Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Pundits Call for Fresh N.Korea Strategy


Whether fresh or not, I would just like to see a strategy. Just as a reminder these are the priorities for Korea in the 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance:
Furthermore, we will maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula by effectively working with
allies and other regional states to deter and defend against provocation from North Korea,
which is actively pursuing a nuclear weapons program

There is a lot more to deter and defend against than just provocation and the north's active pursuit of a nuclear weapons program.  And we should recall the 2009 Joint Vision Statement of the Presidents of Korea and the US.  While I often quote the first sentence as the strategic end state toward which policies and a strategy would work, the sentence that follows it is what everyone focuses on, namely the nuclear and ballistic missile programs and to a lesser extent human rights.  

Through our Alliance we aim to build a better future for all people on the Korean Peninsula, establishing a durable peace on the Peninsula and leading to peaceful reunification on the principles of free democracy and a market economy. We will work together to achieve the complete and verifiable elimination of North Korea's nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs, as well as ballistic missile programs, and to promote respect for the fundamental human rights of the North Korean people.
Perhaps now we can realize that our policies and actions that focus almost exclusively on the north's nuclear program have not and will not work.  We need to understand that the north's nuclear program is only a "symptom" of the larger problem: i.e.,  all problems stem from the nature of the Kim Family Regime.  As counterintuitive as it may be perhaps this 3d nuclear test is the wake-up call that will provoke the ROK/US Alliance strategists to develop a long term comprehensive strategy to deal with north Korea and its Kim Family Regime.
V/R
Dave

Pundits Call for Fresh N.Korea Strategy

Pundits were aflutter Tuesday when North Korea pushed ahead with its third nuclear test on Tuesday despite strong warnings from the international community. The North is now rapidly on its way to becoming a nuclear-armed country, they noted, oblivious to even to strictures from China, on which it relies for energy and food.

Some pundits believe the latest test has changed the entire game plan for South Korea and its allies. "North Korea conducted a nuclear test just two months after it launched a long-range rocket capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, demonstrating its capacity of firing an intercontinental ballistic missile," said Choi Kang at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security. "We need to acknowledge that we can no longer control North Korean aggression with existing strategies and must come up with more realistic measures."

North Korea's nukes would be outside the control of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty just like India's and Pakistan's. "By conducting its latest nuclear test, North Korea has made it clear that it intends to overcome any obstacle to becoming a nuclear power," said Shin Beom-chul at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.
(Continued at the link below)

No comments:

Post a Comment

Giving Tuesday Recommendations

  Dear Friends,  I do not normally do this (except I did this last year and for the last few years now, too) and I certainly do not mean to ...