Conflict On Korea

Conflict on the Korean Peninsula
Mon 6th Dec 2010
Kevin Gray


Recent coverage by the mainstream media on North Korea’s shelling on the South’s island of Yeonpyeong has followed a somewhat predictable pattern. Journalists and pundits have offered a variety of explanations ranging from those that see the shelling as an attempt by the North’s ruling leader Kim Jong-Il to secure the succession of his son Kim Jong-Un, to arguments that emphasise the North’s broader use of military clashes to distract the North’s population from the ongoing economic crisis. It has even been argued that the shelling was in response to the recent international prestige taken by the South as a result of its successful hosting of the G20 summit, an event which allegedly served to highlight the North’s backwardness. Whatever the explanation, the event has generally been understood in the Western media as yet another unwarranted and barely explicable provocation by the ‘paranoid’ and ‘unpredictable’ North against the long-suffering South.

The North, however, has been very clear on what it sees as the underlying roots of the clash. In a communiqué issued following the incident, the Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army pointed to the South’s so-called ‘protect the country’ (hoguk) military manoeuvres in the West Sea around Yeonpyeong Island as the immediate cause. As reported in the South Korean media, the North had sent repeated requests to the South requesting a halt to this exercise involving 70,000 troops before the exchange of fire took place. Yet, this communiqué also pointed to underlying causes in the form of the ongoing dispute over maritime boarder separating the two countries.

The Northern Limit Line (NLL), unilaterally imposed by the United Nations Command following the Korean War, runs at a roughly equal distance between the South’s Yeonpyeong, Daechong and Paengnyeong islands and the North Korean mainland. These three islands in turn lay much closer to the North’s Hwanghae Province than they do to the Southern mainland, with the consequence that the NLL deprives the North of access to much of the West Sea, and in particular, to the rich crab fishing grounds to the south of the NLL.

Though the North has disputed the NLL for decades, it was in 1999 that the North redrew its own version of the maritime border further south, though without disputing the South’s sovereignty over the three islands and leaving a narrow corridor of access. Needless to say, the South did not accept this unilateral attempt to redraw the boundary, and over the past 11 years, there have been intermittent clashes in the West Sea as a result of the ongoing dispute. In 1999, following an incursion to the south of the NLL by North Korean patrol and accompanying fishing boats, a battle took place close to Yeonpyeong Island in which it is estimated that up to 100 North Korean naval personnel were killed. Clashes took place again in 2002 and 2009 in which casualties occurred on both sides though in smaller scale to the first Yeonpyeong battle in 1999.

Relations between the North and the South have taken a marked turn for the worse, however, following the May 2010 sinking of the Chonan corvette in which 46 South Korean sailors lost their lives. However, the causes of the sinking have been more controversial since it did not occur within the context of any obvious naval skirmish. Following an ‘international’ investigation involving countries friendly to South Korea, (the US, Canada, Britain, Sweden, Australia), a report referred to by Hillary Clinton , US Secretary of State, as “thorough and comprehensive scientific examination” was compiled (though never fully released) that claimed that the most likely explanation of the sinking was that of a North Korean torpedo. However, numerous academics and officials pointed to factual errors and inconsistencies in the report and the official explanation was met with widespread mistrust by the South Korean public.

Furthermore, Russia, which carried out its own independent tests, disputed the findings of the South Korean government and offered as an alternative the possibility of the ship’s contact with a sea mine in shallow water as a more plausible explanation. Regardless of the controversy surrounding the incident, the South proceeded to conduct massive joint military exercises with the United States in the West Sea as a deliberate ‘warning’ to the North. Given the escalating nature of these events, the use of the term ‘provocation’ solely to describe the North’s actions is one-sided to say the least.

The current deterioration of relations between North and South Korea is in marked contrast to the situation of a decade ago, in which the inter-Korean summit between Kim Jong-Il and Kim Dae-Jung, South Korean President, raised hopes of a solution to this remaining vestige of the Cold War. Kim Dae-Jung’s ‘Sunshine Policy’ had recognised that Korea’s national division could not be solved through the tired and ineffective policy of containment and confrontation, but required positive measures of peace and mutual trust building. Unfortunately, this attempt to depart from the logic of national division fell victim to George W. Bush’s ‘war on terror.’

North Korea subsequently found itself labelled as part of the ‘axis of evil,’ reportedly as a result of nothing more than a public relations attempt by Bush to ensure that ‘axis of evil’ was not at the same time purely an ‘axis of Islam.’ Yet the North’s inclusion into the axis had devastating consequences on the nascent process of reconciliation taking place on the Korean peninsula. North Korea caught a glimpse of its own potential future in the US-led coalition’s 2003 invasion of Iraq, and it responded by desperately seeking to acquire nuclear weapons as a last line of defence. Within the ideologically constrained realm of South Korean politics, the failure of the Kim Dae-Jung’s Sunshine Policy to prevent the North’s nuclearization was seized upon by conservatives as evidence of the naivety and even ‘pro-North sympathies’ of the liberal political class rather than as the resulting of the hostility of the US towards inter-Korean reconciliation.

