General Abrams and Admiral Harris Criticize Efforts to Pursue Korean War Peace Treaty
General Abrams and Admiral Harris are both in line with what I have been saying for years about North Korea and the Moon administration’s attempts to push through a Korean War peace treaty:
The former U.S. ambassador to South Korea and the retired top commander for U.S. forces in the region said they are cautious about a formal declaration to end the Korean War, a plan championed by the South Korean president as his tenure nears its end.
Former ambassador Harry Harris, a retired admiral who once led U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and the Pacific Fleet, and retired Army Gen. Robert Abrams, the former commander of U.S. Forces Korea, delivered their remarks Wednesday at a panel discussion hosted by The Korea Society in New York.
Harris expressed skepticism over a formal end-of-war declaration and suggested the results may fall short. He urged listeners to ask themselves “what will change the day after that declaration is signed?” (………)
“We must not relax sanctions or reduce joint military exercises just to get North Korea to come to the negotiating table,” he said. “This is a tried and true road to failure.” (…………)
Abrams warned that an end-of-war declaration would be followed by calls to abolish the U.N. Command, the U.S.-led international body that defends South Korea. Such a move, he said, would prompt the dissolution of “the only internationally recognized legal instrument that has prevented the resumption of hostilities.”
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link, but Admiral Harris and General Abrams both understands that the North Koreans and the Korean left want this peace treaty in order to question the legitimacy of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. If there is peace why are U.S. troops and by extension the UN Command needed? If the Kim regimes wants a peace treaty they should agree to actions that actually makes it look like they want peace. For example removing all their artillery off of the DMZ would show the seriousness of their peace overtures. If they want peace why do they need artillery to target Seoul and other metropolitan areas?
There is nothing wrong with a peace treaty, since the Korean War has been over for 70 years and the peace treaty is just formalizing what has been the status quo for the past 70 years.
And unlike what GIKorea is claiming, there is no leftist plot to make the USFK withdraw from the ROK.
The President of the US can withdraw them if he/she sees fit, and there is historic precendent in that Nixon, Carter, and Bush Jr., have or have attempted to reduce/withdraw the USFK.
And we all know that with the exception of the figher wings, and the helicopter brigade, there is no significant organic US ground combat capability in South Korea, compared to the forces that were in the peninsula from the 60s to the 90s.
Which means that the US has unilateraly reduced the USFK to what looks like to be the minimum number of forces. Korean leftist antics, have little or no effect on the force reductions and withdrawals.
But what is troubling is that the peace treaty is being pursued because Pres. Moon wants a legacy before he steps down next year. Which means it is being pursued for the wrong reasons and short cuts may be made.
And this is the one point that I am in agreement with GIKorea.
TOK, your point of agreement is the “leftist conspiracy” folks complain about. Moon, like most politicians, doesn’t give a rat’s hindquarters about preserving South Korea if he can win a Nobel.
But remember they also gave that prize to Yasser Arafat, in spite of his not actually stopping the terrorist attacks on Israel.
“Peace” with the norks needs strings, i.e., conditions Pyongyang needs to meet beforehand, unless the south just wants to surrender.
They can do that anytime. It’s their country. But they aren’t part of the “peace treaty” process. They were excluded in the 1950s. Look it up.
That’s an interesting strategy…
“Gee, North Korea, we surrender. You won.”
“Yeah! What did we win?”
“Why don’t you come on down and find out.”
@setnaffa
If you had looked it up, there was no peace treaty but an armistice which was essentially a ceasefire agreement between military commanders to cease hostilities.
At that time the ROK Armed Forces were under the UNC, which meant that the UNC Commander signed for the US, ROK, and the other allied nations that took part under the UN flag.
A peace treaty was supposed to replace the armistice but we all know that never happened.
Peace treaties are signed between nations, not between militaries, which means that South along with North Korea are the main signatories.
Don’t know where you got the “exclusion” idea.
South Korea never signed the Armistice Agreement, due to President Syngman Rhee’s refusal to accept having failed to unify Korea by force
@TOK, we are going to have to agree to disagree because you will not be able to convince me that the Korean left with groups like the KCTU, PSPD, Green Korea, KTEWU, and the rest of the usual suspects do not want to get rid of USFK. Just look at the agitators pushing the THAAD nonsense down in Seongju. A peace treaty would give these left wing groups the excuse they need to protest and agitate all of USFK and not just the THAAD site.
GIKorea
Author
And so what, if they want to? They have their democratic right to want changes that they think are right.
Even if the US military base does leave Korea, it doesn’t mean South Korea is defeated. There is no way that North Korea is in any shape to defeat anyone, let alone wage war on South Korea when most of their troops don’t even have enough bullets. The US and South Korean conservatives constantly overexaggerate North Korea’s military capability because they need external threats to keep a state of war.
