Fuel to the Fire

I think a small sigh of relief passed everyone's lips as the potential 'Korean Crisis' seemingly blew over and died down. Everyone thought it would...but you couldn't help that niggling feeling of 'what if?' going through your mind anyway. North Korea can be paranoid, irrational, unpredictable.....and holds an alarming amount of nuclear weapons. So excellent. No nuclear war this week.

So I find it interesting that the South Korean defence minister has resigned after being criticised for being 'too passive' and that 'there was too much emphasis on preventing a military incident escalating into something worse'. .......pardon? Preventing an incident escalating into something worse is quite high on my list of things to do. Prevent away!


Mr Kim quitting after being criticised for being too passive

We know that the shelling of the South Korean island occurred after the North considered the US/South Korean military training on the island to be reckless provocation given its close proximity to the North Korean border. Furthermore, since the incident, the North have stated that it "will wage second and even third rounds of attacks without any hesitation if war-mongers in South Korea make reckless military provocations again"...... So I find it alarming to hear that the US and South have plans to begin military training, 5 miles south of the border, from next week. Did they not hear what the North said? In fact, the North have stated that they will consider this training to bring the country "to the brink of war". Again. Great.

I do understand the need to appear strong. I do understand that we cannot allow North Korea to spontaneously attack the South when they feel threatened. But the underlying point through each of these attacks is that the North retaliates with alarmingly exaggerated disproportion when they feel threatened. Perhaps, we could realise the North's sensitivity to being 'threatened', and try and impliment ways to avoid such situations occuring by staying a reasonable distance from the border. Surely this is the best way to avoid war....however small the likilihood of war is. We do not have to lose face, strength, or even stop the training.

Perhaps we should focus on peace, rather than adding fuel to the fire.