ID :
204755
Thu, 09/01/2011 - 13:43
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/204755
The shortlink copeid
U.S., S. Korea would win a possible war on Pyongyang: expert
By Oh Seok-min
SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Yonhap) -- If the U.S., together with South Korea, were spurred to fight a war against Pyongyang, the allies would be sure to win, a U.S. security expert said on Thursday at a forum in Seoul.
"This is a completely failed regime that can do only one thing well -- trying to intimidate its neighbors," said John J. Hamre, the president and CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan, non-profit U.S.-based organization.
His remark came during the Korea Global Forum 2011 on Korean Peninsula issues held in downtown Seoul. The two-day forum, co-hosted by the Unification Ministry and the Ilmin International Relations Institute of Korea University, brought together former and current government officials and academic experts from 11 countries.
"There is no question how this drama ends. The North will either collapse or dissolve. It will not win. That is certain." he said, adding, "We'd love to take the negative energy out of the Korean Peninsula, but how does anyone look past their criminal actions when they attacked South Korea?" he asked.
In March last year, North Korea torpedoed the South Korean warship Cheonan in the Yellow Sea, killing 46 South Korean sailors. Eight months later, Pyongyang bombarded the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong, killing two Marines and two civilians.
Hamre, who also served as the U.S. deputy secretary of defense from 1997 until 2000, warned, "We -- Korea and America together -- are prepared to respond as needed. If we have to fight a war, we will. We won't start it, but we will win if it happens," calling the conflict "systematic deterrence."
He also called on Pyongyang to show "legitimate actions to gain legitimacy," emphasizing efforts for all countries concerned to have dialogue to resolve problems on the Korean Peninsula.
"We assumed that North Korea will finally understand the framework of the six-party talks. But they have their own weird way, which I cannot understand," he said.
The multilateral talks involving the two Koreas, the U.S., Japan, Russia and China began in 2003 with an aim to end Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions through peaceful negotiations, but have been stalled since 2009 when Pyongyang quit them.
"The six-party process has objectively lapsed," he argued, though the five member countries expected the multilateral talks to be successful when they designed them.
During a summit meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il expressed his intent to suspend nuclear tests and to rejoin the multilateral talks without preconditions, though any meaningful gestures have yet to come.
"We must maintain a steady course to assure the North Korean regime that there is no military solution to their problem and there is no advantage in reckless acts of intimidation," Hamre said. "Conversation is appropriate to draw from the North a change of heart."
SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Yonhap) -- If the U.S., together with South Korea, were spurred to fight a war against Pyongyang, the allies would be sure to win, a U.S. security expert said on Thursday at a forum in Seoul.
"This is a completely failed regime that can do only one thing well -- trying to intimidate its neighbors," said John J. Hamre, the president and CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan, non-profit U.S.-based organization.
His remark came during the Korea Global Forum 2011 on Korean Peninsula issues held in downtown Seoul. The two-day forum, co-hosted by the Unification Ministry and the Ilmin International Relations Institute of Korea University, brought together former and current government officials and academic experts from 11 countries.
"There is no question how this drama ends. The North will either collapse or dissolve. It will not win. That is certain." he said, adding, "We'd love to take the negative energy out of the Korean Peninsula, but how does anyone look past their criminal actions when they attacked South Korea?" he asked.
In March last year, North Korea torpedoed the South Korean warship Cheonan in the Yellow Sea, killing 46 South Korean sailors. Eight months later, Pyongyang bombarded the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong, killing two Marines and two civilians.
Hamre, who also served as the U.S. deputy secretary of defense from 1997 until 2000, warned, "We -- Korea and America together -- are prepared to respond as needed. If we have to fight a war, we will. We won't start it, but we will win if it happens," calling the conflict "systematic deterrence."
He also called on Pyongyang to show "legitimate actions to gain legitimacy," emphasizing efforts for all countries concerned to have dialogue to resolve problems on the Korean Peninsula.
"We assumed that North Korea will finally understand the framework of the six-party talks. But they have their own weird way, which I cannot understand," he said.
The multilateral talks involving the two Koreas, the U.S., Japan, Russia and China began in 2003 with an aim to end Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions through peaceful negotiations, but have been stalled since 2009 when Pyongyang quit them.
"The six-party process has objectively lapsed," he argued, though the five member countries expected the multilateral talks to be successful when they designed them.
During a summit meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il expressed his intent to suspend nuclear tests and to rejoin the multilateral talks without preconditions, though any meaningful gestures have yet to come.
"We must maintain a steady course to assure the North Korean regime that there is no military solution to their problem and there is no advantage in reckless acts of intimidation," Hamre said. "Conversation is appropriate to draw from the North a change of heart."
