Daily Lessons from Life 29 November 2010 - S.Korea bolsters troops on bombarded island, warns N.Korea

"S.Korea bolsters troops on bombarded island, warns N.Korea- Mon, Nov 29, 2010 AFP

SEOUL - South Korea deployed rocket launchers and extra artillery on a frontline border island bombarded last week by North Korea, as Seoul's leader vowed Monday to make Pyongyang pay for any fresh provocations.

An AFP photographer saw many more soldiers on the island and multiple rocket launchers being installed, six days after the barrage which triggered fury in the South and alarm worldwide.

Military officials quoted by Yonhap news agency said the number of K-9 self-propelled howitzers there had been doubled to 12."

It was interesting to know that a straw poll in China had more than 60% of the surveyed participants putting the blame the current situation on 'provocative actions by the US and South Korea for having military drills so close to the North-South border'! At the same time, one of my South Korean friends lamented the feeble response by his government and military on the continued harrassment by the North Korean army. He felt the South Koreans have grown protective of their new found wealth and peace and no longer want to have confrontation and war that could destroyed everything they owned.

Lessons for me are:

1. it is a complex situation. It is not just military but geo-political. On the one side is: North Korea-PRC-Russia and on the other side is: South Korea-USA-Japan. PRC's aim is quite obvious: keep the USA allies from right next to its border. So, North Korea will be supported at all cost. Russia is just waiting for PRC to slip up and get North Korea firmer in its 'sphere of influecnce' while the North Korea simply played with PRC/Russia with the occassional 'unprovoked strikes' against South Korea. This will always bring USA and Japan into the picture. A no win situation really for all unless someone decide to take out North Korea totally!;

2. it is obviously a dangerous game played by North Korea. It has bet that South Korea will NOT strike back. It also counted on US and Japan to maintain a pacifist stand until and unless it has really gone totally overboard! So far, the strikes were small targets and inconsequential though I must say sinking of the naval vessle with the lost of 46 sailors could have elicited a military strike of some sort from the South. Like my friend said: the North will continue to explore this weakness and misbehave continuously, albeit, intermittantly;

3. is it a valid point of view to make that the US is playing game too with South Korea by getting it to hold joint military exercises so close to the border to 'provoke' the North? I personally do not think so. The 2 nations are technically still at war. The military exercises have been going on for a while. It is more the situation unfolding in the North that caused all these increasingly reckless and daring provocations. This will not last as the North's regime is artificially created. The people, impoverished and suppressed, at least some of them, will revolt when the regime can no longer feed them properly!!

May the peace be kept and status quo be maintained for now. It will resolve by itself when the senior Kim is dead. One way or the other!