Posted on 08/18/2018 1:36:48 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Two Koreas seem to be ignoring international political squabbling and continuing with a “psychological” reunification.
I have been watching events on the Korean Peninsula since the conclusion of the Singapore Summit between President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, trying to determine what the eventual outcome of that meeting would be.
I have come to the conclusion that the two Koreas are like the children in a messy divorce, and are tired of being pawns in a larger political drama between the two “parents”. In part, that assessment comes from statements from South Korean officials that they want the U.S. and China to declare a formal end to the Korean War.
South Korea wants a formal and official declaration to end the 1950-1953 Korean War with the United States, China and North Korea at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly in New York, next month. Seoul communicated this ambitious plan to Washington via diplomatic channels, a senior government official said Tuesday.
“South Korea unofficially sent a message to the United States over an agreement to end the war with North Korea and China. While Washington is reluctant to embrace a formal declaration, it will be ready to do so if Pyongyang presents a roadmap toward denuclearization,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
While one should be wary of anonymous sources, there are other reports that confirm the two Koreas resent the continuation of political game playing. For example, the Koreas have teamed up under the Unification Flag for the Asian games, much to the delight of thousands of spectators.
Thousands of spectators cheered wildly as athletes from the rival Koreas paraded side-by-side behind a “unification” flag in a spectacular opening ceremony for the Asian Games.
The two countries, still technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, have fielded 60 athletes in combined teams along with larger contingents for their respective national squads. North and South Korean athletes are competing together in several sports including women’s basketball and rowing.
Meanwhile, North Korea appears to be continuing its work dismantling the Sohae Satellite Launching Station.
At the vertical engine test stand, used for testing and development of engines for ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles, the North Koreans have continued to tear down the steel base structure and appear to be removing fuel and oxidizer tanks from dismantled bunkers.
At the launch pad, work on the rail-mounted processing/transfer structure used to support rocket launches continues, with two-thirds of the west wall and a third of the north wall having been removed, and its components remain on the adjacent ground.
Interestingly, North Korean state media are now blaming Trump’s political opponents for the “deadlock” over denuclearization, urging the US him to act boldly to resolve this issue.
On Saturday Rodong Sinmun, the North’s most prominent daily, praised Trump for seeking to improve US-North Korea ties and achieve world peace, which it said would be the “feat of the century”.
“However, he faces too many opponents,” it said in a signed commentary.
The newspaper said Democrats and even some Republicans are hampering Trump’s efforts for their own partisan interests while media hostile to Trump are undermining his policies.
It accused bureaucrats and Trump’s aides of “speaking and moving in contradiction to the president’s will” and “distorting facts and covering up his eyes and ears in order to mislead him to a wrong decision”.
In terms of the Chinese component to this family-dynamic analogy, it is now being reported that China’s President Xi Jinping is set to visit Pyongyang next month at the invitation of North Korea leader Kim Jong. Perhaps Xi will be enjoying the enhanced tourist accommodations, which have been the recent focus of Kim’s public promotion efforts.
With his wife Ri Sol-ju, Kim inspected the Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist district in Gangwon Province under construction and encouraged workers there, saying it would be “a very nice gift” for the people of North Korea once completed.
…The fact that Kim visited the site only three months ago shows how much he cares about the project, observers say.
At this point in time, it appears that the two Koreas are ignoring the political squabbling between China and the United States to the best of their mutual abilities and are gearing themselves up for at least a “psychological” reunification if not an actual one.
Based on the current data set, I project the end of the Korean War is likely to be formally declared in the early fall of 2020.
Why don’t we just pull out. That would end it.
This writer is are like the bikers who biked for peace. An end of the war in the ‘fall 2020?’ A big election afterwards. Coincidence?
Funny. Of course it was South Korea’s president Ree that refused to sign the armistice in 1953 between China and the US, unless the US agreed to mutual defense in perpetuity.
So you’d like it if one of the major economies, a strong ally (they fought with us in Vietnam) and strong democracies of the world is swallowed up by it’s communist neighbor and enslaved?
Korea Ping.
One thing this would end is the ability to join the Veterans of Foreign Wars by virtue of have done a tour in South Korea. I’ve always thought this was a farce, considering that it’s no different than being in Japan or at bases in other friendly foreign countries. I would be too embarrassed to join the VFW if a tour in South Korea was my only way in. Do an accompanied tour, bring the wife and kids, enjoy traveling the countryside and join the VFW. Come on. The American Legion never went this route.
Thank you. This should have been part of any denuclearisation talks.
Bring them all home.
Not for nothing, but Stalin & the defunct Soviet Union instigated the Korean War. The US entered with the UN & only later did China enter. Declaring an end to the war without the consent of the agressor, North Korea is fantasy land stuff.
Yeah, they kinda did. I could join the Legion just from being in during Lebanon and Grenada and someone who repaired mess kits at Dugway Proving Ground could join if they served after a certain date in 1990 to now. Go look.
Absolutely. Let’s bring our boys home.
Isn’t going to happen unless and until crazy fat little rocket boy VERIFIABLEY gives up and destroys of ALL of his nukes, launchers, research labs, weapons test sites and launch facilities and stops targeting Seoul with thousands of missiles.
American Legion requirements are different. You just need to serve during a time of war. I qualified to join the Legion because I enlisted during Vietnam, even though I never served in country. The VFW is different. Those that went to Vietnam were eligible, but those that didn't, like myself, were not eligible to join. I became eligible for VFW membership once I actually went to an active war zone where we never left the base except on a mission, where the enemy fired rockets at our base, where our aircraft came back with bullet holes in them and where we stood in way too many fallen comrade salutes.
Korea is still a war until a peace treaty is signed and they fired at us when I was on the DMZ. And no, I didn’t have my wife and kids with me, since I didn’t have any and you had to be something of a big shot back then to have an accompanied tour.
I’m all for it.
I've been on missions to South Korea and it's no different than going to any other foreign country with an American base. We were able to leave the base and move about freely, without any worry. If we wanted to have a drink, no problem. The VFW used a technicality (the armistice and no formal agreement) to bolster its ranks.
Yes, now. Not when I was there.
Well, VFW membership is still open to those who currently serve in South Korea. Why?
“Well, VFW membership is still open to those who currently serve in South Korea. Why?”
Call them and ask for yourself.
L
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