Last month, on September 23rd, President Moon Jae-in advocated the End-of-War Declaration of the Korean Peninsula in the keynote speech during the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Since then, criticisms from the opposition are growing over it. Moreover, public opinion is also harsh due to the murder of a South Korean official of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries by the North Korean military. Why does the Moon Administration push for the end-of-war declaration in such a dire situation? The end-of-war declaration is nothing but a political declaration. It isn't even legally binding. Then why do we need it now and what other impacts would it have on us? The leverage that will bring the abnormal state back to normal The end-of-war declaration is the leverage needed to bring the abnormal state of nation back to normal. Currently, the Korean Peninsula is still in a truce 67 years after the final battle of the Korean War. As a result, many things are in an abnormal and unnatural state. The most typical issues are related to the United Nations Command (UNC). The UNC should have been disbanded after the signing of the Armistice Agreement in July 1953 as it was establihed by the United Nations Security Council Resolution for the purpose of having U.N. troops assist right after the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. However, the UNC has remained in existence until now, infringing on our sovereignty on a daily basis. The UNC, which has only a title remaining, is hindering all kinds of exchanges and cooperation between the two Koreas. For example, the UNC disapproved the following recent activities: a) the field survey of the northern section of the Gyeongui Line of inter-Korea railway system in August 2018; b) the field survey of the southern part of Cheorwon Fortress Site of Taebong in June 2019; c) Korea-Germany Joint Consultation Committee on National Unification’s visit to Goseong Guard Post in June 2019; d) access to Daesung-dong village for journalists during the Unification Minister’s visit in August 2019; and e) the torch relay of the 100th National Sports Festival in the Joint Security Area (JSA) in October 2019. Whenever the UNC disapproves the entry into the Demilitarized Zone, it requires us to provide evidence that it is "safe" to carry out the objectives of the project, but there is no clear standard. Furthermore, it is the South Korean military who is fully responsible for the safety issue. The current Operational Control (OPCON) needs to be questioned. The right of a country to control its own troops is an inalienable sovereign matter that guarantees the president's exercise of the right to command the armed forces under Article 74 of the Constitution. According to an agreement between the military authorities of South Korea and the U.S., the transfer of OPCON will be carried out after following three phases of verification and evaluation: initial operational capability (IOC), Full Operational Capability (FOC) and full mission capability (FMC). However, there is no specific deadline set for the transfer of OPCON, and it would be delayed if the U.S. military does not agree to the terms. It is clear that national security will be strengthened, and the Korea-U.S. alliance will advance when the Republic of Korea, the world's 10th-largest economy and the seventh-largest military power in the world, can operate as a normal state. Therefore, Kim Chong-in, chairman of the People Power Party’s Emergency Planning Committee, said, "the end-of-war declaration is not an end to the war, but an act that can bring the end of the Republic of Korea" and it “is an anti-constitutional behavior that violates national security." His comment is nothing but a claim to maintain this abnormal state. Link to the establishment of a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula The end-of-war declaration is a strategic link needed to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue and to establish a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. The idea of declaring an end to the war came from former U.S. President George W. Bush. At the Korea-U.S. summit held in November 2006, President Bush said if North Korea abandoned its nuclear programs, he and President Roh Moo-hyun would meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to jointly sign the end-of-war declaration and proclaim the end of the Korean War. The idea was to resolve North Korea's security threat through the end-of-war declaration as an interim step because it was difficult to sign a peace treaty, which was North Korea's demand. At that time, North Korea didn’t welcome the gesture because the effectiveness of the declaration was vague. In the April 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, the issue of declaring the end of the war was highlighted again. In the third round of inter-Korean summit held in Panmunjom in 2018, President Moon Jae-in and Chairman Kim Jong-un agreed to promote the three-party summit of the two Koreas and the U.S. or the four-party summit of the two Koreas, U.S. and China to declare the end of war in 2018 and to turn the armistice agreement into a peace treaty. To finalize a peace treaty that ends the war, the related parties must agree on numerous issues. In the case of the Korean Peninsula, it is necessary to deal with the issue of settling peace in the divided nations. It will take a long time to reach an agreement due to the complicated and difficult issues such as the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), and military measures to prevent war. Furthermore, negotiations should be carried out to dismantle the weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons and missiles of North Korea, and to resolve the security threats North Korea feels. Therefore, the idea of the end-of-war declaration is to develop a link between the leaders of the two Koreas and the U.S. to meet first and to declare the end to the war politically, creating a momentum for the dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear weapons program and the establishment of a peace regime prior to the advancement into a peace treaty. The end-of-war declaration is a strategic agenda for dealing with the recent international environment, where uncertainties have been maximized. The U.S. presidential election is just two weeks away. Although Joe Biden of the Democratic Party is ahead of President Trump in the recent opinion polls, the outcome of the election is unpredictable. Moreover, the political situation in the U.S. is far from certain as President Trump has even hinted at not accepting the election results, saying that "voting fraud could occur" over the expansion of mail-in voting. The Washington Post reported that President Trump could legally stay in power if he hinders the announcement of the final vote count results in each state, as numerous lawsuits have already been filed over the process of sending and counting postal ballots in the upcoming presidential election. The situation in the Middle East is also alarming. Some experts in the Middle East view the normalization of diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in August as a prelude to the reorganization of order in the Middle East because Saudi Arabia is behind the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. If public opinions in the Arab world are favorable and there is a possibility to resolve the conflicts regarding Palestine, Saudi Arabia may normalize the diplomatic ties with Israel. Amid the unstable international situations, the end-of-war declaration is indeed a strategic agenda to pursue the peace regime establishment process on the Korean Peninsula. In this unfavorable environment, this is indeed the right time, more than ever, to support the desperate countermeasure of the Moon Administration to cultivate peace and prosperity.(End)
