The Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States have relaunched the Marine Corps joint exercises this month. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s official media published an article on November 12, accusing the exercises of being openly targeted at the DPRK, which is against the spirit of the military agreement signed by the DPRK and the ROK in September and the trend of peaceful dialogue on the Korean Peninsula issue.
This is the first time that ROK and the US have resumed their Marine Corps joint exercises since their suspension of relevant military exercises in June.
Analysts believe that the ROK and the US intend to use these drills to pressure the DPRK into taking more practical actions in negotiations on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. However, judging from official reactions, the DPRK don’t see similar military actions as conducive to the continued peaceful development in the resolution of the Korean Peninsula issue through dialogue.
The DPRK condemned the joint exercises as being incommensurate with the current situation
Rodong Sinmun, a newspaper that is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of the DPRK, published an article on November12 condemning the ROK and the US for restarting the Marine Corps joint exercises. The article said that both the DPRK and the ROK should pour more efforts to maintain trust and achieve permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula than ever before, and that the resumption of joint exercises by the ROK and the US marines are not commensurate with the above requirements and the current situation.
The article pointed out that, in current time, it is imperative to completely abide by and conscientiously implement the Agreement on the Implementation of the Historic Panmunjom Declaration in the Military Domain signed by the ROK and the DPRK in Pyongyang on September 19 and to actively take measures to turn the Korean Peninsula into a lasting peace zone. The ROK and US Marine Corps joint exercises run counter to the promises made in the agreement. The DPRK and the ROK should ensure that the peninsula situation progresses in the direction of dialogue and peace. Military actions against each other should not be taken, while rational actions that are conducive to easing tensions should be taken.
As denuclearization is lagging, the ROK and the US have taken a “tough posture”
Wang Junsheng, an associate research fellow at the National Institute of International Strategy Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (NISS CASS), believes that from a military perspective, voices in both countries calling to resume joint exercises to deal with emergencies on the Korean Peninsula have always been strong in the context of the close military alliance between the ROK and the US. From the perspective of political diplomacy, voices in the ROK and the US that call on both governments to take a tough stance are gradually increasing in view of the recent lagging process of solving problems related to the denuclearization of the peninsula.
Since the beginning of this year, the DPRK-US relationship has made a historic breakthrough. The leaders of the two countries met in Singapore in June to establish a “new relationship that will contribute to peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula.” Despite this, there are always obvious differences between the two countries in the path to be taken to realize the denuclearization of the peninsula.
Wang said that in the context of the lack of mutual trust between the DPRK and the US and the gradual stalemate in the process of denuclearization of the peninsula, both conservatives and hawk forces in the ROK and the US demand that both governments resume joint military exercises to pressure the DPRK into taking more practical actions in the coming denuclearization negotiations.
However, under the active mediation of various countries in the region, the ROK and the US still tend to suspend large-scale joint military exercises in the near future, with a view to gradually solving the peninsula nuclear issue through political and diplomatic means.
Dialogue, not military action, can resolve concerns
Boththe ROK and the US believe that the restart of the Marine Corps joint exercises are an annual routine military exercise to maintain a coordinated defense posture within the scope of the ROK-US military alliance, which are only defensive, small-scale military exercises, and will not pose any security threat to the DPRK.
However, seeing from the recent tough stance of the DPRK, we can be certain that –against the backdrop of the ever-easing situation on the Korean Peninsula and the stalemate in the DPRK-US denuclearization negotiations– any military actions of this kind will have a negative impact on the peace and stability of the peninsula and deepen the destabilizing factors in the peninsula security, both of which are unfavorable for the peninsula situation moving forward in the direction of dialogue and peace.
The DPRK nuclear issue is complex and sensitive. The establishment of a new DPRK-US relationship, the building of a lasting and stable peace mechanism on the Korean Peninsula, and the early realization of the peninsula denuclearization, require all parties concerned to resolutely work together in the same direction.
Since the beginning of this year, the ever-easing situation in the peninsula has been a hard-won gain. Parties concerned should adhere to the direction of political settlement, continue to enhance mutual trust between the DPRK and the US, implement existing consensuses and solve their respective reasonable concerns through various levels of dialogue, including leaders meetings, and jointly push the processes of Korean Peninsula denuclearization and political settlement of the peninsula nuclear issue to make constant progress.
Disclaimer: The author is a reporter with the Xinhua News Agency. The article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by China Military online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn. Chinamil.com.cn does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same. If the article carries photographs or images, we do not vouch for their authenticity.
