Tag: Korean War

This is a really good idea and a nice gesture by a Korean couple who founded the Korean War Foundation:

In Kaycee, Wyoming, the only school library is named for Corporal Demaret Kirtley, a Korean War veteran born in the small American town.  
   
The library got its name thanks to a $5,000 (6.26 million won) donation by Koo Sung-yeol and Kim Chang-hwa to the school in May 2021. 

In 2020, the Korean couple, who have lived in the U.S. for more than 50 years, founded the Korean War Foundation. It has made $5,000 donations to schools in the hometowns of nine American soldiers who died in the Korean War.  
   
Koo and his wife make donations to the schools and deliver nameplates that honor the fallen soldiers.  
   
The couple’s grand notion: to pay respect to the American foot soldiers in the war for Korea’s freedom from all 50 states.  
   
Corporal Kirtley died on Dec. 6, 1950, in the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir on the Gaema Plateau in South Hamgyeong. He was 21 years old. His remains, which were not recovered at the time, were returned to his hometown in June 2019, 69 years after he died. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

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?

Here is some good news, it appears the Biden administration is not going to work with the ROK on an end of Korean War peace treaty any time soon:

Quickly developing discussions between South Korea and the United States on declaring a formal end to the Korean War appear to have hit a snag as Washington has made it clear that it cannot accept Seoul’s proposal, at least at this time, according to diplomatic observers, Wednesday. 

Since President Moon Jae-in once again floated the idea in a United Nations General Assembly speech in September, it has been gaining traction, as evidenced by six meetings occurring between South Korea’s top nuclear envoy Noh Kyu-duk and his U.S. counterpart, Sung Kim, since August.

However, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan seems to have stepped on the brakes amid the Moon administration’s push for an end-of-war declaration, Tuesday (local time).

“We may have somewhat different perspectives on the precise sequence or timing or conditions for different steps, but we are fundamentally aligned on the core strategic initiative here and on the belief that only through diplomacy are we going to really, truly be able to effectively make progress and that that diplomacy has to be effectively paired with deterrence,” Sullivan said during a press briefing. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but clearly the State Department 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 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?