US Antipathy to Inter-Korean Rapprochement and Russia’s Role in Conflict Prevention
Thanks to the “New Year’s” initiatives of Kim Jong-un – to which South Korean Moon Jae-in responded for his own reasons – significant progress was made in the inter-Korean dialogue at the highest level during the recent Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang (the possibility of an inter-Korean summit is even on the table),...
... to use the words of Ri Son-Gwon, head of North Korea’s delegation at the inter-Korean talks held on January 9, 2018 in the South Korean segment of the demilitarized zone in Panmunjom.
In his traditional New Year’s speech, supreme leader of North Korea ... ... used it as a “vent” to reduce pressure in the “Korean cauldron” by eroding the united front of its enemies. China and Russia eagerly supported these initiatives, and South Korea is on now on Pyongyang’s side as well, as it is extremely interested ...
... Pyongyang were forced to come to the inevitable, albeit unpleasant conclusion, that a balance in terms of conventional arms with South Korea would be impossible to maintain in the long run. An asymmetric response to the ever-growing economic and technological ... ... the state of North Korea as a whole. Such scenario, however, does not sit with North Korea’s neighbours, namely China and Russia, but also South Korea. We are not just talking about abstract humanism here; the manifold consequences of the North Korea ...
... of survival in the face of actual and imaginary threats on the part of the U.S. and South Korea. The only way for Pyongyang to safeguard itself against its external enemies... ... the alliance between Washington and Seoul to become a thing of the past.
What about Russia then? It appears that Moscow will side with China in this game. An important... ... extra-regional forces in Northeast Asia and its build-up under the pretext of counteracting the DPRK’s missile and nuclear programmes.”
In effect, Russia and China explicitly called...
... entire planet. It is here where the interests of large powers like the US, China, and Russia intersect. The range of forces that could be deployed in a possible conflict... ... Korean peninsula, which lasted from March 7 to April 30. The
exercise
involved 290,000 South Korean and about 15,000 American troops (the
US deployed
an additional marine... ... old 1961 Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Aid between the USSR and the DPRK was terminated. The new treaty of February 9, 2000 does not provide missile and...