Whilst much attention has been directed at the leadership succession in the North, little attention has been directed at the rise of neo-conservatism and accompanying power shift in the South in contribution to the rising North-South tensions. The election of Lee Myung-Bak in 2008 brought an end to the Sunshine Policy that had characterised the past decade of South Korean politics. Lee adopted a more hardline position vis-à-vis the North, and sought to make the continuation of economic aid conditional upon denuclearisation.

At the same time, Lee sought to foster a specifically South Korean nationalism through, for example, attempting to rename the national holiday shared with the North that celebrates Korea’s independence from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, to a so-called “National Construction Day” that emphasises the establishment of the Republic of Korea in 1948, thereby implicitly celebrating national division. The Lee government has also taken an aggressive policy towards internal dissent prosecuting those who publicly question the government’s official version of North’s involvement the Chonan sinking. Lee has also strongly reaffirmed the US-South Korean alliance, as demonstrated by joint military exercises that are set to resume once again in the aftermath of the recent shelling of Yeonpyong Island. Not only has this contributed to the ongoing deterioration of North-South relations, but has also sent relations with China, which is South Korea’s largest trading partner and has a strong vested interested in maintaining the status quo on the Korean peninsula, to a new low.

Clearly the North is by no means an innocent party and should share much of the blame for the escalating tensions. Yet, the South, with infinitely more to lose in any full-blown military confrontation, has so far taken measures that seem set only to bring out a further deterioration of the security situation on the Korean peninsula. In response to Tuesday’s shelling, Lee Myung-Bak has called for “resolute countermeasures.” South Korea’s defence minister Kim Tae-Young was forced to resign following criticism of the navy’s response to the North’s attack as being slow and ineffective.

Though it is clear that neither the North or South wants a second Korean war, in which the casualties on both sides would be devastating, it also seems that as long as South Korea and the US refuse to return unconditionally to the negotiating table with the North, there is likely to be an ever escalating level of confrontation, and reconciliation and peace on the Korean peninsula will continue to be as distant as ever.

Kevin Gray is a lecturer in international relations at the University of Sussex and author of "Korean Workers and Neoliberal Globalization" (Routledge, 2007).

