Tag: South Korea

How Yoon Planned to Set South Korea on the Path to Military Dictatorship

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By Gregory Elich

Since South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed attempt to impose martial law on December 3, a steady stream of revelations has emerged from reporters and investigators, painting an increasingly disturbing picture of events. Plans drawn up by Yoon’s co-conspirators included a shocking level of brutality and the promise of repression on a mass scale. His administration even made efforts to provoke a conflict with North Korea to bolster the case for martial rule. Although many Western reports framed the end of martial law as a triumph of democracy, South Korea is not out of danger yet. The extreme right actively opposes Yoon’s impeachment, and it remains to be seen if the Constitutional Court will confirm Yoon’s impeachment.

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The Fight Over THAAD in Korea

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By Gregory Elich

Since the U.S. military brought its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to South Korea in 2017, it has met with sustained local resistance. THAAD is the centerpiece of the numerous actions the United States has undertaken to enmesh South Korea in its hostile anti-China campaign, a course that Korean peace activists are fighting to reverse.

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Is a New Korean War in the Offing?

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By Gregory Elich

In recent days, U.S. media have been proclaiming that North Korea plans to initiate military action against its neighbor to the south. An article by Robert L. Carlin and Siegfried S. Hecker, neither previously prone to making wild assertions, created quite a splash and set off a chain reaction of media fear-mongering. In Carlin’s and Hecker’s assessment, “[W]e believe that, like his grandfather in 1950, Kim Jong Un has made a strategic decision to go to war.” They add that if North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is convinced that engagement with the United States is not possible, then “his recent words and actions point toward the prospects of a military solution using [his nuclear] arsenal.” [1]

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The Impact of the Korean War

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Hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Gregory Elich to discuss the anniversary of the beginning of the Korean war and how the US divided the peninsula, how the war has had lasting effects on both sides of the Korean Peninsula and led to intense repression of progressive political elements in the south, and why the Korean Peninsula is so important to US imperialism.

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What is on the Agenda in South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s Visit to Washington?

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Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Gregory Elich to discuss South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to the US and what might be on the agenda with regard to South Korea’s involvement in the conflict in Ukraine, the potential for South Korea to be a bigger part of the US tech war against China as tensions between the US and China escalate, and how this visit may impact inter-Korean relations as the US prepares for a conflict in East Asia.

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The Geopolitical Influences on Upcoming South Korean Election

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In this segment of By Any means Necessary, Sean Blackmon and Jacqueline Luqman are joined by Gregory Elich to discuss the upcoming general elections in South Korea and the geopolitical contours that affect the race and US involvement in the peninsula, how South Korea’s proximity to North Korea and China impacts the stakes of the election and US interest in the eventual winner, and current president Moon Jae-In’s myopic focus on a peace declaration that would have little effect on the potential for peace on the Korean peninsula.

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Reminding South Korea Who is Boss: Biden’s Enforcers Pay a Visit

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By Gregory Elich

In a Washington Post opinion piece, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spelled out their objectives in visiting Japan, South Korea, and India. “The United States is now making a big push to revitalize our ties with friends and partners,” they wrote. The nature of those relationships, as perceived by Washington, is the subordination of Asian nations as junior partners in an anti-China coalition. “Our alliances are what our military calls ‘force multipliers’,” Blinken and Austin explain. “Our combined power makes us stronger when we must push back against China’s aggression and threats.” [1]

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Is There Any Hope for Revival of U.S.-North Korea Negotiations?

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Interview with Gregory Elich

Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun arrived in Seoul, South Korea yesterday for talks on stalled nuclear diplomacy hours after North Korea said it had “no intention of sitting face to face with the United States.” President Trump had said earlier in the day that he was willing to have yet another summit with the North Korean leader. But Biegun reiterated the U.S. position that North Korea must give up all of its nuclear weapons, something North Korea has always maintained it would not do unilaterally without concurrent sanctions relief.

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The U.S. Tightens its Grip on South Korea to Strengthen its Anti-China Alliance

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By Gregory Elich

Back in August, South Korea’s 90-day notice that it would withdraw from the General Security of Military Intelligence Agreement (GSOMIA) set off alarm bells in Washington. The agreement provided the means for South Korea and Japan to directly share military intelligence on North Korea.

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Towards Ending the 65 Years of Armistice: Understanding the process for peace in Korea

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An interview with Gregory Elich

July 27, 2018 marks the 65th anniversary of the Armistice Agreement which brought about a ceasefire to the Korean War. The agreement was signed by North Korean General Nam Il representing both the Korean People’s Army (KPA) as well as the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army (PVA) and U.S. Army Lieutenant General Harrison, Jr. representing the United Nations Command (UNC).

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