Ignore the Headlines. Korean Peninsula Has Been in a “State of War” for More Than 60 Years

[DonViejo]

By Daniel Politi | Posted Saturday, March 30, 2013, at 12:31 PM

North Korea once again managed to garner the world’s attention Saturday by declaring that the Korean Peninsula had entered “a state of war.” Pyongyang also threatened to shut down a joint factory it runs with South Korea, the last significant effort at cooperation between the neighboring countries. And while media outlets across the world highlight that declaration, the truth is Pyongyang didn’t say anything that hasn’t been true for more than 60 years. The armistice that ended three years of fighting in 1953 wasn’t a formal peace treaty, meaning the Korean peninsula has technically been at war since 1950. So, what’s the point? The Wall Street Journal’s Alastair Gale with some much-needed context:

North Korea has long called for a formal peace treaty to replace the armistice in order to guarantee its own security, but it has been unwilling to give up its nuclear program in order to move that process forward.

Instead, it has tried to move things along by taking another approach: brinkmanship. That gameplan involves creating a major crisis—or the impression of it—in order to try and generate enough alarm for South Korea, the U.S. and others to come scrambling to the table with a peace treaty in hand.

The way to do that, the thinking goes, is to kick away the apparent barriers to full-blown conflict and display a readiness to fight.

The declaration of “a state of war” really doesn’t add anything to the already existing dynamic, particularly because South Korea said it hasn’t detected any unusual military movements in the North. And traffic across the border operated normally Saturday.

more
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/03/30/north_korea_declares_state_of_war_in_korean_peninsula.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content

[bhikkhu]

1. Good to hear

I don't watch television news, so I only get the daily-panic-story indirectly. I gather the new guy has said some inflammatory things, but if there's nothing going on on the ground, then its just bluster.

Maybe the new guy is just more full of hot air and inexperience than the norm. Not good news, and I wish things were moving in the other direction, but patience is better than war if that's what it takes.

[dballance]

2. Good Points. Armistice isn't A Declaration of the End of War...

The armistice with N. Korea is merely an agreement to cease fire and overt hostilities. It in no way ended the technical definition of the war. So N. Korea and S. Korea have been at war for many, many years.

The racheting up of the rhetoric by the young, unproven Kim Jong Un is likely just that - rhetoric. He has to present himself as the leader of his country and to do so means pandering to the military commanders of his "million man" army. It would not be advantageous for him to have about a thousand or so men of his military's senior commanders surround his palace. They could easily command a coup and put in place their own military dictator.

[freshwest]

3. Quite true, but incomprehensible to some.

Personally, I wish it was resolved. Peacefully, of course.