Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
2 Koreas bolster alliances with allies on armistice anniversary
President Yoon Suk Yeol applauds to a veteran who fought in the 1950-1953 Korean War during a ceremony to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the war's armistice in Busan, Thursday. Yonhap
By Nam Hyun-woo
'New Cold War' narrative heightens amid 70th anniv. of ceasefire
By Nam Hyun-woo
South and North Korea each commemorated the 70th anniversary of the Korean Armistice Agreement that halted the 1950-53 Korean War alongside their respective allies, symbolizing the growing narrative of a “new Cold War” between blocs in the Northeast Asian region.
Large-scale events marking the ceasefire took place in Seoul and Pyongyang.
In South Korea, delegates from 22 countries that sent troops to fight in the war participated in a commemoration ceremony in Busan, which served as the South's provisional capital during the war. They include New Zealand's Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and a number of government officials of countries.
During the event, a parade was held for 62 veterans who fought under the United Nations flag to honor their heroic service.
President Yoon Suk Yeol also attended the commemorative event, expressing his gratitude for the veterans and the importance of solidarity between countries that share universal values.
"As a responsible member of the international community, South Korea will unite with liberal democracies and work towards the freedom, peace and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific and the rest or the world, with the Seoul-Washington alliance serving as the linchpin of these efforts," Yoon said.
A day earlier, South Korea held a ceremony marking the return of the remains of seven soldiers killed during the war, and Yoon also attended the event to pay his respect to the deceased soldiers.
In the United States, President Joe Biden expressed Washington's strong commitment to its alliance with Seoul.
“It was a solemn reminder that our alliance was not born out of shared borders but shared beliefs ― including democracy, security and freedom,” Biden said in a proclamation on National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, Wednesday (local time), referring to Yoon and his visit to the Korean War Veterans Memorial in April.
“And they remain the source of our shared strength ― keeping the alliance between the Republic of Korea and the United States the linchpin of peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and, increasingly, around the world.”
Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the U.N. secretary-general, also said, Wednesday (local time), “We would like to see a resumption of the diplomatic dialogue as an effort to lower tensions on the Korean Peninsula and lead ultimately to the verifiable denuclearization of the peninsula.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, during their visit to a military exhibition in North Korea, Wednesday, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, Thursday. Yonhap
In Pyongyang, the North was preparing a massive military parade to celebrate the armistice, which it calls “Victory Day.” For this year's ceremony, North Korea invited delegations from China and Russia, which became the first time that the North invited overseas delegations since before the COVID-19 pandemic. It was also the first case of a foreign delegation attending a Victory Day ceremony in 10 years.
According to the North's state-run Korean Central Broadcasting Station, Thursday, China's party-government delegation led by Li Hongzhong, a Chinese Communist Party Politburo member, arrived in Pyongyang a day earlier, and its regime extended a “warm welcome” to them.
During a welcome banquet, Wednesday, Kim Sung-nam, director of the international department of the ruling Workers' Party of (North) Korea, expressed his “solemn respect” for fallen Chinese soldiers and veterans who defended the North during the war.
Li responded that China-North Korea relations should develop in a sound and stable manner, and Beijing intends to “make contributions” for the peace, stability and prosperity of the region.
From Russia, a delegation led by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday, despite Moscow's ongoing war against Ukraine. It was the first case of a Russian delegation participating in the North's Victory Day event.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency reported Thursday that its leader Kim Jong-un and Shoigu had a meeting and reached “a consensus” on “matters of mutual concern in the field of national defense and security and on the regional and international security environment.”
During their meeting, Kim gave a tour of North Korea's newest weapons including solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles and drones.
In a meeting between Shoigu and his North Korean counterpart Kang Sun-nam, the latter expressed the North's “full-fledged support on the fight of Russian people and its armed forces.”
“North Korea will celebrate the anniversary with its close allies: China and Russia,” said Anthony Ruggiero, a senior fellow at Washington-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
“The military parade will demonstrate how the Kim family regime uses scarce resources to continue its prohibited nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs instead of feeding the North Korean people.”
The two Koreas' contrasting approaches display the emerging “new Cold War” narrative in Northeast Asia, in which South Korea, the U.S. and Japan strengthening their coupling to counterbalance a bloc of North Korea, China and Russia.
Since the inauguration of the Yoon administration last year, South Korea has been striving to deter the North's nuclear and missile threats under the slogan of “peace through power.” In doing so, Seoul is not only strengthening the security cooperation with the U.S. and Japan but also with America's European allies.
On July 18, Seoul and Washington held their inaugural meeting of the Nuclear Consultative Group, a war-planning apparatus involving U.S. nuclear assets, and a U.S. nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine made port in the South's Busan, marking the first such visit in 42 years.
Along with this move, the three countries have been conducting a series of joint military naval exercises. In response, China and Russia also held a joint air and naval exercise called “orthern/Interaction-2023 in the East Sea, in an apparent display of their solidarity.