Kwentong Kapuso: How do you solve a problem like North Korea?
MANUEL L. CABALLERO
This article appeared on yhe Filipino Reporter, a content partner of GMA News Online.
Like the first line of the theme song from “The Sound of Music,” the question nowadays is, “How do you solve a problem like North Korea?”
Leaders of that Northeast Asian country of 24 million people, are making noises and threats of nuclear attacks again against South Korea and the United States.
At around this time of year, since 1997, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the U.S. have been conducting joint military exercises.
“Foal Eagle” is how they call the exercises.
It is meant to reinforce “the U.S. commitment of its most advanced capabilities to the security of the Republic of Korea.”
This year’s Foal Eagle is from March 1 to April 30.
Wikipedia says, the primary purpose of Foal Eagle is to demonstrate ROK-US military resolve to deter war on the Korean peninsula and to improve the combined and joint operational posture of those forces.
Foal Eagle is a purely defensive exercise which tests the capability of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to defend itself, assisted by U.S. armed forces, and it is also primarily a rear area security and stability operations, onward movement of critical assets to the forward area, special operations, ground maneuver, amphibious operations, combat air operations, maritime action group operations and counter special operations forces exercises.
Meantime, North Korea’s rookie leader, Kim Jong-un, has threatened South Korea and its ally, the United States, with missile attacks and bragged it was ready to “settle accounts” with the U.S., and released a photo near a chart, holding a long wooden pointer used by war planners during World War II, that appeared to map missile strikes on American cities.
It was reported North Korea has two rockets, the Musudan and Taepodong three missiles, which are estimated to reach targets between 4,000-6,000 kilometers from North Korea — this includes China, Russia, Alaska, and parts of Southeast Asia, including the Philippines.
The Philippines is 1,704 miles from Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea.
The Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs has announced it has prepared contingency plans to assist or evacuate some 40,000 Filipinos in South Korea and less than 10 Pinoys in North Korea in the event the situation worsens.
The U.S. military command in South Korea announced the deployment of navy boats and fighter jets in a statement, including B-52 and B-2 stealth bombers to be used in the military exercise.
Two dreaded F-22 Raptor nuclear capable fighter jets have also arrived in South Korea from a U.S. base in Japan.
Commenting on threats from North Korea, the U.S. command in South Korea said “(North Korea) will achieve nothing by threats or provocations, which will only further isolate North Korea and undermine international efforts to ensure peace and stability in Northeast Asia.”
Last Saturday, North Korea declared it was in a “state of war” with South Korea.
(Actually, the two Koreas had been in a state of war since 1950 because it was only a truce or temporary cessation of war hostilities that was signed by the two parties in 1953, and not a peace treaty.)
The New York Times reported over the weekend that South Korean President Park Geun-hye considered the threats from North Korea as “very serious.”
She was reported to have instructed her generals, “If the North attempts any provocation against our people and country, you must respond strongly at the first contact with them without any political consideration.”
The order seemed like a blanket authority on the part of the generals to retaliate immediately by force if attacked by the North Koreans, even without clearance from their Commander-in-Chief.
Last Monday, in an effort to diffuse the war rhetoric from the North, the White House issued a statement which said there was no evidence of troop movements and mobilization in North Korea, contrary to Kim Jong-un’s war tirades in recent days.
For the past 20 years, Kim Jong-un’s father and grandfather were also verbal war mongers when they headed North Korea.
The country’s young, inexperienced and unpredictable head of state is simply following the footsteps of his predecessors.
An NBC analyst observed that North Korea is “very adept at engaging at psychological warfare.”
“It cranks up the tensions, putting pressure on Seoul and Washington, and is rewarded with aid and concessions when things tone down,” the analyst also said.
My take on this situation is that once the military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea are over, North Korea will tone down its war tantrums. - To read the rest of the article, please go to theFilipino Reporter site.
mcaball241@aol.com
This article appeared on yhe Filipino Reporter, a content partner of GMA News Online.
Like the first line of the theme song from “The Sound of Music,” the question nowadays is, “How do you solve a problem like North Korea?”
Leaders of that Northeast Asian country of 24 million people, are making noises and threats of nuclear attacks again against South Korea and the United States.
At around this time of year, since 1997, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the U.S. have been conducting joint military exercises.
“Foal Eagle” is how they call the exercises.
It is meant to reinforce “the U.S. commitment of its most advanced capabilities to the security of the Republic of Korea.”
This year’s Foal Eagle is from March 1 to April 30.
Wikipedia says, the primary purpose of Foal Eagle is to demonstrate ROK-US military resolve to deter war on the Korean peninsula and to improve the combined and joint operational posture of those forces.
Foal Eagle is a purely defensive exercise which tests the capability of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to defend itself, assisted by U.S. armed forces, and it is also primarily a rear area security and stability operations, onward movement of critical assets to the forward area, special operations, ground maneuver, amphibious operations, combat air operations, maritime action group operations and counter special operations forces exercises.
Meantime, North Korea’s rookie leader, Kim Jong-un, has threatened South Korea and its ally, the United States, with missile attacks and bragged it was ready to “settle accounts” with the U.S., and released a photo near a chart, holding a long wooden pointer used by war planners during World War II, that appeared to map missile strikes on American cities.
It was reported North Korea has two rockets, the Musudan and Taepodong three missiles, which are estimated to reach targets between 4,000-6,000 kilometers from North Korea — this includes China, Russia, Alaska, and parts of Southeast Asia, including the Philippines.
The Philippines is 1,704 miles from Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea.
The Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs has announced it has prepared contingency plans to assist or evacuate some 40,000 Filipinos in South Korea and less than 10 Pinoys in North Korea in the event the situation worsens.
The U.S. military command in South Korea announced the deployment of navy boats and fighter jets in a statement, including B-52 and B-2 stealth bombers to be used in the military exercise.
Two dreaded F-22 Raptor nuclear capable fighter jets have also arrived in South Korea from a U.S. base in Japan.
Commenting on threats from North Korea, the U.S. command in South Korea said “(North Korea) will achieve nothing by threats or provocations, which will only further isolate North Korea and undermine international efforts to ensure peace and stability in Northeast Asia.”
Last Saturday, North Korea declared it was in a “state of war” with South Korea.
(Actually, the two Koreas had been in a state of war since 1950 because it was only a truce or temporary cessation of war hostilities that was signed by the two parties in 1953, and not a peace treaty.)
The New York Times reported over the weekend that South Korean President Park Geun-hye considered the threats from North Korea as “very serious.”
She was reported to have instructed her generals, “If the North attempts any provocation against our people and country, you must respond strongly at the first contact with them without any political consideration.”
The order seemed like a blanket authority on the part of the generals to retaliate immediately by force if attacked by the North Koreans, even without clearance from their Commander-in-Chief.
Last Monday, in an effort to diffuse the war rhetoric from the North, the White House issued a statement which said there was no evidence of troop movements and mobilization in North Korea, contrary to Kim Jong-un’s war tirades in recent days.
For the past 20 years, Kim Jong-un’s father and grandfather were also verbal war mongers when they headed North Korea.
The country’s young, inexperienced and unpredictable head of state is simply following the footsteps of his predecessors.
An NBC analyst observed that North Korea is “very adept at engaging at psychological warfare.”
“It cranks up the tensions, putting pressure on Seoul and Washington, and is rewarded with aid and concessions when things tone down,” the analyst also said.
My take on this situation is that once the military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea are over, North Korea will tone down its war tantrums. - To read the rest of the article, please go to theFilipino Reporter site.
mcaball241@aol.com
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