USFK Commander Criticized By Ruling Party Politician Over DMZ Remarks
What a stupid issue for the Korean left to fighting over:
Fallout from a lawmaker’s response to remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea appears likely to spill over into the security and diplomatic arena.
On Sunday, the conservative main opposition People Power Party accused the Lee Jae Myung administration of “degrading” and “picking a fight” with the US, claiming that the administration was creating another “diplomatic farce.”
“The idea of ‘jurisdiction by a foreign power’ is raised over a single remark by the USFK commander,” People Power Party spokesperson Cho Yong-sool said in a statement on Sunday, saying that any diplomatic concerns with an ally should be addressed through diplomatic consultations and expressions of regret.
Here is what General Brunson said:
Kim demanded a public apology from Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of USFK and the United Nations Command, in response to remarks the general made at a forum in Washington on Wednesday. At the forum, Brunson said that, from the UNC’s point of view, South Korea started at the southern fence of the Demilitarized Zone, as the UNC managed the DMZ to maintain the armistice.
The DMZ separates the two Koreas in a 4-kilometer-wide strip, 2 kilometers on either side of the Military Demarcation Line.
Kim argued that the 1953 Armistice Agreement gives the UNC authority over access to and administration of the DMZ, but does not give it the power to determine South Korea’s territorial sovereignty.
“These remarks crossed the line by infringing upon South Korea’s territorial sovereignty,” Kim said, calling on Brunson to retract them and apologize to the South Korean public.
You can read more at the link, but all this politician had to do was ask USFK to have General Bruson clarify his remarks which he did in response to this political grandstanding. General Brunson said he was referring to the administrative and military responsibilities assigned to the UNC for the DMZ, not the sovereignty of South Korea.
