and the US on stopping and dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons. China is the only country who has any real influence over North Korea because they are allies and North Korea completely relies on China for virtually all of its trade. President Trump has made a statement in an interview with the Financial Times regarding Chinas lack of cooperation, “China will either decide to help us with North Korea or they won’t, if they do, that will be very good for China, and if they don’t, it won’t be good for anyone. If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will” (CNN). On one hand Trump’s statement could potentially pressure China into being more cooperative, on the other hand this implies that the US is going to take independent military action against North Korea when in reality the US should focus on building up South Korea and Japan as regional powers in order to deter North Korea and pressure the Chinese at the same time. The US seems to be leaning closer and closer to a strategic strike against North Korea’s nuclear arsenal even though this strategy failed the last time it was attempted in Iran. This time around it is likely that a strategic strike from the US would causer North Korea to begin its invasion of South Korea.
The Korean War has never officially ended, rather the fighting ended decades ago with a signing of an armistice. Ever since, the North Koreans have been building up their military, fortifying and entrenching military bases, and piling the 38th parallel with an untold number of soldiers, tanks, and artillery. If North Korea were to try to invade South Korea, which they would likely do rather than peacefully give up their tyrannical rule or their nuclear weapons, they would lose the war and they know it. However what they can do is wreak havoc and potentially slaughter thousands, potentially millions in Seoul’s metropolitan area. Eric Talmadge from Associated Press writes an article in Business Insider about the North Korean’s artillery installments embedded within the mountains along the 38th Parallel. In his article, Talmadge elaborates on the damage that can be done with this artillery, it reads “North Korea’s most threatening weapons are its 170 mm Koksan artillery guns, which are 14 meters long and can shoot conventional mortar ammunition 40 kilometers (25 miles). That’s not quite enough to reach Seoul, which is 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the DMZ. But if they use rocket-assisted projectiles, the range increases to about 60 kilometers (37 miles). Chemical weapons fired from these guns could cause even greater mayhem. North Korea experts Victor Cha and David Kang posted on the website of Foreign Policy magazine late last month that the North can fire 500,000 rounds of artillery on Seoul in the first hour of a conflict” (AP). This information is enough to concern anyone and is reason enough to rule out the idea of initiating military action against North Korea. They have a dead man’s trigger armed and ready to go if they believe that they are about to be attacked or are attacked. Knowing what North Korea is capable of even without nuclear missiles supports the idea that rather than attacking them, they should instead be deterred to the point where they know they cannot lash out at anyone.
As it stands South Korea has a very powerful and advanced military. This makes sense because they are closely allied with the greatest military power in the world, the US, and have the constant threat of their maniacal neighbors invading their country. Since the beginning of the Korean War the US has had a major military presence in South Korea and to this day has around 30,000 soldiers on the 38th parallel. Since the fighting stopped South Korea has had time and economic growth that has allowed them to massively expand their military. Kyle Mizokami describes the South Koreans military’s size, “The South Korean military has 650,000 personnel on active duty. The army’s rolls number 506,000 troops equipped with 2,300 tanks, 2,600 armored fighting vehicles, 600 helicopters, and 5,400 artillery pieces. Seoul’s air force has 65,000 personnel operating more than 450 jet fighters. The South Korean navy has 68,000 personnel with 12 submarines, 22 destroyers and frigates, 21 corvettes, and 84 patrol vessels” (The Week). This is quite a large military, however, North Korea’s military is even larger. The catch is that essentially al of North Korea’s equipment and vehicles are from the cold war era, retired soviet weapons, and plain out of date. North Korea’s numbers would not be able to compete with South Koreas high tech gear and better trained soldiers. So one may ask why the US still has 30,000 troops guarding South Korea. Well the US presence is a deter net. The idea is that if North Korea invades South Korea that they will also be killing US soldiers which will justify increased US involvement. The US should certainly support its ally if war were to break out, but at the same time it is not the US’s job to be the only force stopping North Korea from invading. If South Korea amped up its military in numbers and more advanced weaponry then this would decrease the need for the US acting as a tripwire.
The final thing that could really influence North Korea into a state of passive nonaggression is the militarization of Japan. After WWII Japan’s entire military was disbanded, dismantled, and replaced with US military protection. The Japanese constitution was rewritten and now prevents them from any offensive military action, strictly defensive now. An article written by Anna Fifield in the Washington Post quotes the head of the Liberal Democratic Party’s security committee in Japan Hiroshi Imazu, Imazu says “Our country is protected by other countries, but we can’t do anything to protect them. This is not acceptable in the international community anymore. We cooperate with the U.S. and other nations to protect our country and also to contribute to peace in East Asia. In this environment, it’s only proper that we should discuss how we could protect our country” (Washington Post). Imazu is cleary someone who understands this issue from a Japanese perspective and his call for Japan being capable for defending themselves is entirely reasonable. The US has been defending Japan for seventy two years, it is time for Japan to build their own military and defenses.
Not only does it cost the US billions of dollars to defend Japan and South Korea, but it also puts the lives of numerous US soldiers at risk. If Japan and South Korea have the means to carry their own weight and deter North Korea from harming anyone outside of their borders, then why not encourage that? Japan and South Korea are very wealthy nations and they have the full support of the US government and military. In order to reduce the bullying capabilities of China and stop a North Korean offensive, the US should gradually withdraw their soldiers and weapons from Japan and South Korea while assisting these two nations in building their own military and defense. The continuation of the Korean War can be peacefully prevented, if these steps are not taken, then who can guess what might happen?