Text Fw: The Struggle against US bases in Korea - for Denuclearization and Peace (2010.5.1)

* Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea (SPARK)

The Struggle against US bases in Korea - for Denuclearization and Peace

Oh Hye-ran

Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea (SPARK)

Korea-U.S. Alliance – Obstacle to Peace

In July 1953, only 2 months after they signed the “Korean War Armistice Agreement,” South Korea and the United States entered into an alliance through the “Korea-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty”. A military alliance is an arrangement in which parties come together for the purpose of a potential war. The South Korea-U.S. alliance is premised on a temporary truce after the Korean War, and its continued existence means the state of war has not yet ended.

Article IV: 60 of the Korean War Armistice Agreement recommended that “a political conference” be held “within three (3) months after the Armistice Agreement is signed”, “to settle through negotiation the questions of the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Korea and the peaceful settlement of the Korean question”. The Korea-U.S. alliance contradicts Article IV: 60, which recommends the replacement of the Armistice Agreement with a permanent peace treaty.

US Bases in Korea and the “Strategic Flexibility” Doctrine

South Korea is covered with U.S. military bases. U.S. Forces in Korea (USFK) has 87 bases, which take up a total of 32,000 acres of land. In addition, there are 37 joint training facilities for the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces, which occupy more than 49,000 acres of land, and 5 Korean Air Force bases designated “Collateral Operation Bases” for U.S. reinforcement.

Today, U.S. bases in Korea are being transformed into advanced operation bases for preemptive strike against North Korea. According to the strategic flexibility doctrine of the USFK, its troops can be flexibly and rapidly deployed at any time to any place in the world. For example, 3600 troops of the Second Division were sent to Iraq in 2004. Strategic flexibility has nothing to do with the main stated role of U.S. Forces in Korea, which is to serve as a deterrent force against a possible attack from the north. Rather, it is intended to turn U.S. bases in Korea into launch pads for U.S. military domination of the world. It violates the Korea-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty, which stipulates the stationing of U.S. Forces in Korea with the mission of defending South Korea from a potential attack from the north.

Furthermore, U.S. bases cause numerous critical problems to local communities, such as forced evacuation of residents and farmers from their land and disastrous ecological damage. The strategic flexibility doctrine of the USFK must be discarded and unilateral U.S. base expansions must be stopped. All U.S. bases should be removed from Korea immediately for the sake of peace on the Korean peninsula, justice for the people, and preservation of our livelihoods off the land.

The Struggle against U.S. military bases in Korea

After their struggle against the expansion of Camp Humphrey in 2006, residents of Pyeongtaek continue to fight against the construction of a second landing strip at Osan Air Base. This additional runway currently under construction is for large scale transport planes to quickly dispatch troops and supplies from Korea to conflict regions all over the world.

Residents of Mugeon-ri are also taking to the streets to stop the expansion of a military training facility. The Mugeon-ri training facility is used not only by troops stationed in Korea but also by other U.S. forces abroad, such as the Stryker Brigade Combat Team in the United States, U.S. Forces Japan, and the U.S. Air force in Australia. The site for the planned expansion is home to white herons and ash trees, considered natural heritages in Korea.

Residents of Jejudo also continue to struggle against the planned construction of a naval base. The Jejudo naval base will be the base port of the Korean Navy Task Fleet, mainly equipped with Aegis destroyers. The United States plans to use Jeju Island as a port to deploy nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and Aegis destroyers, because Jeju Island is strategically located with direct access to the East China Sea. Gangjeong village, the site of the planned base construction, boasts the only coral reefs in Korea and is the habitat of red soft coral. It was designated by UNESCO as a natural heritage site in 2002.

It is important to stand in solidarity with the residents of local communities fighting against U.S. bases in Korea. The “Korea-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty” which provides the legal basis for the Korea-U.S. alliance must be abolished. SPARK is part of the struggle in solidarity with the residents of the local communities of Pyongtaek, Mugeon-ri, and Jeju Island to resist U.S. bases and carry out our mission to abolish the “Korea-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty” and the Korea-U.S. alliance. We ask you for your support and solidarity with the people in Pyeongtaek, Mugeon-ri, and Jeju Island.

