War still not over between two Koreas
.jpg?w=728)
Soldiers of the 28th division receive ammunition before patrolling the southern border of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. The two Koreas remain technically at war because the three-year battle (1950-53) ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Today marks the 60th anniversary of the armistice agreement. / Yonhap
By Kim Tae-gyu
The Korean War (1950-53) ended on July 27, 1953. However, six decades on, the continuing tension between the two Koreas remains the final glacier of the Cold War.
The three-year fratricidal conflict, concluded by an armistice was never permanently resolved in a peace treaty.
“At a time when a peace treaty is not likely to be agreed in the near future, a truce is very significant as the only reliable deterrent to any further conflict,” said analyst for the Korea Research Institute for Strategy, Moon Seong-mook.
“Before peace can take a firm root on the Korean Peninsula, the truce should be strictly complied with.”
Yet, even the armistice has not always been adhered to over the past six decades. In particular, the South contends that the North has violated various regulations of the five-clause agreement.
According to the U.S.-led United Nations Command, North Korea breached the armistice a total of 425,271 times since it became effective in 1953 through the end of April, 1994.
Since then, there is no data available on this because the command stopped compiling the numerous incidents of foul play by the North but things have obviously turned worse as demonstrated by a host of major skirmishes of late, especially in the West Sea.
The navies of the two Koreas exchanged fire three times in the West Sea due to a continuing dispute over a maritime border, the Northern Limit Line (NLL), which the North has never officially recognized.
Two naval battles took place off the border island of Yeonpyeong in 1999 and 2002 to resulting in casualties on both sides although North Korea suffered far worse damage.
In 2009, the waters off Daecheong Island, just next to Yeonpyeong became a war zone where the South overwhelmed its Northern rival — the latter’s fire-gutted patrol boat was left partially destroyed while the former suffered only superficial damage.
Yet, South Korea experienced great struggles the following year. In late March, one of its frigates, the Cheonan, was sunk in an unprovoked torpedo attack in the West Sea. A multinational investigation team concluded it came from a vessel belonging to the North, which denied any involvement in the tragedy that claimed 46 sailors.
Eight months later, Pyongyang shelled Yeonpyeong Island, killing four people including two civilians. This reminded that the two Koreas are still at war.
In the new millennium, tensions run high not only along the maritime demarcation line but also in an arms race because Pyongyang has developed nuclear missiles along with its conventional weapons.
Despite its lingering economic difficulties, the communist country carried out nuclear tests three times in 2006, 2009 and 2013.
The third test in February this year resulted in stringent U.N. sanctions against North Korea, which responded with warlike rhetoric and further threats against South Korea and the U.S. It even disregarded the armistice.
The eventual solution to the divided states may be reunification. However, experts point out that there are so many stumbling blocks before this goal can be achieved due to the two vastly different political and economic systems.
They say that a realistic target would be to stabilize a peaceful regime in which the two Koreas scrap their hostile stances against each other.
To that end, some propose that the current truce should be replaced with a comprehensive peace treaty.
“In order to stop all confrontations and occasional skirmishes as well as the resultant casualties, we need to seek after a peace treaty,” said Chang Yong-seok at the Institute of Peace and Reunification Studies affiliated with Seoul National University.
“There would be some obstacles to attaining this target. But the two Koreas are required to put forth efforts.”
A transition of the wartime operational control (OPCON) from Washington to Seoul is expected to help generate an atmosphere in which trust can develop between Seoul and Pyongyang — which continues to express anger against U.S.-led operations.
The transfer is scheduled to happen in December, 2015 but the South asked the U.S. to delay it once again, citing the rising North Korean threats after its third atomic test early this year.
The OPCON was taken over by the U.S. just after the Korean War broke out and peacetime control by Seoul was reestablished in 1994. Seoul was poised to retake wartime OPCON in 2012 but this was postponed to 2015 and now the South wants another deferment.
“If the South refuses to leave the arms of the U.S., reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula will remain a long shot,” said Cheong Wook-sik, the representative of the private Peace Network.
“For a peace treaty, South Korea should be able to spearhead such an agreement to stop the arms races and reduce military powers. With the wartime OPCON in the hands of the U.S., we cannot do that.”
Cheong asked why Seoul does not want to terminate the U.S. rights to control our own armed forces in the event of war at a time when its firepower overwhelms that of Pyongyang.
“Our defense budget is 2.5 times North Korea’s gross domestic product (GDP). How much more should we spend to claim an upper hand?” Cheong asked.
“Proponents for a delay of the OPCON transition are those who do not want any improvement in the inter-Korean relationship, while preferring the status quo.”
Family reunion
The families and offspring of millions of casualties, both soldiers and civilians, are victims of the war that involved not only the two Koreas but also U.N. troops and China.
And there are more sufferers, whose lives are still affected by the war — the number of separated families is estimated at 10 million, almost a third of the total population of the Korean Peninsula in the early 1950s.
Most of them have died but there are still many senior citizens who badly wish to meet their flesh and blood on the other side of the 38th Parallel before they die.
Some of them have had chances to do so through reunions of separated families, which started in 2000 when the South was led by liberal President Kim Dae-jung.
Under the stewardship of Kim, who created the Sunshine Policy of engaging Pyongyang, and that of his political successor Roh Moo-hyun, a total of 15 rounds of family reunions took place from 2000 through 2007.
Additional to face-to-face meetings, both sides adopted a new style of reunion via video in 2005 and 2006.
By contrast, only two rounds of reunions happened after the inauguration of conservative former President Lee Myung-bak — and during his five-year stint, the inter-Korean relationship hit rock bottom.
Incumbent President Park Geun-hye promised more proactive efforts to restore rapport between the two long-time adversaries and it remains to be seen whether this will occur.
However, experts say that time is running out to prove the effectiveness of Park’s North Korea policy in terms of family reunions because members of most of the separated families are dead.