What Are The Prospects For War With North Korea

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter speaks with U.S. Army Col. James Minnich, Secretary of the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission, as he visits the Demilitarized Zone in the Republic of Korea, Nov. 1, 2015. Carter is visiting the Asia-Pacific region, where he will meet with leaders from more than a dozen nations to help advance the next phase of the U.S. military’s rebalance in the region by modernizing longtime alliances and building new partnerships. Photo by Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz

Gordon Chang, Cipher: Prospects for War

Twice last month, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea asked the United States of America to begin discussions on a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War. The problem, as Korea watcher Andrei Lankov has noted, is that Pyongyang does not want to include South Korea in the talks to end the war.

The Koreans know war, and they know tragedy. Last century, their country was colonized, annexed, and divided. Then, in June 1950, it became a battleground in a war that, despite an armistice, continues to this day.

South Korea did not sign the July 1953 armistice with North Korea and its ally China, and the peace today on the Korean peninsula is tenuous. In 2010, for instance, the North in two horrible incidents killed 50 South Koreans, two of them civilians. Beijing did not condemn Pyongyang for its murderous acts.

WNU Editor: I have never been optimistic on North Korea .... doubly so with the new Kim family member in power. South Korea's attempt at rapprochement with North Korean ally China is also not going to produce the results that South Korea President Park Geun-hye hopes for .... because China's influence on the North Korean regime itself is also limited. But absent anything else .... I guess this is the best strategy to pursue, and hope that eventually North Korea will change.