South Korea’s Moon Optimistic on End to Korean War

Says peace is 'only a matter of time'

Speaking to the BBC, South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in says that he remains optimistic about soon reaching a peace treaty to end the Korean War, saying that it is “only a matter of time” before everyone agrees.

The Korean War began in 1950 and an armistice was signed in 1953. No peace treaty was ever reached beyond this. North Korea has expressed interest in making such a deal as part of its ongoing diplomatic efforts, and South Korea similarly supports peace.

The main obstacle to the peace deal seems to be the US government. The Trump Administration has suggested that they don’t intend to agree to any peace deal until after total denuclearization, and they’ve also said that is expected to take several years.

A major problem with this is that North Korea’s denuclearization comes with the assumption of peace making it unnecessary to have such arms. The US resistance to peace, however, is making a hasty denuclearization appear risky for North Korean officials, as they may lose their deterrent power while still being in a state of war.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press. View all posts by Jason Ditz

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7 thoughts on “South Korea’s Moon Optimistic on End to Korean War”

Don Bacon says:

October 13, 2018 at 6:21 am

from Stripes–

South Korea on Thursday walked back on a proposal to lift some of its unilateral sanctions against North Korea following U.S. President Donald Trump’s blunt retort that Seoul could “do nothing” without Washington’s approval.
“They won’t do that without our approval,” Trump said of the comments. “They do nothing without our approval.” . .here
1. Eileen Kuch says:
  
  October 13, 2018 at 9:00 am
  
  S. Korea/s a sovereign country despite the numbers of US forces on its soil. President Moon Jae-In has every right to sign a peace treaty with N. Korea.
  Sorry, President Trump, but you have no right to dictate to President Moon Jae-In that he can’t sign a peace treaty with the North; S. Korea’s his country, not yours, so quit meddling.
  1. BAS says:
    
    October 13, 2018 at 2:12 pm
    
    A South North peace treaty is almost moot. The conflict is between NKorea and the US. There can be no peace in Korea until Washington agrees to it.
    
    SKorea isn’t a “sovereign” country, as it has become painfully obvious. SKorea must kowtow to Washington lest it decide to turn over the table and go back to the status quo of warmongering.
    
    Moon is doing everything he can to demonstrate that SKorea is America’s obedient lackey. And Washington has nothing to fear from peace in Korea.
  2. Don Bacon says:
    
    October 13, 2018 at 12:01 pm
    
    Yes.
    In Singapore, Trump and Kim stated “The United States and the DPRK will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula,” and “Reaffirming the April 27, 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, the DPRK commits to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” here
    
    In the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula here Moon and Kim agreed. on three points.
    1. South and North Korea will reconnect the blood relations of the people and bring forward the future of co-prosperity and unification led by Koreans by facilitating comprehensive and groundbreaking advancement in inter-Korean relations . . .
    2. South and North Korea will make joint efforts to alleviate the acute military tension and practically eliminate the danger of war on the Korean Peninsula. . .
    3. South and North Korea will actively cooperate to establish a permanent and solid Peace regime on the Korean peninsula.. . .(1). . non-aggression agreement . .(2) . .disarmament . .(3) . .declaring an end to the War . .(4) . . .denuclearization . .
    
    So in summary, on the U.S. side, the U.S. basically reaffirmed the Panmunjom Declaration which involves specific actions to be taken by the two Koreas only, with denuclearization being last.
    
    There is no stipulation that the U.S. is involved in anything except under 3. (3) . .”actively pursue trilateral meetings involving the two Koreas and the United States, or quadrilateral meetings involving the two Koreas and the United States and China with a view to declaring an end to the War and establishing a permanent and solid peace regime.”
    
    All other actions are covered by “South and North Korea will. . .”
2. Don Bacon says:
  
  October 14, 2018 at 5:48 am
  
  The background on this dust-up between ROK and US was the sinking of the ROK Navy corvette Cheonan on March 26, 2010, killing 46 seamen, and the resulting unilateral economic sanctions.
  . . .from wiki
  
  A South Korean-led official investigation carried out by a team of international experts from South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Sweden[2][3] presented a summary of its investigation on 20 May 2010, concluding that the warship had been sunk by a North Korean torpedo[4][5] fired by a midget submarine.[6] The conclusions of the report resulted in significant controversy within South Korea.
  
  North Korea denied that it was responsible for the sinking.[7] North Korea’s further offer to aid an open investigation was disregarded.[8] China dismissed the official scenario presented by South Korea and the United States as not credible.[9] An investigation by the Russian Navy also did not concur with the report.[10] The United Nations Security Council made a Presidential Statement condemning the attack but without identifying the attacker.[11]
  
  There were other observers who didn’t believe the ROK report on the Cheonan sinking especially because the specific findings were never released and ROK had made some obvious mistakes, including ex-US ambassador to ROK Donald Gregg. There were counter claims that the Cheonan had hit ground and struck a mine.
  . . .from Stripes recently
  
  The two Koreas have agreed to a series of hostility-reduction steps in and around their heavily fortified border, including halting military drills, setting up a no-fly zone and beginning to remove land mines and guard posts.
  [ROK FM] Kang also touched on a topic that is sacrosanct for the Trump administration – sanctions aimed at tightening the economic noose on the North.
  She told lawmakers that Seoul was considering lifting a 2010 trade and investment embargo slapped on Pyongyang following a deadly attack on a South Korean warship.
  The unilateral measures have little more than symbolic effect and Seoul has consistently expressed support for U.S.-led international sanctions.
  Kang and other government officials also quickly backtracked on the idea, which also proved unpopular with conservative lawmakers.. .here </blockquote
Don Bacon says:

October 13, 2018 at 4:22 pm

from UPI

Kayaking protesters block U.S. Navy ship at event off South Korea — The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier was blocked entry to the Jeju Navy base by a group of kayak protesters on Thursday. Some 200 civic activists in kayaks paddled out to the sea off the base to protest the 2018 International Fleet Review, interrupting the entry of the U.S. aircraft carrier. . .here

image — Kayaking protesters on Jeju via Nate.
Caesar_Saladin says:

October 14, 2018 at 11:21 am

SK and NK sign the deal and make it official. SK says, “US we don’t need you any longer, remove your military forces”… then what? Are we going to be an army of occupation in an allied nation? And furthermore, what happens when/if SK and NK reunite and request the US to GTFO? We need to go ahead and pack our bags now before we get embarrassed again.

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