The Korean War ends soon, maybe

[Eris]

Link

By Jessica Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) - The leaders of North and South Korea pledged on Thursday to bring peace to the Cold War's last frontier by seeking talks with China and the United States to formally end the 1950-1953 Korean War.

The agreement came at the end of only the second summit between the divided Koreas whose war ended with an armistice not a peace treaty.

"North and South Korea shared the view they must end the current armistice and build a permanent peace regime," South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il said in a joint statement at the end of their three-day meeting in Pyongyang.

The agreement also called for setting up the first regular freight train service since the war, meetings of ministers and defense officials as well as establishing a cooperation zone around a contested sea border on the west of the peninsula.

The armistice that concluded their fratricidal battle was signed by China, North Korea and U.S.-led United Nations forces, but not by South Korea.

U.S. President George W. Bush has said he can discuss a peace treaty once the North scraps its nuclear weapons program.

Giving a lift to the talks, China announced late on Wednesday that North Korea had agreed with regional powers to disable its nuclear facilities -- a source of atomic weapons material -- by the end of the year, a major step in normalizing relations with the outside world.

The two agreed to work together to implement that pact.

Roh will return to South Korea by road later in the day.

(With additional reporting by Jack Kim)

Well, it certainly took them long enough.

[Eris]

*sighs*

Quote tags > me

Could a mod lend me their superpowers, please?

[fgalkin]

*sighs*

Quote tags > me

Could a mod lend me their superpowers, please?

Done.

Now, the question remains, how are you going to pay me back? Superpowers don't come cheap, you know.


EDIT: Oh, and I can see why the Norks would be interested in a peace treaty. It would pretty much solidify their status as a real, existing, nation; and not some temporary phenomenon which will disappear as soon as South Korean troops reach Pyongyang. It will also all but bury any hopes of unification.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

*sighs*

Quote tags > me

Could a mod lend me their superpowers, please?

Done.

Now, the question remains, how are you going to pay me back? Superpowers don't come cheap, you know.


EDIT: Oh, and I can see why the Norks would be interested in a peace treaty. It would pretty much solidify their status as a real, existing, nation; and not some temporary phenomenon which will disappear as soon as South Korean troops reach Pyongyang. It will also all but bury any hopes of unification.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

It does however, provide less of an excuse for the right winger war mongers to attack N. Korea though.

[fgalkin]

Oh, indeed. If it goes through, this will be North Korea's greatest victory in the last 50 years. Given South Korean attitudes towards the US, with the threat of the million-man Nork army removed, the American troops will likely be asked to leave. And, given our experiences in Iraq, we will be unlikely to intervene in any conflict that we don't have to, and with our troops no longer protecting the border, Korea no longer qualifies. Add to that the fact that South Korea, being a democratic nation at peace will most likely cut military spending, and you get the picture.

Now, consider that fact that North Korea seems to be stuck in the 50s in terms of attitudes. You know, the time when crossing the border in force in response to a non-existent attack was still considered a good idea. Now, I'm not saying the Norks will try anything, but if they do, they'll have their job made a lot easier.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[VT-16]

You know, the time when crossing the border in force in response to a non-existent attack was still considered a good idea.

That's not 50s thinking, we saw the latest example of this back in 2003.

[thejester]

Oh, indeed. If it goes through, this will be North Korea's greatest victory in the last 50 years. Given South Korean attitudes towards the US, with the threat of the million-man Nork army removed, the American troops will likely be asked to leave. And, given our experiences in Iraq, we will be unlikely to intervene in any conflict that we don't have to, and with our troops no longer protecting the border, Korea no longer qualifies. Add to that the fact that South Korea, being a democratic nation at peace will most likely cut military spending, and you get the picture.

Now, consider that fact that North Korea seems to be stuck in the 50s in terms of attitudes. You know, the time when crossing the border in force in response to a non-existent attack was still considered a good idea. Now, I'm not saying the Norks will try anything, but if they do, they'll have their job made a lot easier.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

I doubt there'll be any great relaxtion of military posture; there was peace on the inner German border for 50 years, after all. That and there's (IIRC) only one brigade of the 2d ID left in the ROK, so a US withdrawal is hardly going to have a serious effect on the military balance on the peninsular.

[Uraniun235]

Now, consider that fact that North Korea seems to be stuck in the 50s in terms of attitudes. You know, the time when crossing the border in force in response to a non-existent attack was still considered a good idea. Now, I'm not saying the Norks will try anything, but if they do, they'll have their job made a lot easier.

Wouldn't any battle between North and South Korea probably be too short for us to mobilize a ground force anyway?

[ray245]

Now, consider that fact that North Korea seems to be stuck in the 50s in terms of attitudes. You know, the time when crossing the border in force in response to a non-existent attack was still considered a good idea. Now, I'm not saying the Norks will try anything, but if they do, they'll have their job made a lot easier.

Wouldn't any battle between North and South Korea probably be too short for us to mobilize a ground force anyway?

Given that the US still have plenty of base in japan, I doubt so..unless japan decides to kick US out.

[Kanastrous]

Yes, all their base now belong to us.

Am I a cynic, or is it just more chain-jerkage any time the the North Korean leadership appears interested in doing anything but their own cockeyed evil business-as-usual?

I mean, aside from a natural desire to believe that they're having a meaningful attack of sanity, why regard this as anything bu more of their usual manipulative short-term tricks?

[Guardsman Bass]

One can always hope. Either that, or they're thinking that the North Korean state might fall to pieces, or get some funky ideas. Or distribute more nuclear material.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

One can always hope. Either that, or they're thinking that the North Korean state might fall to pieces, or get some funky ideas. Or distribute more nuclear material.

S.Korea does not want N.Korea to fall to pieces, neither does China.

No one wants to deal with millions of refugees.

[DPDarkPrimus]

Now, consider that fact that North Korea seems to be stuck in the 50s in terms of attitudes. You know, the time when crossing the border in force in response to a non-existent attack was still considered a good idea. Now, I'm not saying the Norks will try anything, but if they do, they'll have their job made a lot easier.

Wouldn't any battle between North and South Korea probably be too short for us to mobilize a ground force anyway?

Given that the US still have plenty of base in japan, I doubt so..unless japan decides to kick US out.

And they have to amend the constitution we wrote for them to do that.