Critical diplomatic and security issues with our long-standing allies must be promptly and properly addressed
- Restore the Korea-U.S.-Japan security partnership
1. Increasing Korea's share of the U.S. Forces Korea budget
The government of Korea must exercise more flexibility in the U.S. Forces Korea budget negotiations and agree to a greater contribution. The United States will respond with their own good will, which will further improve the partnership between Korea and the U.S.
Korea's leftist governments and North Korean sympathizers have long tried to undermine the Korea-U.S. alliance through a wide range of anti-American activities, including false news reports linking mad cow disease and U.S. beef, sensationalistic reporting of the accidental death of Korean students during a U.S. military exercise, exaggerating the effects of environmental pollution on U.S. bases in Korea, a lukewarm response to THAAD installation, and more.
President Moon Jae-in has taken on the role of providing diplomatic mediation for Kim Jong-un, claiming to countless foreign heads of state at numerous opportunities including the U.N. General Assembly, ASEM, ASEAN+3, APEC and G20 meetings that since Kim Jong-un is showing signs of a willingness to denuclearize, the world must respond with relaxed sanctions; such entreating, however, has produced no results.
Recent developments are increasingly pointing to the fact that Kim Jong-un has no inclination to denuclearize, and the conclusion appears to be that our government has delivered false information to President Donald Trump.
American politicians as well as the public have begun to increasingly harbor the perception that the majority of the Korean people remain indifferent despite witnessing countless such indicators, and some commentators have begun to raise the possibility of withdrawing U.S. forces from Korea.
Innocent Korean people are being forced to endure the treacherous situation of our own government dismantling our defense readiness and mechanisms, despite North Korea's constant machinations towards a communist-led reunification of the Korean peninsula--the enduring aspiration of three generations of the Kim dynasty.
Insufficient stockpiles of ammunition, weapons, parts and other materiel in the event of a North Korean invasion will severely hamstring our ability to engage in long-term operations, which makes continuous support from the U.S. and Japan indispensable. Breaking down the Korea-U.S.-Japan partnership is akin to destroying the foundations upon which our national defense system rests.
In the face of these threats, can we afford the reckless hubris of telling U.S. forces to "leave if you want to"?
A strong Korea-U.S. alliance that keeps security threats in check is the single guarantor that enables Korea to maintain its status as a world-leading manufacturing center, keep its investment-attracting high credit rating and run its trillion-dollar trade industry.
The perception among the international community is that Korea will be in dire straits without American assistance in the event of a nuclear-armed North Korean attack. If signs point to increasing uncertainties in the future of the Korea-U.S. alliance, there is no question that the Korean economy will plunge into an unrecoverable tailspin.
If the Moon Jae-in administration misleads the Korean people under the pretext of saving a trillion won in spending, this will be akin to gambling with the very survival of our nation and its economy that relies on international trade and exchange, a situation prudent observers cannot in good conscience stand by and ignore.
2. Restoring good amity with Japan
Korea‘s judicial branch is creating an unnecessary international crisis by shaking the norms regarding compensation by Japan that were established after relations between the two nations were normalized in 1965, fueling the possibility that the international community will begin to label Korea as a quasi-rogue nation.
The current administration must reaffirm the fact that the issue of compensation between Korea and Japan has been settled in finality by the 1965 agreement, and any remaining individual claims must be "settled by our own government," which has been our previous stance.
Should this issue be brought before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or other tribunals of arbitration, there is little chance that Korea will prevail especially in light of our nation's historic position and norms and its current erratic behavior.
If Korea refuses to adopt a peaceful solution and Japan then uses Korea's reticence as an excuse to engage in economic or other physical measures, and if the international community permits or overlooks such actions, we may be backing ourselves into a corner of embarrassing capitulation to Japan.
3. Prompt restoration of the Korea-U.S.-Japan partnership and a wake-up call for the people of Korea
In the face of this unprecedented diplomatic and security crisis, our national leaders and members of the diplomatic and defense communities must promptly prepare realistic measures to repair the long-standing Korea-U.S.-Japan security partnership structure, and the Korean people must make themselves more aware of the severity and urgency of these diplomatic and national defense situations.
January 15, 2019
Endorsed by 44 Former senior foreign service officials :
KIM SUKWOO, LEE SANGKU, HUH LEEHOON, CHOI DONGJIN, CHO WONIL, PARK DONGSOON, LEE JAICHUN, BYUN SEUNGKOOK, SONG JONGHWAN, KONG SUNSUP, KWON YOUNGJIN, KIM DONGYERN, KIM MYUNGBAE, KIM YOUNGKI, KIM YOUNGCHUL, KIM OCKJOO, KIM EUISHICK, KIM JONGROK, KIM CHONHGMAN, KIM CHONGYUL, KIM JUNGKEUN, KIM CHOONGKYUNG, KIM HYUNGDAE, RO YOUNGWOO, DO YOUNGSUCK, PARK SEUNGMOO, SUH KEUNYI, WOO JONGHO, LEE SUKJO, LIM DAIYONG, YU SUKRYUL, CHANG KIHO, CHUN SOONKYU, JUNG DONGIL, CHUNG SOONSUK, CHUNG YUNGCHAE, CHUNG JINHO, CHUN INPIL, CHAE WONAM, CHOI BYUNGKU, CHOI SEUNGHOH, CHOI YOUNGHA, CHOI YONG, HONG SUNGMOG (total 44)
|