A Peace Treaty to End the Korean War – Key to Denuclearization and Peace on the Korean Peninsula

The so-called nuclear crisis in Korea began in 1957, when the United States first deployed nuclear weapons in South Korea. The United States still extends its Nuclear Umbrella to South Korea, and preemptive strike against North Korea is central to the U.S. strategic doctrine, despite U.S. assertions that its nuclear weapons were withdrawn from South Korea in the 1990’s.

In 2002, the former Bush administration declared North Korea part of an “axis of evil”, then carried out a preemptive attack against Iraq, also part of Bush’s “evil axis”. This was the decisive moment when North Korea began to develop its nuclear weapons. The U.S. Nuclear Posture Review, released on April 6, 2010 by the Obama administration, still leaves the door open for the possibility of a preemptive attack against North Korea.

A 2007 report on North Korea by the Atlantic Council states the root cause that led North Korea to develop its Nuclear Weapons is military provocations by U.S. Forces in Korea. According to a 2005 survey, 85% of South Korean civilians regard North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons as a deterrent force against the United States and a means for self-defense. (Korean Institute for National Unification)

Nuclear disarmament by North Korea is possible if U.S. troops withdraw from the Korean Peninsula and the Korea-U.S. alliance is abolished. As a condition for abandoning its Nuclear Weapon Program, North Korea demanded the United States abandon its hostile policies, abolish its Nuclear Umbrella in South Korea, as well as the Korea-U.S. alliance.

The Korean Peninsula still remains at war 60 years after the “Korean War Armistice Agreement” was signed on July 27, 1953. A peace treaty to end the Korean War can be a definite turning point that leads to denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Replacing the Armistice Agreement with a peace treaty and terminating the Korea-U.S. alliance are necessary for peace not only on the Korean Peninsula but also the broader Northeast Asian region and the world. Denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, facilitated by a peace treaty, along with the Mongolian Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone, can become the foundation for a broader North East Asia Nuclear-Free Zone.

SPARK continues to organize a “one million signature campaign” for denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula. We urge your active support and appreciate your participation in the struggle.

[Text Fw] The significance of a peace treaty for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula

* Image source: Solidarity for Peace and the Reunification of Korea

* 한글은 여기서 읽을 수 있읍니다.

* You can also see the SPARK NPT event photos HERE and HERE.

_________________________________________________________________

The significance of a peace treaty

for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula

Speech by Pyeon Yun-Sik, Co-Represntative of
Solidarity for Peace and the Reunification of Korea

May 1, 2010, New York, U.S.A.

Distinguished delegates and friends,

Why did N. Korea develop nuclear weapons?

Since the Armistice Agreement was signed on July 27, 1953, the Korean peninsula has been in a state of war for the last 60 years. Only two months after the Armistice Agreement came into force, S. Korea and the United States signed the Mutual Defense Treaty and entered into a relationship of alliance. An alliance is premised on "a provisional war community" and its deliberate intention to perpetuate a state of armistice, in other words a state of war.

Article Ⅳ 60 in the Armistice Agreement made explicit that within three months after the Armistice Agreement becomes effective, a political conference should be held to settle through negotiation the question of the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Korea and the peaceful settlement of the Korean question. Therefore, the establishment of the S. Korea-U.S. alliance is a violation against Article Ⅳ 60 that called for an immediate transition from the state of armistice into a state of peace on the Korean peninsula.

In 1957, the United States deployed nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula and this can be considered as the origin of the so-called nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula. Although the U.S. claims that it had pulled out its nuclear weapons from S. Korea since the 1990’s, the U.S. has provided its nuclear umbrella to S. Korea and integrated the strategy of preemptive nuclear strike against N. Korea into its national security policy. For example, the U.S. has five operation plans applicable to both war-time and peacetime, such as OPLAN 5027 and 5029. Central to those OPLANs is the possible scenario of a nuclear war through U.S.' preemptive strike against N. Korea, aimed at the overthrow of the N. Korean regime. Particularly, OPLAN 5029, designed for possible military deployment to N. Korea even during peacetime, is a very provocative and offensive plan and as such it is an intervention against N. Korea’s domestic affairs and a violation of international law.

