Editorial
U.S. Continues
to Muddy the Waters in Korea
On March 18, the final day of annual joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises, the South Korean warship Cheonan exploded and sank in disputed waters off the coast of the Korean Peninsula. Initial reports from the South Korean navy discounted any hostile causes of the explosion and suggested either an internal problem or the hitting of an old mine. However, the U.S. immediately began speculating that the Cheonan had been sunk by a North Korean torpedo and established and “independent inquiry” consisting of American, British, Australian and Swedish investigators. On May 20 the “independent investigators” released their report claiming that the only possible explanation for the explosion was a North Korean torpedo launched by a mini-submarine.
There are a number of problems with the conclusions of the Americans and their allies, not the least of which is the fact that it can, in no sense, be claimed that the investigation was independent. An independent investigation of the facts of the sinking would, at the very least, have included investigators from a country which is not openly allied with the United States, such as China. It would have been carried out under the auspices of the UN, rather than under the control of the U.S. Even then, the results may be suspect considering the enormous pressure that the U.S. habitually places on the UN and other international agencies to see things from its perspective. However, an investigation in which the U.S. advances its theories, appoints itself and its allies as investigators and then arrives at conclusions which serve its interests cannot be taken seriously, especially considering what is at stake in the Korean Peninsula.
It was a foregone conclusion that the U.S.-led investigation would blame the DPRK for the incident, despite the considerable evidence against such a conclusion. The Cheonan was sunk in relatively shallow waters – less than 30 metres – which provide little shelter for submarines. The Cheonan is a modern warship complete with American-supplied surveillance equipment and the incident took place in an area where confrontations have taken place before between the navies of the DPRK and the Republic of Korea (ROK). It has also been reported that several American warships and a detachment of Navy Seals were involved in war exercises in the immediate vicinity. While anything is possible, the suggestion that a DPRK submarine travelled a relatively long distance, sunk an ROK warship and escaped undetected, borders on the unbelievable, particularly at a time when the U.S. and the ROK were carrying out large-scale joint military exercises and would be anticipating some reaction from the DPRK.
However, the issue of who is responsible for the sinking of the Cheonan is really a red herring to cover up the real motives of the U.S. The Korean War was caused by the refusal of the U.S. imperialists to withdraw their occupation troops from the Korean Peninsula following the Second World War to allow the Korean people to determine their own destiny. While it started out as a civil war between the north and the south, it quickly transformed into the first major proxy war of the Cold War, involving hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the U.S. and its allies on the side of the south, as well as a million or so Chinese troops and air support from the Soviet Union on the side of the north. It ended with the signing of an armistice on July 27, 1953, but a peace agreement has never been signed, mainly due to the intransigence of the U.S.
So long as a state of war remains in place on the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. can justify maintaining a military foothold there, a foothold that would become crucial in a showdown with China and/or Russia. Over the past two decades there has been a growing movement within the ROK for an accommodation with the DPRK and some kind of reunification of Korea. However, whenever progress is made in that direction, the U.S. intervenes overtly or covertly to sabotage any rapprochement. Its interference has ranged from military provocations to the rigging of elections in order to ensure a state of no war, no peace on the Korean Peninsula.
It is most likely that the Cheonan sank, as originally announced, either due to an internal explosion or from striking an old mine which could have been planted decades ago by either side. Some commentators have raised the possibility that the vessel was deliberately sunk by the Americans in order to destabilize the region and thwart Japanese attempts to close an American military base in Okinawa. However, while we may never know the truth about why the Cheonan sank, the responsibility for this and the sinking of various other vessels on both sides of the conflict rests with the U.S. These are the unfortunate incidents that occur when the U.S. plays big power politics and puts roadblock after roadblock in the way of the peaceful resolution of the differences between the two Koreas. The only way to end such incidents and to put an end to the spectre of war hanging over the Korean Peninsula is for the U.S. to stop interfering there, pull its troops and its warship out of the region and allow the Korean people to find a peaceful solution to their problems.