Now, the US President is meeting with the leader of North Korea in Singapore...as such, it maybe timely to look at history and understand better the origins of the Korean problems...
The problem starts at the end of World War II, when the US and Russia decided to divide the Korean Peninsular along the 38 parallel
On August 10, 1945, the US government decided to propose the 38th parallel as the dividing line between a Soviet occupation zone in the north and a US occupation zone in the south. The parallel was chosen as it would place the capital Seoul under American control.[9] The division placed sixteen million Koreans in the American zone and nine million in the Soviet zone. - Wikipedia
Prior to that Korea was colonized by Japan since about 1910...
Beacuse of the post World War II US-Russia arrangement, Korea ended up with 2 systems of government...the north influenced by Russia and the south by the US...
SEE earlier post, which discusses this in greater detail...
North Korea - South Korea - Time to re-assess UN and other nation state responses?
In any way, there has always been a desire for unification...
In anyway, like in Vietnam, North Korea ...
By mid-July 1950 North Korean troops had overwhelmed the South Korean and allied American units and forced them back to a defensive line in south-east South Korea known as the Pusan Perimeter....
Then, strangely, the United Nations got involved ...and entered thw war, that ended up in the destruction of the more developed North Korea...
In September, UN forces landed at Inchon and retook Seoul. Under the leadership of US General Douglas Macarthur, UN forces pushed north, reaching the Chinese border...
Then the Chinese got involved and ...
In late November, Chinese forces entered the war and pushed the UN forces back, retaking Pyongyang in December 1950 and Seoul in January 1951.
But what happened to CHINA and RUSSIA who could have VETOED the UN decision...
Well, was TAIWAN then that was the country with the VETO power...not CHINA...only after 1970
China's seat was originally held by the Nationalist government of the Republic of China. However, it lost the Chinese Civil War and retreated to the island of Taiwan in 1949. The Communist Party won control of mainland China and established the People's Republic of China. In 1971, UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 recognized the Government of People's Republic of China as the legal representative of China in the UN, and gave it the seat on the Security Council that had been held by the Republic of China, which was expelled from the UN altogether.- Wikipedia
In 1950 the Soviet Union missed one important opportunity to exercise its veto power. The Soviet government had adopted an "empty chair" policy at the Security Council from January 1950, owing to its discontent over the UN's refusal to recognize the People's Republic of China's representatives as the legitimate representatives of China,[10] and with the hope of preventing any future decisions by the Council on substantive matters. ... The result of the Soviet Union's absence from the Security Council was that it was not in a position to veto the UN Security Council resolutions 83 (27 June 1950) and 84 (7 July 1950) authorising the US-led military coalition in Korea which assisted South Korea in repelling the North Korean attack.[11] - Wikipedia
The war ends with the signing of an Armitice Agreement - but South Korea was NOT part of this Agreement...INTERESTING?
.The Korean Armistice Agreement was signed on July 27, 1953. A ceasefire followed, but there was no peace treaty, and hostilities continued at a lower intensity.[50] - Wikipedia
The Korean Armistice Agreement (Korean: 한국휴전협정) is the armistice which brought about a complete cessation of hostilities of the Korean War. It was signed by U.S. Army Lieutenant General William Harrison, Jr. representing the United Nations Command (UNC), North Korean General Nam Il representing the Korean People's Army (KPA), and the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA).[1] The Armistice was signed on July 27, 1953, and was designed to "ensure a complete cessation of hostilities and of all acts of armed force in Korea until a final peaceful settlement is achieved."[2]
It looks like it is the US (and maybe friends) that is anti-North Korea, and maybe even against any resolution in the Korean Peninsular.
Considering the location of Korea, with regard to Russia, China and even Japan, it is of 'military strategic importance' to the US... so will this 'interest' be the reason why peace or even re-unification is impossible?
Historically, the US has exhibited animosity to nations that are not 'loyal' or 'subservient' to US and US interest... Latin American Nations, Cuba, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Palestine, North Korea, ...is it at the end of the day really about 'injustice' and human rights violation...
The media has been painting a particular picture about North Korea - but maybe, it is time for us to take another look...
Whilst the US is pushing for the de-nuclearisation of North Korea, Iran....it seems to be doing little about denuclearisation of the US - What happened to the agreement to get rid of nuclear weapons?
As I mentioned, for a longer read, read my earlier Blog Post...
North Korea - South Korea - Time to re-assess UN and other nation state responses?
Malaysia, under Najib and UMNO-BN, recently 'surrendered' to this US pressure - especially with regard diplomatic relations and trade with North Korea... The weakness demonstrated would not have likely happened when Mahathir was PM ...and now Mahathir is PM again...what will Malaysia do?
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