Essay on Reunification of Korea

Essay on Reunification of Korea Essay on Reunification of Korea Essay on Reunification of KoreaThe unification of Korea is one of the major priorities for South Korea at the moment. This is why South Korea should accept the offer of China to support the reunification of Korea in exchange for the withdrawal of the US army from Korean peninsula.At the moment, North Korea is the real threat to South Korea that requires the presence of American troops on Korean peninsula. The elimination of this threat would naturally make the presence of the US army unnecessary in Korea. At any rate, the US army will not be crucial for the safety of Korea after the reunification of two countries.In addition, China is rather a hypothetical threat to reunified Korea than the real one. In such a situation, the presence of the US army on Korean peninsula would rather maintain the tension in the region that ease it because China will view the peninsula as a potential threat to its national interests and safety because China views the US as the potential rival in the regi on. The withdrawal of the US army from Korea will ease the tension because China will not view the peninsula as a source of potential threat for its national interests.Furthermore, unified Korea may not view China as the rival or enemy because current economic interests of the two countries stimulate the economic and, therefore, political cooperation rather than confrontation and persisting tension between China and Korea. The regional economic cooperation will be more beneficial for both countries in economic terms than their confrontation.In addition, China will still keep in mind Japan and the presence of the US army in Japan. In fact, if Korea feels insecure, it can develop closer cooperation with Japan and maintain close relations with the US as is the case of Israel in the Middle East. In such a way, Korea will have a strong US-Japanese back-up in case of the confrontation with China.Moreover, technically, the occupation of Korea by China is possible but the US as well as othe r countries of the region, especially Japan, can supply Korea with extensive military aid, including their direct military deployment, if necessary.At this point, it is also worth mentioning the fact that the modern weapon and technology do not need the physical location of the US army on Korean peninsula. Instead, the US may deploy its navy to cover Korea. For example, in case of the military aggression from the part of China, the US may deploy its navy forces to support Korea and provide the military back up. The deployment of the military force may not be necessary in the contemporary war. At this point, it is possible to refer to recent military conflicts the US was involved in, where the use of the aviation, missiles and high tech weapons allowed minimizing the use of the infantry and land force, while in case of Libya, the use of land forces by the US and its allies was unnecessary. Instead, the allies deployed the aviation mainly, while local military forces conducted the lan d operation. Similarly, in case of the large scale conflict, the US may supply the tactical support, such as aviation and missile attacks, while the land force of Korea can conduct the on land defense.Finally, the main reason for the reunification of Korea on the condition of the US withdrawal from the peninsula is the ease of tension in the region (Glaser Snyder, 2010). China and reunified Korea will be more interested in their cooperation rather than confrontation. China will not have the reason to view Korean peninsula as a threat to its national interests, if the US withdraws its army from the peninsula. Instead, this move will open the way for the closer cooperation between Korea and China, who are interested in the stability in the region rather than in the confrontation.On the other hand, the withdrawal of the US army from Korean peninsula will enhance consistently the position of China in the region. This is the major argument against the reunification of Korea on the condi tion of the withdrawal of the US army. At this point, it is important to place emphasis on the fact that the US military presence is a restricting factor that prevents China from extending its influence in the region (Cumings, 1997). At this point, it is possible to presuppose that China may expand the sphere of its impact on Korea since there would be no rivals in the region but Russia, which though can hardly challenge the position of China in the region as strongly as the US.In addition, the withdrawal of the US from Korea will enhance the role of Japan in the region that will put Korea in the position of a mere puppet in hands of the major powers, including China, the US, Japan and Russia, in a way (Nikitin, 2013). The presence of the US army on Korean peninsula makes Korea an important player in the international politics in the East Asian region. Being deprived of the direct military support and presence of the US, Korea becomes more dependent on policies and position of neigh boring states.In a long-run perspective, the withdrawal of the US army from Korean peninsula may result in the enhancement of the position of China and steady pushing the US out of the region. In such a situation, Japan may also use the weakening of the position of the US since Japan will actually remain the only ally that can grant its territory of the US military bases. However, Japan may try to take the lead in the region and pushing the US out of the region (Cumings, 1996). In this regard, the current attempt to grant more power to Japan making it the major ally in the region, which can operate with minimal American support like Israel in the Middle East, which has its own military forces and relies on the political support of the US as its strategic partner.Thus, the reunification of Korea is rather a positive solution to the current problem of Korean conflict. At the same time, the reunification of Korea on the condition of withdrawal of American army is quite controversial si nce it weakens the position of the US and opens the way for the emergence of China and Japan as the major powers in the region. Nevertheless, such reunification is rather positive than negative because it finally eases the tension on the peninsula and the region and allows closer economic cooperation between countries of the region that is likely to become prior to political ambitions of these countries.