In 2002, the Bush government designated N. Korea not only as one of seven countries that are potential targets for preemptive nuclear strike but also as a 'chronically military concern' alongside Iraq, and then later overthrew the Iraqi regime by means of an illegal military invasion. This led to a decisive moment for N. Korea, which faced no other option but to develop nuclear weapons for self-defense. "The Atlantic Council" in its report on N. Korea (April, 2007) stated that the reason for N. Korea's development of nuclear weapons is mainly due to U.S. military threats against N. Korea. Furthermore, 85% of S. Korean people consider N. Korea’s nuclear weapons as a means of deterrence and self-defense against U.S. war threats. (Unification Research Institute, 2005)

How to achieve the dismantlement of N. Korea's nuclear weapons?

There is a cause and effect relationship between the S. Korea-U.S alliance and N. Korea's nuclear development. Thus, the dismantlement of N. Korea's nuclear weapons is directly related to the abolishment of the S. Korea-U.S alliance. N. Korea has already stated its conditions for the abolishment of its nuclear weapons as "the withdrawal of hostile policies against N. Korea, the abolishment of the U.S. nuclear umbrella for S. Korea, and the abolishment of the S. Korea-U.S. alliance" (February 3-7, 2009).

N. Korea's position is clearly different from the positions of other nuclear-weapon states that talk about the reduction or dismantlement of nuclear weapons by means of various nuclear weapons reduction negotiations. The N. Korean proposal for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula is very simple, and it suggests an easy and feasible way to achieve the dismantlement of the N. Korean nuclear weapons. Furthermore, from a military point of view, N. Korea is in an inferior position in terms of its conventional arms capacity. Thus, it is conceivable that when N. Korea eliminates its nuclear weapons, there would no longer be a security risk for S. Korea and the United State to abolish their alliance on the Korean peninsula.

Establishing a peace treaty with N. Korea is the key to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and North-East Asia.

Concluding a peace treaty on the Korean peninsula will make a defining moment leading to the dismantlement of N. Korea's nuclear weapons. Concluding a peace treaty will bring an end to the continued state of war on the Korean peninsula and lead to the substantial elimination of the hostility inherent in the S. Korea-U.S nuclear alliance and eventually to the abolishment of the hostile alliance.

The continued state of war on the Korean peninsula for the for the last 60 years is an appalling violence unprecedented in modern world history. The urgent task for a peace treaty to end such a war is crucial to making peace on the Korean peninsula and North-East Asia, and further to building a peaceful, nuclear-free, global village. Denuclearization of the Korean peninsula through concluding a peace treaty will be a cornerstone for the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in North-East Asia, and also have ripple effects in facilitating the establishment of nuclear weapons free zones around the globe. Thank you.

[126th Self-Reliance Unification Peace Action] ‘Stop the Key Resolve war exercise against the N. Korea and conclude the peace agreement in Korea

* Below are arbitrary translations of the parts of the two articles combined together. One is the report from the Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea and the other is the article of the Tongil News on March 9.

*All the image sources/references are Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea.

About 60 people joined the 126th Self-Reliance Unification Peace Action
in front of the United States embassy, Seoul, on March 9, 2009.

Joo Byung-Joon, Chairman of the Village People’s Committee
against the Expansion of the Mugeon-ri Military training Field, joining in peace performance
in which people puts on various peace signs on the strings.

People put up the peace signs of pepper (* Korean traditional sign of abundance/prosperity)
and pigeons such as ‘withdrawal of the United States Forces of Korea’ and ‘Conclusion of peace agreement’ etc.

The letters beside the photo of the United States soldier say, “Occupation of North Korea
then establishment of the pro-US regime [in North Korea].”

Choi Sa-Mook. Co-representative of Veterans for Peace delivered the request letter

that was read aloud in the rally, to the United States embassy.

Police has occupied the rally site prior to the rally. The police finally withdrew from the site
after about 10 minute conflicts with the rally participants who demanded their right to have the rally.

Men from the Defense security Command whom even the police doesn’t know?
Those men were secretly recording the rally participants with camera, which is illegal.

*All the image sources/references are Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea.

There was the 126th Self-Reliance Unification Peace Action in front of the United States embassy under the issue of ‘Stop the Key Resolve war exercise against the North Korea and conclude the peace agreement in the Korean peninsula’ in Seoul, at 12pm on March 9, Tuesday, 2010.

