[Yonhap Photo]
(This column was contributed by Kim Sang-soon, the President of East Asia Peace Research Association and an expert in international relations.)
The United States is now talking about the concept of 'preventive war' amid intensifying pressure on China. In what sense?
'Preventive war' is a more advanced concept than 'decapitation strike' or 'surgical operation' presented by the US in recent years, or 'preemptive strike' to cope with a more pressing situation. We have to worry about how Northeast Asian countries will respond, but before that, we should get our heart ready.
The new position of the US, which cites 'legal justification' in its remarks on war, is completely different from its previous options. The Korean peninsula rattled by a crisis from the second half of last year until the beginning of this year faces a new crisis in late August or early September. At a time when Northeast Asia is standing on the security Maginot Line, the Korean peninsula is again forced to make a 'historic choice'.
- Symbolic power of North Korea's second Hwasong-14 test -
The neighboring countries do not want to admit, but North Korea's Hwasong-14 has already been recognized as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), despite only two tests. Regardless of accuracy, the US mainland is within its range. Is the US reaction overblown to the fact that its territory is in the range of the enemy's ballistic missile for the first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis?
We are rather insensitive to North Korea's ICBM while our neighboring countries are working a different abacus. Probably, we do not regard North Korea's ICBM that can cross the Pacific as a direct threat.
- Northeast Asia's security dilemma on Maginot Line of misjudgment -
A single moment of misjudgment can lead to the most devastating war in history. The fact that all universal values sought by mankind have become useless in war has proved to be a myriad of historical facts.
A momentary misjudgment by leaders and decision makers in Northeast Asia can lead to a large-scale regional war or to the Third World War in human history. In the reality that it is difficult to actively cope with many variables changing every day, we are drowning in the swamp of internal division. As the range of the Hwasong-14 gets longer, do we get away from its threat?
reporter
Kim Sang-soon
cwlim34@ajunews.com
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