Part 3 - LA36 KB articles 1988 98 and cuttings 127 003

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In the case of Korea, US imperialism has never been reconciled to its defeat in 1953. We hear much about the effects of sanctions on Iraq through the last decade. And rightly so. But in the case of Korea, sanctions imposed at the start of war in 1950 have never been lifted. In fact, up to today, they have been progressively tightened under one pretext or another. Korean assets in the United States, frozen in 1950, remain frozen to this day. And, as with Cuba, and, indeed, with Libya and Iran, as well, the US tries by every means to inveigle third countries into following its own policy of sanctions and blockades against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The present economic difficulties being faced by People's Korea, specifically and especially the acute food shortages, and the related and equally acute shortages of foreign exchange, fuel and fertilisers, have, of course, been brought to a head by an unprecedented series of natural disasters and freak weather conditions, and they have also been exacerbated by the collapse in trading relations with erstwhile socialist allies. But they cannot be understood separate from these long and continuing years of relentless economic pressure, a preferred method of warfare that the United States has increasingly refined into genocidal forms and proportions. Despite the clear and overwhelming desire of the vast majority of the Korean people, in the north, south and overseas, for the reunification of their divided country, irrespective of differences in politics, ideology or religious belief, the United States has maintained the partition of the ancient Korean nation for around half-a-century, through its military occupation of south Korea, with some 40,000 troops, equipped with all types of weaponry, including nuclear arms. These US troops not only threaten the north, but also suppress the democratic and patriotic forces of south Korea, while posing a danger to socialist countries, national liberation movements, and progressive forces throughout the region. Were it not for the presence of US troops in the south of Korea, the Korean people would have achieved their national reunification long ago. If US troops were to quit now, I believe that reunification would come within months, if not weeks, rather than years. At the close of the 20th century, the division of Korea, ranks with the partition of Ireland and Cyprus, and the denial of the national rights of the peoples of Palestine, Kurdistan, Western Sahara, and East Timor as one of the great scandals of international politics. The US military not only maintains its military occupation of the south. From 1953 onwards, it has been engaged in constant military provocations against the north. This has involved the intrusion of spy ships, most memorably the case of the USS Pueblo, which was captured, along with its crew, by sailors of the Korean People's Army in the 1960s; incidents at the Demilitarised Zone in Panmunjon, most memorably the so-called 'axe incident' in the 1970s; and air intrusions involving flights by spy planes. According to a Korean Central News Agency report this week, the US flew 160 spy flights across Democratic Korea during last month alone. Every year, the US occupation forces, together with their south Korean subordinates and sometimes other forces, including, at times, British observers, stage some of the largest military exercises in the world on Korean soil. Both 'Operation Team Spirit' and 'Operation Foal Eagle' are avowed dress rehearsals for an invasion of the north, and at the very least poison the atmosphere for dialogue and reconciliation. Above all, the US forces play the main role in keeping the Korean people divided. It was under their aegis that the notorious 'concrete wall' was built, completely bisecting the Korean peninsula, and preventing the reunion of literally millions of Korean families. These physical barriers are complemented by repressive laws, such as the misnamed 'National Security Law', which defines the whole population of the north of Korea as an "anti-state organisation", forbids any contact between people of the north and south, bans people from

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