The police claming even before the rally that “We can not guarantee the rally site because the contents on opposition against the Key Resolve is directly related to the United States,” Blockaded the rally site with the police units, saying, “Process the rally in the site more than 100M from the United States embassy.” The participants including the SPARK activists demanded, “The police behavior is illegal so guarantee the rally site.” After 10minutes of conflicts, the police accepted the rally participants’ request and withdrew the police units. Through the police behavior, the thing that the United States embassy has much burden on the currently being progressed Key resolve exercise, could be indirectly confirmed.

The organizations who participated in the rally pointed out that “ This war exercise is clearly invasive in the sense that, following the operational plan 5027 aiming the annihilation of the North Korean troops and removal of the North Korean regime, it is mobilized with the 18,000 United States force & 20,000 South Korean forces, and that its trainings are such as WMD removal operation, MD operation, mountain & urban area combat for being accustomed to the North Korean topography, and SK-US joint marine exercise assuming the urban combat in Pyeongyang that are premised on the collapse of the North Korean regime and occupational ruling.”

Kwon Oh-Chang, the executive representative, Solidarity for the Practice of the South-North Joint Declaration, claimed that, “The armistice agreement was concluded in July 1953 and within three months, by opening the political meeting, the withdrawal of the foreign troops and conclusion of the peace agreement in the Korean peninsula, were to be discussed… However the authorities of the South Korea and United States made powerless of the armistice agreement with their conclusion of Mutual Security Treaty in 1953.”

He, introducing “There is the nuclear security summit meeting in April and NPT in May,” claimed that “The United States should does either the simultaneous actions of the conclusion of the peace agreement and non-nuclearization, or ‘continuous progress of the hostile policy against the North Korea.’

You Young-Jae, SPARK, introducing that “The SK and US authorities are to finish the discussion on the ways of the procedures on the strategic flexibility of the United States Forces before the SK-US Security Consultative Meeting in Washington DC in coming October,” pointed out that “In the QDR report announced in January, the contents that the strategic flexibility would be stipulated and that, under the possible condition of foreign dispatch, base relocation, equipment moving, making flexible of the prior procedures would be progressed, are included.”

He also pointing out that, “ The United States can any more maintain the world domination with the fixed military,” claimed that, “ Therefore, to maintain the world domination, she intends to realize the strategic flexibility of the United States.”

Finally, he, pointing out that “The United States changed the status of Korea from the combat area to non-combat area. It means there is no all-out war possibility in the Korean peninsula,” claimed that “If the United States does not need the defense against the North Korea, the United States Forces of Korea, should not think of the permanent staying in South Korea, through the strategic flexibility but should go away from this land.”

[Translation] 125th [Monthly] Self-Reliance Unification Peace Action

* Below is the arbitrary translation of a report in the Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea (SPARK) site. All the image source is the SPARK.

125th [Monthly] Self-Reliance Unification Peace Action
Feb. 9, 2010 (Tuesday)

There was the 125th [monthly] Self-Reliance Unification Peace Action in front of the KT beside the United States Embassy, Seoul, at 12pm, Feb. 9. About 30 participants started the rally with the powerful slogans despite the winter-raining cold weather.

* The furthest right panel says: the 125th [Monthly] Self-Reliance Unification Peace Action
in front of the United States Embassy, Korea. The letter '자주 Jaju' means self-Reliance;
'통일 Tongil' means unification; '평화 Pyeonghwa' means peace; and '행동 Haengdong' means Action.

The first speech was done by Mr. You Yong-Jae, the chief of the USFK (United States Forces of Korea) Matters Team, SPARK, with the content opposing the drive for the Strategic Flexibility by the USFK, which was revealed in the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review that the United States has recently announced.

Mr. You said that “Obama who has visited the South Korea informed her that [the United States] would send part of the USFK to Afghanistan and it is being almost certain. That is illegal and should be stopped because it violates the Mutual Defense Treaty [in 1953] between the South Korea and United States. He also said that “Our country is freely providing the base to the USFK under the cause of the defense against the North Korea. However, if the USFK bases became the invasive war bases of the United States, there would be no reason to freely provide her the bases. It means there is no more cause for the USFK to stay [in South Korea].

Otherwise, he denounced the behavior of the [South Korean] government authorities saying that, “ In this situation, it is like giving all the liver and gall-bladder [to the United States] to guarantee even the rentals of the family houses of the United States soldiers.

