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Jewish World Review April 28, 2000 / 23 Nissan, 5760

Doug Bandow

Doug Bandow
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American tripwire in Korea long ago disappeared: Why are we still involved?

http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- THE PLANNED SUMMIT between President Kim Dae Jung of South Korea and Communist

Party head Kim Jong Il of North Korea offers the hope of ending the Korean Peninsula's cold war. Washington should use this opportunity to reduce its involvement in Korean affairs. Korea has for 50 years been one of America's most dangerous military commitments. Today, the United States maintains 37,000 soldiers as a tripwire to ensure involvement should war again break out between the Koreas.

Indeed, nowhere else in the world are Americans more likely to be involved in a conflict. The United States would win any war, but it would not be a bloodless victory, such as that over Serbia.

Yet, the Korean Peninsula is not nearly as important as American policy suggests. Neither the Pentagon nor Gen. Douglas MacArthur believed South Korea to be intrinsically significant in 1950. President Harry S. Truman intervened to stop North Korea's invasion because he believed it to be inspired by the Soviet Union.

We now know that the U.S.S.R. was a reluctant supporter of Pyongyang's offensive. In any case, the Soviet Union is gone, along with any threat of global conquest.

Thus, by any definition, Korea today is a peripheral rather than a vital U.S. interest. War there would be tragic, but would not threaten America.

Moreover, the Republic of Korea need no longer play the role of helpless victim. The ROK has won the competition between the two Koreas.

It has 30 times the GDP, twice the population and a vast technological lead. South Korea, in contrast to North Korea, is a major international player.

Indeed, Russia is shipping weapons to South Korea to pay off its debts. China, too, is unlikely to back Pyongyang in any war.

Obviously, North Korea remains a dangerous actor. But its threats are largely empty --- desperate attempts to gain international attention. Bankrupt, starving and friendless, the North Koreans are struggling to survive, not to dominate South Korea, let alone the region.

Even its most worrisome activities, such as missile and nuclear weapons research, look more like strategies to defend itself in an increasingly hostile world than to prepare for aggressive war. When your neighboring enemy spends as much on defense as your entire GDP, and is allied with the world's greatest military power, you don't have many defense options.

The summit announcement is one of the most dramatic developments on a peninsula long noted for surprises.

Six years ago, Kim Jong Il's father, Kim Il Sung, was set to meet Kim Dae Jung's predecessor, Kim Young Sam. Il Sung dropped dead shortly before the meeting, however, and relations between the two nations quickly deteriorated.

Since then, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has suffered famine, near economic collapse and, if reports are accurate, political infighting. The only card Pyongyang has had to play to gain international attention and assistance is threatening to misbehave.

Kim Jong Il's apparent willingness to meet with Kim Dae Jung is another sign of desperation. Even if the meeting falls through, Pyongyang has conceded the legitimacy of its southern counterpart.

Of course, a successful summit is not sufficient to end a half-century of hostilities. North Korea has initiated war, regularly employed terrorism, launched frequent military probes and constantly rattled its saber. Seoul has returned the hostile feelings, if not actions.

But a meeting of the two Kims would provide an opportunity for their two nations to start anew. Moreover, it would offer Washington a chance to step into the background.

The United States should leave the direction of Korean policy to Seoul. The country most threatened by North Korea is South Korea. The country with the most to gain from detente between the two is South Korea.

America should normalize its relationship with both countries. For the DPRK, that means dropping economic sanctions and initiating diplomatic relations.

Of course, this would reward Pyongyang, but that is precisely what the United States should do when North Korea acts responsibly. Such an opening may not be enough to defang what remains a militarized yet unpredictable regime but is more likely to have positive results than is current policy.

As for the South, Washington should phase out its troop presence and security guarantee. South Korea is well able to defend itself. The justification for an American tripwire long ago disappeared.

The Korean Peninsula is entering an exciting new era. The two Koreas may be finally willing to put their 50-year-old struggle behind them.

In any case, it is time for Washington to disengage. Then, South Korea, rather than America, would have to deal with future bumps in the Korean road to peace and reunification.



JWR contributor Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. Comment by clicking here.

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