By Zhan Debin
British Army Lieutenant General Andrew Harrison, deputy commander of the US-led so-called United Nations Command (UNC) in ROK, declared on July 25 at an event commemorating the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement that Japan should also actively participate in the UNC. Interestingly, ROK is also pushing to become a member of the UNC this year and plans to host a meeting of defense ministers from UNC countries. These actions clearly aim not to maintain peace on the peninsula, but to perpetuate and strengthen confrontation.
Johan Galtung, a Norwegian scholar who is widely regarded as the founder of the academic discipline of peace studies, introduced the concepts of "negative peace" and "positive peace". Negative peace is achieved through the reinforcement of deterrence by force, but this approach inevitably leads to an escalation of arms races and hostilities, along with high costs for peacekeeping. Therefore, it represents an unstable peace that can easily erupt into larger-scale wars with the slightest negligence. Positive peace, on the other hand, is a healthy, stable, and sustainable peace that eliminates hostility, builds trust, and fundamentally eradicates the root causes of threats to peace through dialogue and exchange. There is no doubt that what the Korean Peninsula needs is positive peace.
The first step towards establishing a positive peace on the Korean peninsula, of course, is to eliminate the remaining Cold War remnants. In this aspect, China has undoubtedly played an exemplary role. The Chinese People's Volunteer (CPV) Army withdrew all combat troops from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in 1958 and recalled the last CPV representative from Panmunjom in 1994. For over 30 years after the end of the Cold War, China has never provided weapons to DPRK or advocated hostility on the peninsula. On the contrary, the US-led UNC not only refused to withdraw and disband, but also sought to strengthen its organization and prepare for war. The Yoon Suk-yeol government listed DPRK as the main enemy and advocated for establishing peace through strength, cooperating with Washington to advance the US-Japan-ROK military alliance.
The Roh Tae-woo government of ROK implemented a "Northern Policy" that significantly improved relations with DPRK. Recent Democratic Party administrations in ROK have also actively promoted exchanges and cooperation between DPRK and ROK. During the Moon Jae-in administration, the DPRK and ROK also issued the Panmunjom Declaration, which aims to declare an end to the state of war, advance the transformation of the armistice and peace talks mechanism on the peninsula, and establish a solid permanent peace mechanism.
However, the efforts in this regard have not yet yielded tangible practical results. Whenever there is a promising endeavor to establish a peace mechanism on the Korean Peninsula, there is a force attempting to hinder it. This force primarily originates from the US, as well as conservative factions within ROK. In order to safeguard its hegemonic interests in East Asia, the US needs to maintain and strengthen its military presence in ROK. Washington worries that once a lasting peace is achieved on the Korean Peninsula, it will inevitably undermine its remaining Cold War dividends. Consequently, it continually fabricates various excuses, fosters adversaries, and obstructs the advancement of constructing a peaceful framework among all parties.
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration needs to carefully consider whether positive peace or negative peace is more beneficial for itself and the entire Korean Peninsula. Seoul needs to recognize who the biggest victims and beneficiaries would be in the event of another war, rather than blindly following foreign countries in preparing for it. Although ROK is not a signatory to the Korean Armistice Agreement and lacks the legal capacity to discuss the transformation of the armistice and peace talks mechanism, as an ally of the US and a practical party in the confrontation, it is necessary for Seoul to play a more active role in promoting a sustainable peace structure on the Korean Peninsula for the benefit of the peninsula and the region. This is what a "global hub country" should do.
(The author is the Director and professor of the Korean Peninsula Research Center at Shanghai University of International Business and Economics.)
Editor's note: Originally published on huanqiu.com, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