Finally, he appealed to people that “The USFK strategic flexibility that threatens the peace in the Korean peninsula and the world should be immediately stopped. Let’s be powerfully mobilized for the struggle for the withdrawal of the USFK.”

‘We oppose the participation in MD that makes China as enemy’

The second speech was done, by Ms. Oh Hye-Ran, Chief of the Peace Disarmament Team of the SPARK, with the content of ‘ The Obama administration must stop the enforcement of the South Korea to join the Missile Defense system.’

Ms. Oh said that “Even though the South Korea has never expressed her official participation in the MD for the sake of the military domination by the United States, the reason that the United States is demanding the South Korea to join the MD is that she intends to make the South Korea to pay the required cost for the establishment of the missile [defense system].”

She also saying that “The hidden intention of the United States to tell [the South Korea] to join MD, despite the [predictable] conclusion of the peace agreement in front of her eyes, is to establish of the defense system targeting the North Korea & China, to maintain her dominance in the northeast Asia, to build strategy, to have the military confrontation system between the South & North Korea, and to establish the Missile Defense system, while the United States force who are to be expelled from the north east Asia, utilize us for [the MD system]”, strongly denounced the cunning trickery by the United States government and urged her to stop to enforce the South Korea to join the MD.

'Immediately open for the US-NK Summit meeting'

The third speech was done by Mr. Choi Bock-Yeol, [the External Cooperation] Director of the Pan-Korean Alliance for Reunification (PKAR), South Korean branch, with the content to stop the composition of the New Joint Operational Plan 5012 that is led by the United States and that would be strengthen of the offense against the North Korea.

Mr. Choi, saying, “The Operational Plan 5026, 5027- of which the contents are about the annihilation of the NK soldiers, elimination of the North Korean regime, military unification of Korea, and the pre-emptive strike against the North Korea- all clearly show the hostile policy of the United States against the North Korea that it would shape the [Korean] unification by absorbing the North Korea.

“ The New Joint Operational Plan 5012” newly composed in preparation for the returning-back of the operational control right is beefed up with more offensive contents against the North Korea and means the operational plan by the Asia Pacific Command, starting with ‘50’ is to be maintained as it is. Further, the Air Force operational control right that can be said the core of the modern warfare is intended to be operation-controlled by the Air force commander of the USFK, who would found the Combined Air Force Command (CAC) so that the returning back of the operational control right [to South Korea] is to be an empty nut” strongly denounced the both authorities of the South Korea and United States.

Finally he strongly urged [the United States government] saying that “ While the peace agreement is to be soon concluded, the United States saying she wants peace in front but setting-up operational plans which is offensive against the North Korea in the rear, is hoping the collapse of the North Korea regime. [The United States government should abolish the OP 5012 and fully return the OP right [to South Korea].


The forth speech was done by Mr. Kim Hwan-Young, Secretary of the Veterans for Peace, ROK, with the content of ‘Stop the Dispatch to Afghanistan”

Secretary Kim saying, “The dispatch to Afghanistan has no cause and would turn the Islam as our enemy”, told that “It is to make second Kim Sun-Il ( who were murdered in Iraq), and the 2nd kidnapping accident in 2007.

Saying, “The dispatch to Afghanistan is by enforcement of the United States in marsh due to the invasive war and to send our troops to such invasive war is the debasement and insult on our soldiers. Therefore, for a normal progress of our military and for the contribution to the peace in the Korean peninsula and the world, the dispatch has to be stopped”, he strongly scolded the South Korean government.

'Stop to make the OP 5012 aiming for the occupation of the North Korea!'

Text Fwd: U.S. reconfirms pledge to maintain current level of troops in Korea: Adm. Mullen

Yonhap News
2009/12/09 06:09 KST
U.S. reconfirms pledge to maintain current level of troops in Korea: Adm. Mullen
By Hwang Doo-hyong

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (Yonhap) -- The United States Tuesday reaffirmed its pledge to maintain the current level of its troops in South Korea, dispelling media speculation that some U.S. forces might redeploy to Afghanistan.

"We are very committed to 28,500 troops' presence in South Korea. That's strongly reaffirmed by President Obama, both publicly as well as his meetings with President Lee (Myung-bak)," said Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a news conference here.

Mullen's remarks came amid controversy over the remarks by Obama to American soldiers in Seoul last month. "The story of your service goes beyond this peninsula," Obama said. "Others among you served in Afghanistan. Others among you will deploy yet again."