What happens if a peace treaty is signed? UN mandate goes away, no sending states, no UNC rear bases in Japan to support any need war effort. It becomes a spring board for the South Korean communist directed & support by their Chinese handlers to for the elimination of the mutual defense treaty.
@GIKorea
you will not be able to convince me that the Korean left with groups like the KCTU, PSPD, Green Korea, KTEWU, and the rest of the usual suspects do not want to get rid of USFK.
Who said anything about convincing you that the Korean leftist groups do not want the USFK to leave?
I certainly didn’t.
In a previous comment, I did acknowledge these groups protesting the USFK presence here, because it’s well what they do and is the reason for their existence.
And just because the media outlets only cover the THAAD protests doesn’t mean that the leftists protest only at the THAAD protests. Big or small, they protest at whatever place they see fit including the US Embassy.
Leftist protests against the USFK isn’t new, it’s been going around for thirty years or so.
It reached its peak during the armored vehicle incident and even then the USFK didn’t withdraw completely from the peninsula.
As for reductions during the Bush Jr. era, the SecDef at that time was Rumsfeld and we all know his character and considering that the US needed more troops in Iraq, well let’s just say the leftists and Roh Moohyun’s antics provided an useful cover for the US to pull out the 2nd Brigade and use them to reinforce the US presence in Iraq.
Now, if you are suggesting that the leftist groups above are colluding or coordinating with the Moon administration(aka consipiracy) to have the USFK withdraw from the peninsula, then IMO, you are reaching.
I don’t have doubt that these group over dinner with their favorite Justice Party National Assembly rep will bitch about the USFK presence, but, it probably won’t go beyond that. And the Justice Party might say a few things to Pres. Moon about the USFK, but the last time they did that Pres. Moon gently shot that down.
Also in Pres. Moon’s credit, he unlike Roh Moohyun has manuevered skillfully between his left wing support base and the US, without pissing any of them off, and I don’t seem him taking active measures to have the USFK leave the peninsula.
If the USFK does want to leave, as I’ve said before, it is up to the political leadership in Washington DC, and history has shown that Washington will do that if it suits them.
Had setnaffa done more research, he would have discovered that Syngman Rhee put up a lot of noise in regards to the Armistice so as to get a Mutual Defense Treaty from the US.
Once the MDT was signed he dropped all objections and the ROK has since observed its terms.
Also since the Armistice was a military ceasefire there was no reason for him to sign it.
If it was required for Rhee was to put his signature there, then obviously Eisenhower, Mao, and the leaders of the 15 or so other nations that sent troops to South Korea would have been required to sign off on the document.
@TOK, I totally agree with how President Moon has maneuvered between the U.S. and his left wing support base. He is a very smart politician and knows not to publicly push for a USFK withdrawal. However, look who he has surrounded himself with guys like Im Jong-seok and Moon Chung-in who are well known for their anti-USFK stances.
That is why he is pushing for the peace treaty, it will not only give him his legacy of possibly a Nobel Peace Prize, but it will set conditions in the future for the Korean left to push for a withdrawal of USFK and ultimately the UNC.
TOK, neither Rhee nor Kim were recognized by the UN as anything more than temporary annoyances prior to 6/25/1950.
And Rhee was seen as a hot-tempered liability by the West. Why else do you think South Korea had no tanks or anti-tank weapons of their own?
Grow up and get over yourself.
There was never supposed to be a North or South Korea. Unfortunately, like so many other Democrat Presidents, FDR trusted a Communist (Stalin) to keep his word.
Now run along and build your sand castles while you can. Biden will cut you loose soon enough. And there won’t be another US-lead rescue of South Korea. Your buddy Moon will see that USFK and all the rest are dismantled completely, and leftists worldwide will praise the “peace dividend.”
Maybe you can get PSY to record “Pyongyang Style” for you.
And Rhee was seen as a hot-tempered liability by the West. Why else do you think South Korea had no tanks or anti-tank weapons of their own?
Don’t know about Rhee being hot tempered, but Kim Il-sung was and that didn’t stop the Soviets from arming him to the teeth.
And the US did give the ROK 57mm anti-tank guns, bazookas, and one infantry division wirh some 105mm howizers.
So anti-tank weapons and some heavy weapons were supplied, but unfortunately couldn’t penetrate the armor of the T-34-85s and/or were not enough.
Interesingly, the one ROK division that had the 105s were able to hold off the North Koreans until they ran out of ammo and had to withdraw.
Also, curiously there were F-51 Mustangs in ROK colors when the war broke out, although they had not acheived IOC by that time.
So had the US provided the ROK with better anti-tank weapons, more 105s with armor piercing shells, and if the F-51s were fully active, the ROK could have beaten back the North Korean assault, and there wouldn’t have been the larger three year war.
Some food for thought, my American friend.
November of 1950 Korea was unified, then commie china got involved.