U.S. Increases Integration of Republic of Korea into U.S. War Machine

At the press conference at the conclusion of the meeting, Biden stated, among things, that "Our partnership is grounded in our ironclad commitment to shared security. Our alliance has long been the linchpin of peace, security, prosperity, and the region growing more prominent and us being together [...] I was grateful that our two nations were able to quickly conclude a new cost-sharing agreement for forces in Korea in March which will benefit both our peoples."

He spoke about a "shared approach to the Democratic People's Republic in Korea and continuing threat of the DPRK's nuclear and missile programs... our two nations also share a willingness to engage diplomatically with the DPRK to take pragmatic steps that will reduce tensions as we move toward our ultimate goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

Biden added, "The U.S.-ROK partnership also extends beyond the goals of the Peninsula. They address issues of regional and global concern through stronger cooperation with partners in the region, including the ASEAN, the Quad [the U.S., Japan, Australia and India], and trilateral cooperation with Japan."

President Moon for his part stated that "building on past agreements, including the Singapore joint statement, while taking a calibrated and practical approach to seeking diplomacy with north Korea is indeed a welcome direction of the Biden administration's north Korea policy. During the course of the review, our two countries closely coordinated with each other in lockstep, which I note with much appreciation [...] President Biden also expressed his support for the inter-Korean dialogue and cooperation. Under close cooperation with the U.S., we will work to facilitate progress in inter-Korean relations so as to achieve a virtuous cycle with U.S.-DPRK dialogue. When strong security is firmly in place, we can preserve and make peace. Two of us agreed to further reinforce our combined defence posture and reaffirmed our commitment to a conditions-based transition to wartime operational control."

Moon added: "It is also with pleasure that I deliver the news on the termination of the revised missile guidelines. The signing of ROK-U.S. Special Measures Agreement on burden sharing in the early days of the Biden administration displays for the world the robustness of our alliance as a symbolic and practical measure."

The "Special Measures Agreement" forces the people of the ROK to foot the increasing cost of maintaining 28,500 U.S. troops and their weapons in their country by 13 per cent to $1.3 billion U.S. this year and by 6.1 per cent annually for the next four years, an extremely unpopular agreement with the Korean people, many of whom want the U.S. military out of Korea. The "revised missile guidelines" refers to the lifting of an agreement imposed in 1979 in which the U.S. "restricted" the ROK's ability to develop ballistic missiles of more than the current 500 km range. The "revised guidelines" will allow the ROK to develop intermediate-range ballistic missiles with a range of 1,000-1,500 kilometres to reach targets outside the Korean Peninsula.

Picket outside the White House, February 15, 2021

These statements made by Biden and Moon are a blatant provocation against the Korean people, the peoples of East Asia and the world. These war plans will destabilize the fragile peace on the Korean Peninsula and are a direct act of aggression against the DPRK and China. Moon's servility at the White House reveals once again the level of U.S. domination of the ROK. More crucially, what Moon said is a violation of all the agreements to date between the two Koreas, including the June 15, 2000 North South Joint Declaration whose anniversary is this month. When Moon put his name to the historic Panmunjom Declaration on Peace, Prosperity and Reunification of the Korean Peninsula on April 27, 2018, he pledged that the ROK would work with the DPRK to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula. All that meant nothing at the White House.

To symbolize the U.S.-ROK military alliance, Moon awarded a Medal of Honour at the White House to 93-year-old U.S. Korean War veteran Colonel Ralph Puckett Jr., and then shamelessly announced, "...based on the ROK-U.S. alliance, rooted in the noble sacrifices of our heroes, our two nations will usher a new future together without a doubt."

On May 31, the DPRK denounced the U.S. for lifting the "revised missiles guidelines" as providing its "ally" the ROK with a "green light" to rapidly build up its ballistic missile arsenal for aggression and war with neighbouring counties. It made the observation, through international affairs expert Kim Myong Chol, that such a decision shows who is responsible for raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula and maintaining a double standard -- sanctioning the DPRK for its self-defence missile arsenal while enabling its "allies" to build up their missile arsenal with impunity. Kim astutely made the observation that this "concession" to the ROK is actually for purposes of the U.S. tightening its grip on south Korea. He added that the plan will backfire because the target of the DPRK is not the ROK army but the U.S. and underscored that the DPRK will boost its defence capability to meet this new threat. He warned the U.S. that "those who sow the wind will reap the whirlwind."

All peace- and justice-loving people in Canada and around the world must denounce this latest provocation by the U.S. and its "ally" the ROK against the Korean people. It poses grave dangers on the Korean Peninsula and world peace. It is the principled stand of the DPRK and firm defence of the Korean people's right to be that has maintained peace and an equilibrium on the Korean Peninsula. The aggressive U.S.-ROK alliance must be dismantled and the U.S. war mongers expelled by the efforts of the Korean people supported by all peace- and justice-loving humanity.

(With files from White House, Korean Central News Agency)

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This article was published in

Volume 51 Number 15 - June 15, 2021

Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2021/Articles/MS51152.HTM

Website:  www.cpcml.ca   Email:  editor@cpcml.ca