Mullen himself said in October that discussions are under way about rotating U.S. troops in South Korea.

South Korean officials have said the remarks by Obama and Mullen should not be taken as a possible troop reduction in Korea, but rather a routine rotation of troops without reducing the number. They added they have never discussed a troop reduction with the U.S.

Mullen, however, said the Obama administration will follow up on the strategic flexibility posture drawn up by the Bush administration for rapid deployment of U.S. troops abroad to conflict regions.

"The idea of strategic flexibility is one we are addressing with the South Korean leadership," he said. "We think it is very important, part of a strategic concept for security both for the region and globally."

Faced with tough resistance from Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, Obama last week announced plans to send 30,000 more troops to the war-ravaged central Asian state early next year to bring the number of U.S. troops there to more than 100,000.

South Korea has said it will send a 140-strong Provincial Reconstruction Team to Afghanistan next year, accompanied by about 320 troops for their protection.

More than 30,000 multinational forces are already operating in Afghanistan in support of the U.S. effort against Al Qaida and Taliban insurgents. NATO says it will soon send another 7,000 troops.

South Korea withdrew more than 200 military medics and engineers from Afghanistan in 2007 after 23 South Korean Christian missionaries were held captive. Two of them were killed and the rest released after the Seoul government pledged to withdraw the troops by the end of that year.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan recently said that increased aid to Afghanistan by South Korea is linked to the stable deployment of 28,500 U.S. troops in the Korean Peninsula, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Text Fwd: Experts caution West Sea naval “clashes” could warrant international intervention

* Image source: same as below
'An anchor of Korea Central TV delivers a statement from the high command of North Korea
to ask the South Korean military to apologize for the clash that occurred
between North Korean and South Korean navies near the NLL, Nov. 10.'

Hankyoreh
Experts caution West Sea naval “clashes” could warrant international intervention:
They say the U.S. and China negatively view increasing tensions in the West Sea, and that it is time to reign in naval commanders.
Nov.13, 2009

An anchor of Korea Central TV delivers a statement from the high command of North Korea to ask the South Korean military to apologize for the clash that occurred between North Korean and South Korean navies near the NLL, Nov. 10.

Tuesday’s naval clash in the West Sea near Daecheong island did not escalate, but experts have warned that clashes in the waters near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) could at any time turn into an international conflict.

Experts explained that if a naval battle were to grow larger than expected, the U.S. military might feel compelled to intervene. Article 3 of the Mutual Defense Treaty signed by South Korea and the U.S. in 1953 reads, “Each party recognizes that an armed attack in the Pacific area upon either of the parties in territories now under their respective administrative control, or hereafter recognized by one of the parties as lawfully brought under the administrative control of the other, would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional processes.” There is no specific reference to “automatic intervention,” but experts say that an “act to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional processes” means U.S. military intervention.

It was due to these concerns that the Kim Dae-jung government defined the first and second West Sea naval clashes of 1999 and 2002 as “accidental armed clashes” rather than “battles.” A former high-ranking official who attended the meeting of security-related ministers during the 2002 clash said Thursday that if the government calls the clash an intentional North Korean provocation or a “battle,” the U.S. military could intervene and it could become an international conflict. The former official added that because the U.S. also does not wish to intervene it has agreed with our judgment that it was an “accidental clash.”

Experts criticize that, viewed in this context, it is possible to see just how dangerous measures taken since the start of the Lee Myung-bak administration to strengthen the free hand of commanders on the ground have become. The feeling on the ground is to respond as aggressively as possible to achieve “victory,” so giving a free hand to commanders opens the way to escalation. In a worst-case scenario, one cannot exclude a possible situation that would involve an accidental clash and growing battle, followed by U.S. military intervention.

Experts also point out that armed clashes in the West Sea are also intimately tied to Chinese interests. According to them, if an armed clash in the West Sea grows, traffic to and from major Chinese ports such as Shanghai and Tianjin could be paralyzed. Chinese imports of raw materials from Europe and the U.S. and exports of completed goods largely depend on maritime traffic. As a result, the Chinese government also reportedly put out feelers during this latest West Sea clash. Lee Hee-ok, a professor of Sungkyunkwan University and expert on China, said although the automatic military intervention article of the Sino-North Korea Treaty of Friendship is now almost a dead letter, China cannot help but negatively view increasing tensions in the West Sea.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

Posted on : Nov.13,2009 11:27 KST
© 2006 The Hankyoreh Media Company.


