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Category: Korean War II

October 11, 2014

Silencing Park Sang-Hak won’t end North Korea’s threats (updated)

For the first time since 2010, North Korea has fired across the border into South Korean territory, this time with 14.5-millimeter anti-aircraft guns. The North Koreans were shooting at the second of two launches of balloons carrying a total of 1.5 million leaflets, by North Korean refugee Park Sang-Hak and the Fighters for a Free North Korea. The North Koreans didn’t respond to the first launch of 10 balloons at noon, but at around 4:00 in the afternoon, they fired...
Categories Activism/Censorship/Korean War II/North-South/Terrorism (NK)
March 18, 2013

You’re gonna need a bigger boat.

So the news today is that North Korea–which President Bush removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism on October 11, 2008 for agreeing to give up its nuclear weapons programs–has warned the civilian populations of Baengnyeong-do, Yeonpyeong-do, and other islands in the Yellow Sea to evacuate now. The instrument this time is the quasi-official Uriminzokkiri, which is hosted in China, a nation that embraces the sacred principle that all speech, no matter how threatening or objectionable, has a...
Categories Kim Jong Un/Korean War II/Terrorism (NK)/Unfortunate photo ops
March 6, 2013

N. Korea threatens to re-renounce Armistice; cancer threatens to re-kill Chavez

As one of the few Americans who can claim the “privilege” of a direct line of communication with North Korea, I offer two friendly reminders to my growing readership in Pyongyang: First, you can’t renounce something you’ve already renounced, and never really complied with anyway.  Second, South Korea never actually did sign that Armistice, and they aren’t sounding particularly stuck on it these days.
Categories Korean War II
January 3, 2012

Consistency or worse

The death of Kim Jong Il, while a joyous occasion on a metaphysical level, has generated little enthusiasm to curb (though I can’t fail to mention that Ban Ki Moon saw fit to lower the U.N. flag to half-staff for a mass murderer who flagrantly defied so many U.N. resolutions). Recognizing that it’s still a bit early to say, all signs point to a dreary consistency, or worse, in North Korea’s policies toward Earth and its various political subdivisions.  Whoever...
Categories Korean War II/Kremlinology
January 17, 2011

U.S. Increases Diplomatic Pressure on China, North Korea

Last week’s rumors that the Obama Administration was pressuring South Korea to talk to the North left many of us confused, wondering to what extent the rumors were true, and wondering if this augured a weakening of the administration’s policy (third item). The following days, however, saw leading members of the administration threatening a direct use of force against North Korea, suggesting that U.S.-Chinese relations are at a critical stage because of its failure to restrain North Korea, and reaffirming...
Categories Korean War II
December 28, 2010

Rumors Hint at Policy Shifts in U.S. and South Korea

From Engagement to Reunification? So says the Chosun Ilbo, in describing what would be a major policy shift for South Korea. From 2008 until now, the policy would best be described as reluctant engagement, which brought out North Korea’s violent and extortionate streak. Now, according to unnamed sources in the Unification Ministry, the administration seems to be looking for ways to prepare for and even accelerate reunification: The government is shifting the emphasis of North Korea policy from exchanges and...
Categories Korean War II/North-South/Sunshine/Washington Views
December 22, 2010

South Korea Launches More Feel-Good Exercises

Here we go again! South Korea moved hundreds of troops, fighter jets, tanks and attack helicopters near the heavily armed border with the North in preparation for massive new military drills as tensions continue to simmer following last month’s North Korean artillery attack that left four dead. “We will completely punish the enemy if it provokes us again like the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island,” said Brig. Gen. Ju Eun-sik, chief of the army’s 1st armored brigade, according to The Associated...
Categories Korean War II
December 19, 2010

The Richardson Effect

After a weather-related delay, South Korea says it is determined to continue with live-fire exercises in the Yellow Sea islands. “The planned firing drill is part of the usual exercises conducted by our troops based on Yeonpyeong Island. The drill can be justifiable, as it will occur within our territorial waters,” said the JCS official. “We won’t take into consideration North Korean threats and diplomatic situations before holding the live-fire drill. If weather permits, it will be held as scheduled.”...
Categories Korean War II/Yeonpyeong Attack
December 18, 2010

Keep Calm and Carry On

OK, I know those of you in South Korea are probably feeling a bit edgy for now, amid all of the drills, exercises, and North Koreans threats, which I’m sure our State Department would say are absolutely, positively not terrorism in any way, shape, or form. Still, I doubt that things will be quite this bad in Seoul by Monday: I don’t think we’ve seen the end of North Korea’s escalation, and I also think Christmas is a fairly likely...
Categories Korean War II
December 12, 2010

I wonder if China is pleased with Japan’s new plans to expand defense spending, deploy more PAC-3 Patriot missile batteries, build more submarines to patrol disputed waters, and arm more Aegis cruisers with Standard-3 missiles. Again, there is even talk of acquiring nuclear weapons. China has only its own reckless backing of North Korea to blame for this. Me, I’d be happier if we sold the same types of gear to Taiwan, which as I take delight in repeating, happens...
Categories China & Korea/Japan/Korean War II/Regime Change/Washington Views
December 10, 2010

China’s Very Bad Week

I’ll begin this post by offering my congratulations to Liu Xiabao, and extending my hope that he’ll soon collect his Nobel Peace Prize in person. In recent years, Nobel Committee has tarnished the prize with some poor choices, and it may be that a man of Liu’s courage and character lends the Nobel more credibility than the other way around. Even President Obama had to concede that Liu deserved the prize far more than he ever did. The last regime...
Categories China & Korea/Korean War II/Yeonpyeong Attack
December 8, 2010

If You Must Bomb, Bomb Their Palaces

Now that Victor Cha has written that another Korean War is a very real possibility, that risk has become a matter of accepted conventional wisdom. Some in South Korea seem to be waiting for an excuse to restore deterrence through bombing. This is probably a mix of bluff and bluster, but there’s no arguing with South Korea’s right to self-defense and its need to restore deterrence. A lot of unthinkable things have already happened this year, and I certainly hope...
Categories Korean War II/NK Military/North-South/ROK Military