Shim Soo Bin
A few days ago, on December 19th, massive military drills aiming to fully prepare the South Korean army in cases of national emergency were carried out in Yeonpyeong Island amid North Korea's threat to retaliate , heightening the already-existing tension between the two countries.A South Korean Marine Corps unit fired off K-9 self-propelled guns, 105-millimeter howitzers, Vulcan cannons and 81-millimeter mortars into the southwestern sea off Yeonpyeong Island. The Air Force had F-15L fighter jets at the ready while the Navy deployed an Aegis-class destroyer to deter a potential North Korean provocation.
On the day of the drill, as a result, the remaining 116 residents of Yeonpyeong (some decided to stay in Incheon) were ordered to evacuate into bomb shelters hours in advance of the drill and were allowed to leave only after the government deemed the situation safe enough, which became two hours after all the militrary drills have ended.
Despite the security threats that the island is facing, its residents are making efforts to remain calm and continue on with their daily lives. One restaurant owner said “I heard about the upcoming drill but I returned to the island to maintain my freezers and fix water pipes frozen due to the cold waves,” adding, “Though I’m worried, I won’t return to Incheon.” Other residents have also decided to stay in Yeonpyeong for similar reasons, hoping that they could continue on with their ways of living.
In the meanwhile, the North Korean government has responded to the drills by dismissing the drills as a "childish play of fire", as quoted from a communique from the North's Korean People's Army Supreme Command. The official news network of North Korea, the KNCA news agency said "The revolutionary arnmed forces of the DPRK did not feel any need to retaliate against every despicable military provocation.", putting emphasis on the assertion that the drills were not worthy enough to invoke military reactions.
The real reason behind this line of action is not certain, raising concerns that additional attacks may be carried out in the near future. It would be reasonable enough to say, nevertheless, that the Korean peninsula is letting out a small sigh of relief on the very fact that direct military conflict has not risen as a result of the artillery drills.
Getting into war is really the most stupid idea for both north and south. North have been ignored by western power for a long time and they will do anything to grab their attention. Nuclear program and military conflict is the best example. US as the biggest power trying to play around the issue in the political level as a bargain chip trying to stand firm on ASIA ground. I understand in political level South Korea have to response to US instruction and I believe so, will only bring the conflict to the worst area... Imagine there is some punks messing around right in front of your house, how do you react? Who to decide the line to be drawn is under who territory? You all are united long before the war... Both side North and South is just acting in the way to benefit themselves, but the real winner behind if the war started will be US, and the whole world will be the loser...
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree. NO South Korean citizen would want to see a war erupt again!!:(
ReplyDeleteIt seems inevitable, however, for the South Korean government to continue its ally with the United States...
North Korea has been posing significant security threats to South Korea, enlargening its army at the cost of its citizens lives.. regardless of how poor its people may be, the North Korean government's only concern is "the maintenance of power through the military."
The extent of the North Korean threat can be seen in the Yeonpyeongdo attack and the March sinking of a South Korean warship in 2010.. The two attacks have shown that North Korea IS still a legitimate threat to national security.
The past governments (from about the early 2000s) have made efforts called "sunshine policy" to improve relationships with the North... but after the two attacks, security became the main issue.
If a war erupts, yes, probably the United States will be the only winner- and it may be a starting point of even MORE interference by the United States on Asia. :(( But it seems like the government is putting self-defense as the first priority.
And my personal opinion is that without US interference a war may IMMEDIATELY errupt- with no superpower to block the North Korean army from pushing down its army to Seoul. It's like a band-aid solution(a temporary method of maintaining peace) until the situation in which both Koreas can reunify peacefully can be made like in the case of Germany. :(
So I think that though it's not the perfect solution, it's a reasonable way to prevent another war from errupting.. what do you think?