The Moon administration is in desperation mode to get a Korean War peace treaty signed before they office this Spring:
Unification Minister Lee In-young speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at his office in Seoul, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
It is the right time to declare an end to the Korean War, as an unprecedentedly favorable environment for the implementation of the declaration has been set up among relevant countries, according to Unification Minister Lee In-young.
In this regard, he also believes the first half of the year could be a “golden time” to make strides in frayed inter-Korean ties and stalled nuclear negotiations between North Korea and the United States, citing a heap of political events in the second half of the year that could disrupt efforts toward Pyongyang-related issues.
Strongly believing such an agreement could serve as a catalyst for negotiations on the denuclearization of North Korea, President Moon Jae-in resurrected his proposal of declaring a formal end to the 1950-53 conflict in a speech at the United Nations last September.
Since then, South Korean and U.S. diplomats have been meeting frequently with each other to discuss the proposal, while National Security Director Suh Hoon also drew support from China following a meeting with top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi in December.
Look at what some people want to give up to North Korea to entice them to meet to discuss a peace treaty that is a favorable action towards them anyway:
The lasting silence is fueling speculation that Seoul and Washington should offer something to entice North Korea into responding to the end-of-war issue, and the suspension of combined military drills and partial sanctions relief are being mentioned as possible incentives among others.
You can read more at the link, but the North Koreans want this peace treaty in order to question the legitimacy of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. If there is peace why are U.S. troops and by extension the UN Command needed?
If the Kim regimes wants a peace treaty they should agree to actions that actually makes it look like they want peace. For example removing all their artillery off of the DMZ would show the seriousness of their peace overtures. If they want peace why do they need artillery to target Seoul and other metropolitan areas?
Anyone who thinks the Afghan withdrawal is a sign of a weakening US commitment to South Korea doesn’t know much about US-ROK relations:
A bipartisan pair of U.S. lawmakers said Thursday the alliance with South Korea remains strong, despite fears that the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan signals weakened resolve on the Korean Peninsula.
Reps. Ami Bera, D-Calif., and Young Kim, R-Calif., gave their assessment of the alliance with South Korea during a virtual panel discussion hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
Bera, a co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Study Group on Korea, advised policy watchers not to read too deeply into President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.
“Korea is a totally different country — it’s one of the most developed democracies in the world,” he said. “It’s certainly a developed economy. We have a long geopolitical, strategic relationship and our security commitments are extremely important to members of Congress in a bilateral way.”
You can read more at the link, but I don’t see the ROK president fleeing with a helicopter full of cash and the ROK Army completely folding against any North Korean attack. Unlike the Afghan military, the ROK military is professional, motivated, and will fight.
Rep. Song Young-gil, head of the ruling Democratic Party, speaks during a party meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, wednesday
Rep. Song Young-gil, chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), Wednesday, struck back at tweets by a Washington Post columnist saying that South Korea would be like Afghanistan if the U.S. forces leave the Korean Peninsula.
In addition, he added that Seoul needs to take advantage of the Afghanistan crisis to regain wartime operational control (OPCON) of South Korean forces from Washington.
On Monday (local time), Marc Thiessen, a former speechwriter for former U.S. President George W. Bush, tweeted, “If South Korea were under this kind of sustained assault, they would collapse just as quickly without US support. There’s virtually no American ally who could defend themselves without us.”
You can read more at the link, but the ROK military will fight and not capitulate like the Afghan government that was corrupt and unpopular. South Korea is a developed democracy with a first world military with equipment far better than anything North Korea has. There is no way the ROK military would abandon their posts and rush to Osan Airbase to cling to fleeing C-17’s.
No matter what the combined US-ROK exercise is called North Korea is still going to complain about it:
Hellicopters and vehicles are deployed at U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, during this year’s first Combined Command Post Training between South Korea and the U.S. in this March 8 photo. The two sides are yet to reveal the scale of the drill, which is anticipated to take place next month. Yonhap
North Korea has resumed its belligerent rhetoric against a combined summertime military exercise between Seoul and Washington, raising questions about whether the Kim Jong-un regime will escalate the situation with a military provocation.
Uriminzokkiri, a North Korean propaganda website, issued a warning Tuesday to South Korea and the U.S. with regard to the drill expected to be held in August, saying that “war exercises” and peace cannot exist simultaneously.
“The current instability on the Korean Peninsula is fully attributable to the warmongers among the South Korean military colluding with an outside power, and engaging in reckless, confrontational machinations,” the website commented.
Citing previous exercises including the Combined Command Post Training in March and Seoul’s participation in the cooperative maritime exercise Pacific Vanguard, it alleged “(South Korea) showed its craze for war exercises.”
If the Biden administration did ask South Korea to join the Quad forum I think it shows how little they understand the geopolitical dynamics in the region:
South Korean National Security Adviser Suh Hoon (R) converses with his US and Japanese counterparts — Jake Sullivan (C) and Shigeru Kitamura (L) — at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, on April 2, 2021, in this photo provided by the South Korean Embassy in Washington. (South Korean Embassy)
South Korea’s presidential office on Sunday denied as “incorrect” a Japanese report that the United States asked Seoul to join the US-led Quad forum.
The Yomiuri Shimbun, a major Japanese daily, reported earlier in the day that US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had strongly requested Seoul join the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue group, also known as Quad, during a meeting with his South Korean counterpart Suh Hoon early this month.
This is essentially the deal the ROK always wanted to sign with the US, but the Trump administration would not agree to:
South Korea will increase the amount if pays to support U.S. troops on the peninsula by 13.9%, the country’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday following agreement on a six-year cost-sharing deal.
South Korea will pay $1.03 billion this year, up from $910 million in 2019, to support 28,500 U.S. service members there, according to a ministry statement.
You can read more at the link, but I always said this would be an easy win for the Biden administration especially when it is a deal the ROK always wanted.
These exercises have definitely been scaled down significantly, but I guess we will see if North Korea cares or not:
South Korea and the United States will stage a major springtime combined military exercise starting this week in a scaled-back manner amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Sunday. (………)
“South Korea and the U.S. decided to conduct the springtime combined exercise from March 8 for nine days, after comprehensively taking into consideration the COVID-19 situation, the maintenance of the combat readiness posture, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of peace,” the JCS said in a statement.
As predicted the new U.S. Defense Secretary under President Biden, Lloyd Austin wants to get a new US-ROK cost sharing deal done quickly:
U.S. President Joe Biden’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, answers questions during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, in Washington on Wednesday. [EPA/YONHAP]
U.S. President Joe Biden’s nominee for secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, said Wednesday he would bring about an early resolution to stalled military cost-sharing negotiations with South Korea.
In a written statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Austin described the U.S. military alliance with Seoul as the “linchpin of peace and security in the region” and “among the most combined, interoperable, capable and dynamic” alliances in the world.
If confirmed, the retired four-star general said he would focus on modernizing the alliance along with others throughout the Indo-Pacific region and “seek the early conclusion of cost-sharing negotiations with South Korea as part of those efforts.”
![U.S. President Joe Biden's nominee for Secretary of Defense, retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, answers questions during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, in Washington on Wednesday. [EPA/YONHAP]](https://i0.wp.com/koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2021/01/21/6a26663c-0ac0-4191-b853-f36d76fb7878.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
