North and South

North Korea

Back home in Canada, we hear a lot about North Korea these days. Being a nuclear threat to the world and part of George W. Bush’s “axis of evil”, all the talk related to NK seems focused on “what to do about them nukes”, “how to free those poor starving people from that ruthless psycho”, “when they’ll ever open up and embrace democracy”, etc. etc.

They recently agreed to shut down a nuclear project site – a deal that took the US six years to broker. So that’s how high a priority it must be in Washington.

Now that NK has disarmed this nuclear site, the US, UN and so on, are worried about what to do with the 2000+ scientists and technicians who worked there. They can’t all drive taxi. Who will disappear? Who will look to shop the secrets for cash? That type of thing.

The nukes get all the hype internationally. With the war in Iraq and the mess in the Middle East, North Korean nukes are hardly worth a mention on page 50 something of whatever paper.

Here in Seoul, they talk about the nukes. But obviously, with the DMZ just an hours’ drive north of the city, there are more pressing issues.

General B.B. Bell, commander of US forces in Korea, warns of NK’s short-range missile threat to South Korea. Bell called NK’s missile technology a “very real threat” to South Korea.

Top analysts, including Chomsky, note that NK has the artillery power to destroy Seoul in less than 5 minutes. These are missiles aimed and waiting.

I could get dressed and put my shoes on. But I wouldn’t make it very far.

To put this in perspective, remember the fear that the threat of “anthrax in the mailbox” put into the hearts of Americans.

Articles in the news delve into details of the types of missiles being tested – words like frog-7’s and KN-02’s. This is not really to instill fear in the population, but because they’re there.

War Plans

The war with North Korea never really ended in 1953. Fighting stopped with an “armistice”, a ceasefire, not a peace treaty.

The US and South Korea are going to draw up a new war plan by the end of 2009.

The plan will give the SK military “independent wartime operational control” by 2012.

This will replace the current “US-Led Joint War Scenario” made in 1974, last revised in 2003.

Under the current plan, the “retaliatory offensive against North Korean Forces”, within 90 days after war breaks out, the US will commit 690,000 troops, 2000 aircraft and 160 ships.

The US military says that such exact numbers are not as important now as they used to be.

US troops are being reduced and re-stationed here. Many of the bases are closing, including the base in downtown Seoul.

They are also planning a war scheme in preparation for possible internal conflict in North Korea, such as a collapse of the regime and hordes of refugees at the border.

More control is what the Koreans have been wanting for a long time now. Every foreigner living here can easily see how much the public dislikes the American forces.

There have been incidents of misbehavior, followed by demonstrations and endless debate in the papers and on websites that all seem to get ugly – the lowest common denominator doing what they do best. Crusaders seize the moment.

Koreans tend to be suspicious of foreigners and historically, have always had good reasons for being so. Consider their neighbors, and a past of foreign military occupation. So relations with the US forces are a touchy subject but you sense that all is held together by cooler heads prevailing.

It’s true that, in this case, the new war plans seem to be what everyone wants. Korea is just not a priority for the US. They’re sending Condi in September to make an appearance and shoot her mouth of.

In Seoul, there are plans to turn the huge American military base in Young San into a public park, with trees, benches, pigeons and pocket dogs. It’s set to be a Sunday afternoon hotspot.

Here in South Korea, politicians cover the spectrum. There’s the side that wants to engage in talks with the North. There are the conservatives who see them as the enemy. And everyone in between – most of the public as wee, I assume – just want everyone to get along, but can’t forget the fact that they are after all still the enemy.

War planes fly low over my apartment, shaking the walls, usually once a month, as a constant reminder that the war games continue and this thing could still erupt at the drop of a hat.

The plan for North Korea seems to be to engage them economically. Give them the taste for money. Well, some will have money. Most won’t – but they’ll want money. By exposure, they’ll get a taste for it. And the regime will collapse from within. Capitalism, not democracy, is in the works for North Korea.