Bad International Politics Paper Made By Yours Truly

The United Nations as a peackeeping force is more of a first-aid kit than an actual medical treatment. This analogy is more clearly represented by its first peacekeeping operation, the Korean War.

The Korean War  started in 1950 when the North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) breached the 38th parallel, the geographic line dividing North Korea and South Korea. This move to invade its southern neighbor was condemned by the UN Security Council of that time with a 9-0 vote. The UN assembled a multi-national military force to help the South Korean forces repel the NKPA’s advances.

They were able to drive the NKPA back to the 38th parallel but were able to do nothing more as China entered the conflict in support of North Korea. A two-year long stalemate followed with neither side budging. Three years after it started, the war came to a close with no significant changes as neither side was successful in dominating the other.This was the first in a series of armed conflicts that would be brought about by the Cold War.

Taking a closer view of the situation, it can be seen that the Korean War was an extension of the brewing conflict between the two great powers of the time, the USA and the USSR. These two powers technically had nothing to do with Korea after they had liberated it from Japan, but both of them put up military installations within Korea’s territory to receive surrendering Japanese forces. Aside from bringing their military forces, the great powers also brought their conflicting ideologies of Communism and Capitalism. These ideologies split Korea in two, with the two sides adopting the occupying force’s ideology. North Korea, occupied by the USSR, became Communist, while South Korea, occupied by the USA, became Capitalist. Neither of the great powers relished the thought of leaving Korea to its rival and the great powers continued their intervention in territory that was never theirs to begin with. These two powers’ influence also extended to the United Nations as major events were decided due to the action or inaction of these two countries.

It would not be too presumptious if it would be said that the UN’s military actions against North Korea could not have happened if the USSR was not boycotting the Security Council at the time. With the USSR as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, a veto from it could have prevented the UN’s active military actions. It could have also vetoed any council resolution that would be detrimental to its allies. The US on the other hand, presented the case of North Korea’s hostilities to the Security Council and went on to lead the countries who joined the UN Joint Command. All major military actions were headed by the US and majority of the UN Joint Command was made-up of US troops. The Command’s largest member was the US with a troop strength of 302,483. The second largest was the United Kingdom with 14,198. The rest of the members’ troop strengths ranged from 44 to 6,146. By troop strength alone, we can see that the Joint Command was basically a US army carrying a multinational flag.

At the end of the Korean War, the UN stepped back and assumed an observer role over the two Koreas. It basically let the two Koreas handle whatever issues they had between them on their own. It has been giving more attention to North Korea due to speculations of it carrying nuclear arms. Sanctions, like an embargo on the trade of arms,  have been passed on North Korea to deter it from pursuing any further projects in Nuclear Armaments. (It is interesting to note that the US has breached this embargo, letting Ethiopians purchase Soviet-Era arms from North Korea, to help Ethiopians against religious extremists.) The UN supports the idea of a reunified Korea and supports actions leading to it. But a problem arises from what would be the ideal Korea. North Korea proposed the idea of a unified government with different socioeconomic systems for the two Koreas. South Korea supported the idea of cultural and economic exchange, but rejected the idea of a single government. Both Koreas would have liked to be the dominating state.

In the immediate years after the war, negotiations about reunification were at a stalemate.  North Korea had the upper hand military-wise but South Korea slowly gained leverage as its economy grew at a faster rate than North Korea’s. Presently, reunification attmepts are being made though these have been criticized regarding their actual intentions. South Korea leans to the idea of reunification by absorption, an idea also supported by the US, basically how the German reunification came about. The basic scenario would be an internal collapse of North Korea leaving South Korea in full control of the negotiations and full responsibility for the rest of its neighbor. This option benefits the capitalist elite of South Korea as supporters of, or ideas from, North Korean socialism will  have no say in any resolutions made. This scenario is highly likely given the present conditions though it is not an advisable course to follow; the aftermath of absorption is a costly one as seen in the German reunification in the late 1980’s.

At present, North Korea is an economically stagnant state with a totalitarian government whose leader is speculated to have health problems. Any major event like the death of its current head of state, Kim Jong Il, can cause an implosion of the state and can result in a potential crisis needing international humanitarian help. The Korean situation deals with economic differences greater than that of the German situation and will need international support to make it work. Threat of invasion or armed conflict is still possible, given the situation the state is in. North Korea proves to be an unpredictable actor in the international political stage. It clings to its nuclear arms as its only source of weight and uses the threat of it as a bargaining tool. Analysts fear that North Korea may resort to using its nuclear weapons in moments of desperation. All South Korean males have mandatory military service for two years because of this looming threat of armed conflict with North Korea.

This precarious touch-and-go situation is the legacy of the Korean War. The United Nations was successful in countering the armed advance of North Korea in the 1950’s, broadcasting a message to the world that the post-World War Two era rejects the idea of states getting their way through armed advances. Sadly, the UN was also caught in between the power struggles between the USA and the USSR, itself being limited in its actions due to the conflict between two permanent members of its Security Council.

references:

http://www.korean-war.com/unitednations.html

http://www.san.beck.org/GPJ22b-UNPeacekeeping.html

http://knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Korean_War/

http://www.monthlyreview.org/books/excerpts/korea2.php

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/sanction/indexkor.htm

https://www.rand.org/commentary/2008/03/13/KH.html

https://www.rand.org/commentary/112806UPI.html