* Related articles:

Korea Times
11-13-2009
N. Korea Warns of Military Action Over Naval Clash

Yonhap News
2009/11/13 17:24 KST
(3rd LD) N. Korea threatens 'merciless' action to defend sea border with S. Korea


* Related blogs

http://nobasestorieskorea.blogspot.com/2009/11/text-fwd-n-korea-calls-naval-skirmish.html
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Text Fwd: N. Korea calls naval skirmish 'provocation' by South Korean military

http://nobasestorieskorea.blogspot.com/2009/10/what-they-dont-tell-you.html
Sunday, October 25, 2009
[국문 번역] WHAT THEY DON'T TELL YOU

http://nobasestorieskorea.blogspot.com/2009/09/text-fwd-us-braces-for-possible-nuke.html
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Text Fwd: 'US Braces for Possible Nuke War With NK'

http://nobasestorieskorea.blogspot.com/2009/07/koreans-declare-727-peace-ship-launch.html
Monday, July 27, 2009
Koreans Declare the “7.27 Peace Ship Launch in the Mouth of Han River” Movement into the New Conversion Movement

http://nobasestorieskorea.blogspot.com/2009/06/letter-fwd-letter-sent-to-presidents-of.html
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Letter Fwd: Letter Sent to the Presidents of the Republic of Korea and the United States on the Occasion of the Korean-US Summit Conference (2009.6.16)

http://nobasestorieskorea.blogspot.com/2009/05/text-fwd-peace-network-north-koreas.html
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Text Fwd:[Peace Network] North Korea’s Stronger Repulsion against the PSI…The West Sea is Dangerous

Letter Fwd: Letter Sent to the Presidents of the Republic of Korea and the United States on the Occasion of the Korean-US Summit Conference (2009.6.16

