by Neil Harris
South
Korean military provocations directed at the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea are a regular event and usually increase during the annual spring
military manoeuvres, conducted jointly with the United States. This year has
been different, both in the ferocity of the southern rhetoric and the way in which
it has been backed up by American nuclear threats.
On the 18th March, Pentagon press
secretary George Little told reporters that on 8th March B-52 bombers from
Andersen Air Force Base, Guam had flown to south Korea to simulate a nuclear
attack on the DPRK during war games known as Exercise Foal Eagle.
In a co-ordinated statement the same
day, US Deputy Defence secretary Ashton Carter confirmed during his visit to
south Korea observing the military exercises, that the B-52 flights are part of
the US Pacific Command programme called “Continuous Bomber Presence”. Little
said: “We will continue to fly these training missions as part of our ongoing
actions to enhance our strategic posture in the Asia-Pacific region.”
Confirming the B52’s nuclear role he continued:
“The Foal Eagle manoeuvres will highlight both the nuclear and conventional
capabilities of the B-52s.” He then stated that further flights would happen
the next day.
He didn’t have that much choice, as
earlier in the month two Russian military aircraft identified as TU-95 “bears”,
were seen circling Guam, no doubt observing preparations for the nuclear
element of the exercises which began in early March as part of the “Key
Resolve” manoeuvres. A second round of exercises known as Foal Eagle will
continue until the end of April.
Carter then confirmed that despite “The
Pivot”, the Obama administration’s shift of military priorities away from the
Middle East and towards confronting China and Russia in the Pacific Rim, their
occupation of the southern “Republic of Korea” (ROK) would continue: “The
Asia-Pacific rebalance is a priority. It’s a historic priority. We have the
resources to accomplish it and no matter what happens in the budget debates
that go on in the United States, our commitment to the Asia-Pacific rebalance
and our commitment to the United States-ROK Alliance will remain firm.”
The American posturing was further
ramped up by the south Korean newspaper, JoongAng Ilbo on the 13th March when
it quoted an unnamed “senior government official”: “we need to have a nuclear
weapon near the Korean Peninsula”. The official continued; “Among various
options — our own development, adoption of tactical nuclear weapons and utilising
the US nuclear umbrella — the third is the most realistic.”
The official didn’t specify where the
nuclear weapons were and gave the false impression that the US puppets in the
south had some control over the matter: “By not withdrawing US weapons
participating in the Korea-US military exercises, we decided to let them stay a
while and see what happens in North Korea,” he said. It looks likely that an
American submarine armed with nuclear warheads will now be stationed nearby:
“We decided to convene another Korea-US submarine drill after the Foal Eagle
training ends at the end of April,” the official stated. “We are still
negotiating, how to utilize the nuclear weapons after then.”
The negotiations are going to be
one-sided; America’s new anti-Chinese military priorities mean that troops and
bases are on the move. This has meant that US bases in the south are being
consolidated and moved away from the front line, the south is being forced to
pay more for its occupation.
Up till now, American tactical
battlefield nuclear weapons have been stationed in the south but strategic
weapons, intended for cities and civilians were not. America is cynically using
the threat of a nuclear attack on the north as a way of appeasing the south
while it changes its strategic priorities towards a confrontation with China.
For China and Russia, the mobilisation of strategic nuclear weapons in the
Pacific is a new and worrying threat.
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