THE KOREAN

TRAGEDY (CASE
STUDY)
By: Karhtik Mohanty

In the current geopolitical scenario, one country has emerged to be a rising threat
to the entire world because of its radical measures and direct threats to the other
powerful nations. North Korea has been involved in constant scuffles with other
countries due to its radical improvements in nuclear weapons along with its
disregard for the objectives laid out by the International Community. To
understand the depth of this crisis, we must monitor and analyze its various
causes throughout this country’s whole history, including its relations with South
Korea, and North Korea’s International relations and conflicts with its rival states.
Before World War II, there was an undivided unified Korea. After the Russo-
Japanese War from 1904-1905, Japan won and took over Korea and formally
annexed it in 1910. The Korean peninsula suffered under Japanese dominance
when the latter waged an all-out war against Korean culture and traditions.
Schools and colleges banned Korean language and forced them to pledge their
fidelity to the Emperor of Japan. Documents emphasizing Korean history were
burned. Thousands of Koreans were forced to work in Japan and its aligned
colonies. The Koreans were symbolized as primitives who had to suffer the wrath
of Japan’s cruel administrative system during their regime. Genocides and crimes
against humanity were observed at that time. They were ruled for about 35 years
until World War II erupted, causing a division into two nations namely into, North
Korea (DPRK) and South Korea (ROK). It was a result of Japan surrendering to the
Allied Forces in 1945, causing a split in the Korean Peninsula. South Korea came
under the control of U.S.A while the Soviet Union got control of North Korea. The
leader of North Korea was a former guerilla while South Korea’s leader was loyal
to anti-communist views. With U.S.A and the Soviet Union entering into the Cold
War, the Korean Peninsula observed the first military action of the Cold War on
25 June, 1950 when thousands of soldiers from North Korea invaded South Korea,
with American troops retaliating from South Korea’s behalf, backing support from
the United Nations too. This event is also known as the Korean War. The West
declared this war against the fundamentals of Communism. Thus, the Korean War
came to an end on July, 1953 with the declaration of a Korean Armistice
Agreement between the United States, The People’s Republic of China and North
Korea. South Korea never acknowledged the Armistice nor did they agree to sign
a peace treaty. Thus, the fighting came to a stop, but technically the war never
came to an end. Both the countries don’t see the other one as a legitimate state.
South Korea now has a flourished and advanced economy with assistance from
the West and made steps to ensure a fully democratic nation while North Korea
has remained an isolated state (also called as the Hermit Kingdom) with no
openness which is being ruled by a single family for three generations. Since the
Korean War, both the countries have taken different political, social and
economic paths. The 38th parallel marks the demilitarized zone that separates the
two countries. Both of these nations carry a difference in opinion since they were
ruled by two countries with an ideological divide. While South Korea stresses
upon democracy and good International Relations, North Korea carries the
ideology of Juche, or simply known as self-reliance. Hopes for reunification of
Korea aroused when both North and South Korea issued a joint declaration to
make positive efforts to establish a reunified Korea. Many attempts at diplomacy
between the two countries had taken place when both the leaders of the Two
Koreas shook hands and hugged each other in a summit in 2018 and when both
the countries had a joint unified team in the 2018 Winter Olympics held at South
Korea. However, such moves only lasted for a little time. Tensions have currently
increased between both the countries when North Korea blew up its inter-Korean
joint liaison office it operated along with South Korea and threatened to move its
troops into the Demilitarized Zone(DMZ), thus, sending a direct signal of threat to
the United States of America too which has failed in brokering peace between the
two Korean states. North Korea is one of the few countries who have directly
opposed the American dominance across the globe. Very recently, North Korea’s
ambassador to China has expressed full support and solidarity to the latter and
stated that DPRK would “fight side by side” along with China against U.S
aggression. North Korea is being heavily criticized by many nations due to its
advancements in nuclear warfare along with its reckless missile testing. Although
previously, the North Korean administration had pledged to denuclearization of
the Korean peninsula, they broke this pledge by ending the country’s moratorium
on nuclear testing by resuming their works on the same due to disagreements
with their foreign counterparts. While North Korea has violated several UN
resolutions and even faces sanctions, it has still continued its nuclear enrichment
drive and development efforts for its Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM).
The International Community is still unable to calculate the scale of DPRK’s
Uranium Enrichment. North Korea has also claimed to have developed a
Hydrogen Bomb along with its nuclear stockpile. It has also withdrawn from the
Treaty of Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) to pursue its own nuclear
program since the Treaty only allows the permanent members of UNSC (USA,
China, Russia, UK and France) to develop nuclear weapons along with many other
provisions. DPRK does not also acknowledge the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban
Treaty (CTBT) and has violated international rules from time to time by
conducting tests for its nuclear warheads. The International Community has
condemned the activities of DPRK but no any positive conclusion has been
derived yet. With DPRK disagreeing with US administration over their nuclear
stockpile, missile testing has increased in North Korea since then, posing an
imminent threat to Trump led US administration. President Donald Trump has
stated that if North Korea makes any further nuclear threats against USA or any of
its allies, they will be met with “fire and fury like the world has never seen”.
Therefore, any possibility of negotiations between North Korea and USA or its
allies is presently uncertain. In my own opinion, North Korea should not be
pressurized to shut down its nuclear development directly. A step by step
approach should be focused upon to denuclearize DPRK while sanctions should be
removed every time a step towards denuclearization takes place. Also, the
International Community should assure security to DPRK, since the threat of a war
continues to trouble both the sides. North Korea should allow the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to monitor their nuclear programs on a much more
frequent basis to ensure Global Co-ordination and assurance that they won’t be a
cause of threat to the other countries. A formal Peace Treaty should be signed
between both North and South Korea to establish peace and order between the
two sides and bring the Korean War to an end. With the implementation of such
measures, the Korean conflict would deteriorate and International law and order
would prevail.

Thank You