English Drama

ENGLISH DRAMA
TITLE : THE CANDIDATE
DURATION : 15 minutes
SCRIPT by : Mr. Har (www.haarrr.wordpress.com)
PLAYERS : 5 Persons
Player 1 : The Candidate for the House of People’s Representatives (Caleg DPR)
Player 2 : A Farmer (Petani)
Player 3 : A Fisherman (Nelayan)
Player 4 : A Laborer (Buruh/Karyawan)
Player 5 : A Non-Government Teacher / NGT (Guru Honorer/GTT/Swasta)
PART 1
SETTING : A farmer and fisherman are talking about their condition. They complain to each other.
They feel that it is very difficult to get money for their living.
Farmer : It seems to me that this life is very hard, very difficult. My rice needs fertilizer but
I don’t have any money to buy it. Uh, I’m very confused…
Fisherman : Yeah, so am I. You know, I cannot go to the sea. I cannot sail to look for fishes. No
money to buy fuel, no money to repair my boat and fishing equipments.
Farmer : So, what are we going to do?
Fisherman : I don’t know…
(The Laborer is coming)
Laborer : Hi, anybody wants to join with me?
Farmer : Where?
Laborer : There is a campaign for the legislator election today. Who knows, we can get
money from the candidate (smiling).
Farmer : How about you, are you interested?
Fisherman : Emm, okay. You’re right. Who knows we can get money…
Laborer : All right. Let’s go…!
(They are going to the campaign place)
PART 2
SETTING : In the campaign, the candidate is speaking in front of people. He is trying to influence the
people to choose him as the member of the House of People’s Representatives. He promises
to make this country better than before.
Candidate : In the name of God, I ask you all… Choose me to be the legislator of the House of
People’s Representatives. Choose me if you want to make this country better than
before. Let me tell you, if I become the legislator… I will dedicate my life for this
country. There are no more corruption, collusion, and nepotism!! So, don’t
forget… choose me by giving checklist mark, or ‘contreng’ on the candidate no 1,
party no 50: ‘Partai Sembako’…!!!
2
Farmer : Really? You know, I often hear what you’ve said. Many candidates say it. Many
candidates give promise like you. But, what they’ve said is… nonsense! Bullshit!!
Fisherman : Yes. After you have become the member of the House of People’s
Representatives… you will forget us. You will only think about yourself!
Candidate : Oh, no… I’m different with them. I will not only give you promise, but I will also
give you evidence. Yeah, I will prove it. I will make my promise come true.
Laborer : Wait! As a laborer, I also want to improve my life. But, what for do we choose
you, if you cannot make our life better than before?
NGT : Yes, right. How do we know that you will able to develop and make this country
better? As a non-government teacher, I would like to ask you: What is your
planning to improve our life?
Candidate : Ok, all right. Let me explain my programs. First, I will emphasize on the
improvement of our economy. To the farmers and fishermen, I will give funds
and easy-credits… so they can buy fertilizers and sailing equipments easily. To
the laborers and government civil servants (PNS), I will increase their salary… so
they can improve their life. My second program is fighting against corruption,
collusion and nepotism! So there are no more corruption, collusion, and
nepotism…!
(The farmer, fisherman, laborer and NGT then keep nodding. It seems that they agree with the candidate)
Laborer : I’m sorry. Excuse me. But, how do we know that you will keep your promise?
How do we know that you will make it come true?
Candidate : I see. Don’t worry about it. I said that I would make your life better. And now…
I’m going to prove it. Listen! Yeah, now, now… I give you money!! Here you
are…
(The candidate gives some money to the farmer, fisherman, laborer and NGT)
Candidate : Okay? Do you believe me now? So, don’t forget to choose me… give checklist
mark, give ‘contreng’ at the candidate no 1, party no 50: ‘Partai Sembako’…!!
(The farmer, fisherman, laborer and NGT then say and yell together: “Yes, yesss…”!!)
(The campaign is finished. The famer, fisherman, laborer and NGT are going away. The candidate is
sitting alone, smiling to himself)
Candidate : (saying/mumbling to himself) Yeah, they’re actually right. After I have become a
legislator, I will forget all my promises. I only think of myself. I only think how to
get power and… to get my money back! That’s my purpose. That’s politics!
Huahaha…!!
PART 3
SETTING : One year later.
The farmer and the fisherman feel that there is no change to their life. It is still very
difficult to improve their condition.
Farmer : I hate being a farmer like this!
3
Fisherman : (laughing) Yeah, I often think like that. I am also bored to be a fisherman. There is
no change to our condition. We still lack of money.
Farmer : Wait. Do you remember our legislator?
Fisherman : You mean… the candidate on the election last year?
Farmer : Yes. Let’s go to find him. He promised that he would help us
Fisherman : Wait a minute. How if he breaks his promise? How if he doesn’t want to help us?
Farmer : Don’t say like that. Let’s try!
Fisherman : But, what will we do if we fail, and he doesn’t want to keep his promise?
Farmer : Mm… I don’t know. We think it later.
Fisherman : (nodding) All right. I’m with you
Farmer : Now, let’s find him!
PART 4
SETTING : The farmer and fisherman are debating with the legislator (candidate).
Legislator : I understand your condition. I know that you chose me on the election last year.
But, it doesn’t mean that I should give you money directly…
Farmer : Why not? You said it in your campaign.
Legislator : If you want to improve your life, you must work… You must work hard!
Fisherman : Listen, we don’t need advice anymore. What we need is your help, your real
action to give us fund…
Farmer : Yes, I need fertilizers.
Fisherman : I need fuel and fishing equipments.
Legislator : Oh, no. That’s enough. Listen to me, you must try by yourselves. If you want to
get fertilizers, fuel and fishing equipments… you must pay with your own
money. Once again, try to improve by yourselves!
Farmer : It means that… you break your promise!
Legislator : Come on… I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It’s over. Sorry, I have a
meeting today. See you later…
Fisherman : Wait, wait! You… lier! I hate you!!
(The legislator keeps going away)
(The laborer and NGT are coming)
NGT : What’s going on?
Farmer : Our legislator has broken his promise. He doesn’t keep his words.
Fisherman : His promise is nonsense! Bullshit!!
Laborer : So, what are we going to do?
Farmer : Mm, I don’t know.
Fisherman : You know, I hate him! Lier! I want to kick him…
NGT : No, no… It’s not a good way. Let me tell you… You had better report the
legislator to the police. I will help you to make the report.
Laborer : That’s a good idea. But, we need a reason that he has broken his the law.
NGT : I can handle it. Do you remember what he did in the campaign last year? He gave
us money. You know, it’s a kind of ‘money politics. That’s the point.
Farmer : I see…
4
Fisherman : Okay. I really hate him. He is a lier. I want to throw him into the jail!
Laborer : (Smiling) So, let’s go to the police…
(All of them are leaving, going to the police office)
The End
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