Solidarity for Peace And Reunification of Korea
June 16, 2009

The Korean-US summit conference will be opened in Washington DC on June 16. The agenda will include adopting an announcement about the "joint vision for the future ROK-US alliance", the North Korean nuclear problem, the question of a renewed dispatch of ROK troops to Afghanistan, etc. This summit conference, by means of reinforcing the aggressive ROK-US alliance, will increase the ROK's subordination to the US even more and make our nation's sacrifice and burden even heavier. Accordingly, below we clarify our position in opposition to this kind of ROK-US summit conference. Cancel the adoption of the "announcement of the joint vision for the future ROK-US alliance" which seeks to make permanent the aggressive ROK-US alliance! It has been arranged that at this summit conference between the two countries, they will adopt the announcement of the "joint vision for the future ROK-US alliance". This goes beyond the security of the ROK-US alliance; it extends into all spheres of life - politics, the economy, society, culture, everywhere; the essence of it is that it will be developed into a global alliance that is supposed to contribute to stability and peace, not only on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia, but throughout the entire world. The ROK and the US, as a way of justifying efficient cooperation in addressing global issues such as international terror, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, etc., are intensifying their mutual assistance in operations such as the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions or the Proliferation Security Initiative, and hastening the implementation of the ROK-US Free Trade Agreement. This is related to the forward expansion of the ROK-US alliance. The ROK and the US are enlarging the sphere of their alliance in all aspects. This expansion of the geographical scope to include the entire world is a violation of the ROK-US Mutual Defense Treaty, which limits US troops' sphere of operations to defense against aggression from North Korea. The enlargement of the ROK-US alliance into a global alliance means that the ROK government is perpetuating its subordinate position, blindly obeying the US's demand that the alliance's resources be mobilized and that the US's declining hegemony be maintained. As a result of this, our nation's people must offer land and bear the costs of providing the US with military bases and training areas, buy weapons made in the US, assist in wars of aggression, and bear the burden of all kinds of sacrifices and expenses because of that. The ROK and the US intend to convert the ROK-US alliance into a global and permanent alliance. Burwell Bell, while acting as the USFK commander, said that he hoped that the US troops would be stationed in Korea even after a Korean peninsula peace agreement is concluded, and last July, Timothy Keating, the US Pacific commander, explained that while the USFK are stationed here permanently, the US troops would participate in humanitarian aid or disaster relief operations and the like. This shows clearly that the US intends to continue the stationing of the USFK and the ROK-US alliance permanently. The "joint vision for the future ROK-US alliance", which aims to perpetuate the aggressive ROK-US alliance, goes against the trend of our time, which is to establish a structure of peace and security for the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia by means of the withdrawal of foreign military forces, the abolition of the military alliance, and achieving peace and disarmament. In particular, stipulating "extended deterrence" in the "joint vision for the future ROK-US alliance", runs counter to the 9.19 joint statement which declares the goal of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Accordingly, we are resolutely opposed to the adoption of the "announcement of the joint vision for the future ROK-US alliance", which endangers peace on the Korean peninsula and world peace, and imposes on us all kinds of sacrifices and burdens. This new alliance will certainly place obstacles in the way of the current trend toward stable peace. We demand categorically that it be abandoned. Stop the sanctions and pressure against North Korea and enter into dialogue with North Korea immediately! Although North Korea asserted its right as a sovereign nation to launch a satellite, the US led the UN Security Council to pass resolution no. 1874, which imposes an embargo on the import or export of weapons, authorizes the inspection of cargo, imposes economic sanctions, etc. The day immediately following this, the 13th, North Korea issued an official statement declaring that it would proceed with the weaponization of plutonium and enrichment of uranium, and would regard any blockade of the North as equivalent to an act of war. The Korean peninsula nuclear problem cannot be resolved by sanctions and confrontation. Not even the omnidirectional blockade policy followed by the US Bush administration, which pushed military unilateralism to an extreme, could make North Korea submit. More stringent sanctions imposed by the US would certainly provoke North Korea into taking stronger counter-measures. Such sanctions and pressure will not solve the problem. On the contrary, they will only make the situation worse. If the US sincerely desires to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, we demand that it abandon its hostile policy toward North Korea, which is the original cause of the North Korean nuclear problem. In addition, we urge the US to enter into negotiations with the North, to conclude a peace agreement that will simultaneously resolve the questions of the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and the US's hostile policy toward the North, and to establish amicable relations between North Korea and the US. We also urge the Lee Myeong Bak government, that took the lead in imposing sanctions against the North, to give up its confrontational attitude and start to create the conditions for the purpose of direct North Korean-US dialogue. Stop the redeployment of ROK troops that increases support for the occupation of Afghanistan and for aggressive war! Walter Sharp, the USFK commander, declared in connection with the ROK's support for the Afghanistan war that “the Republic of Korea is ... working very closely with our forces in Afghanistan, with NATO forces that are there in order to be able to determine what is the best contribution, whether its money, forces, or materials." This shows that with reference to Afghanistan, they are considering not only noncombatant support, such as expanding the scope of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT), but even the dispatch of ROK military forces. The ROK government's decision to send more troops to Afghanistan endangers the lives and the national sovereignty of the Afghan people. Furthermore, it violates the ROK Constitution, which disavows aggressive war (article 5, paragraph 1) and violates the ROK-US Mutual Defense Treaty (articles 2, 3), which authorizes operations only on the Korean peninsula, and is applicable only on occasion of the armed aggression from outside. Not only does this violate the ROK Constitution and the Mutual Defense Treaty; but it also breaks the ROK government's promise to the nation. After the tragic suicides of Sgt. Yoon Jang Ho and a member of the Saemmul Community Church, the ROK government promised that the ROK troops would be immediately evacuated from Afghanistan. We hereby strongly urge the Obama administration to cancel its demand for the redeployment of ROK military forces to Afghanistan, which constitutes a typical instance of the aggressive ROK-US alliance. We also urge the Lee Myeong Bak government not to give any further support to this war of aggression. 2009. 6. 16. Village People's Committee Against the Expansion of the Mugeonri Military Training Field; Support Committee for Prisoners of Conscience; Central Council for National Sovereignty and Reunification; Minkahyup Human Rights Group; Korean Council for Democratic Martyr; Korean Confederation of Trade Unions; Southern Headquarters of the Pan-Korean People's Alliance for Reunification; Korean Catholic Federation for Justice; Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea Participants of the 117th Joint Monthly Anti-US Rally → Click : [more] SPARK PHOTO → Click : [activities] South Korea US Proest - 2009.6.16