At this moment, some may be wondering about what is happening in South Korea and my impression of what happened. I was leaving my Artificial Intelligence class, had just finished a ninety-minute exam, and hadn’t had breakfast. I left the Computer Science department building to eat at my favorite cafeteria, Cheese Ramen (치즈라면). On the way, I ran into my Mexican friend who is also on exchange and joined my plan. We were talking about how demanding our classes have been these days, that my AI exam was difficult, long, a real challenge, and for him, his Modern Physics class had just subtly asked him to study over the weekend and do homework. We walked through the E11 cafeteria, which is my favorite, the food is of very good quality and always has good variety. We were arriving at the cashier when I saw an image like this:
That's how we saw it on TV.
Without thinking, I said to my buddy, look, the Korean Pearl Harbor “hahaha”, we laughed sarcastically. When we got to the noodle line, we found that serving time was over, the limit was 4 pm. But the lady who prepares them asked the cashier to still sell to us and one more person, she will definitely go to heaven. We ate, talked, laughed, until we returned to the dorms. Back at the dorm, when I turned on my computer, I found some tweets telling me to get out and asking if I was okay. Thanks for the concern to @PorrasMD @luion and @hectorgr. I opened one of the links they sent me and that’s when I realized that North Korea, for no reason, had started attacking South Korean territory.
The Korea conflict has been latent since the end of World War II and is the main heir of the Cold War. North Korea is completely closed to the world and any negotiation, as in the last decade it has violated agreements several times. The United Nations has been fooled. Some of these events are mentioned by the newspaper El País:
2002 – Secret Plans – In June 2002, US intelligence services discovered that Pyongyang was trying to buy equipment to enrich uranium instead of plutonium. In October, it was confirmed that North Korea had a secret uranium enrichment program. The regime announced it would resume activities at the Yongbyon reactor and expelled inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
2003 – Six-party Talks – North Korea agreed to sit at the negotiating table with the US, South Korea, Japan, China, and Russia to discuss a disarmament program. In September 2005, it agreed to a disarmament plan in exchange for aid. A day later, the regime retracted.
2006 – First Nuclear Test – In October, North Korea conducted its first nuclear test, causing international alarm.
2007 – Back to Negotiation – In February, North Korea again agreed to halt its nuclear program in exchange for aid.
2008 – Another Reversal – In June 2008, Pyongyang announced the dismantling of its nuclear facilities and blew up the cooling tower at the Yongbyon reactor. But it reversed the decision two months later. In May 2009, Pyongyang conducted its second nuclear test: an underground atomic explosion with power similar to the atomic bomb dropped by the US on Nagasaki.
This year there have been other strong provocations from North Korea, a few weeks ago the G20 was held in Seoul and there was an exchange of fire between watchtowers totaling 5 shots. Let’s not forget the sinking of the submarine in which 46 crew members died in March, which North Korea denies responsibility for despite evidence of a fired torpedo. And now it fires about 170 artillery shells at Yeonpyeong Island, a week after what could be a uranium enrichment plant was discovered. Several news sources infer that the motive behind the military actions is Kim Jong-Un’s succession to power. Government propaganda.
It should be noted that the South Korean government has been the one to give in at all costs to end this war once and for all. This year it sent aid to victims of the summer floods. It promoted, together with the Red Cross, the reunion of families separated by the war. Hyundai president Chung Ju Yung promised years ago the construction of an industrial complex and a new train line that would unite the Koreas. During previous disarmament agreements, about 1,200,000 tons of rice (yes, rice again…) have been provided, and recently the proposal was made to submit a joint bid for the 2022 World Cup.
The South Korean climate regarding North Korean offenses yesterday is a bit tense, there is no widespread feeling that war could break out this time. But there is a sizable group that thinks so. Some see it with indifference, as people think North Korea has only been pretending to have power. Conceiving once again a possible war in which powers like the US and China would meet could be catastrophic. Remember that during the Korean War, the American, South Korean, and British armies took the entire peninsula in 1950. Until the government of the People’s Republic of China intervened in favor of North Korea. The red lives lost were about 1,200,000 people versus 750,000 green.
We're tough and we're many
I think giving the world a bit of hope with a peaceful solution to this conflict could be the best solution. During this first decade of the new millennium, we’ve only heard of war, crisis, crime, separation, desolation. This could be the last ray of hope to reunify Korea not only as a state but also as a society through the reunion of families. The people whose families were separated in 1953 are now elderly and could very likely be the last link for the full reunification of this peninsula.
Photo: Flickr/bcgovphotos