July 27th, 1953 is the day the killing stopped in the Korean War 64 years ago. On this anniversary occasion, it is timely to contemplate a solution to the North Korean dilemma confronting the United States and the world.
I am a 90-year-old veteran of the Korean War. I hope that someone somewhere will pay attention to what I have to say. We saved South Korea from the North Koreans at great cost all those years ago. Some 36, 000 American service personnel were killed, 103,000 were wounded and 7,799 are still listed as missing in action from the 37-month war. The war was intense with an average casualty rate of 3,968 per month.
We must not save South Korea again in another bloody war.
I hope our President will make it clear to President Moon Jae-in that it is the sole responsibility of South Korea to mobilize its armed forces into an efficient and effective fighting force capable of defeating North Korea. The United States should work with President Moon to provide his country with the missiles, tanks, planes and other equipment that is needed. We can also provide training to the South Koreans as necessary. We then should withdraw our forces now stationed in Korea to emphasize that we are not there to deter Kim Jong-un or risk American service personnel in another round of combat on the Peninsula. It is unacceptably dangerous for us to have 28,000 service personnel stationed in Korea. As long as they are there, the South Koreans will lack the motivation necessary to sustain a force adequate to protect their country against Kim Jong-un’s military.
South Korea is a prosperous nation of more than 50 million people. North Korea is a nation of about 25 million impoverished people. Those statistics alone support my opinion that my plan is doable.
In November of 1950, China interceded in the Korean War and sent hundreds of thousands of troops across the Yalu River into Korea extending the war and the massive casualties to follow. China should feel a responsibility to do more to stop Kim Jong-un from developing an intercontinental missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead that can reach as far as Hawaii and the west coast of the United States. Kim Jung-un has said that he is developing his nuclear capability to protect his country from being attacked.
China can and should guarantee that they will protect North Korea from such an attack, provided North Korea dismantles and discontinues its nuclear programs. President Donald Trump can use his new relationship with the Chinese leadership to make this happen. The history of recent decades has proven that sanctions and United Nations resolutions do not work.
It is now evident that North Korea will have an operable long-range missile to which it will be able to attach a nuclear warhead and be capable of reaching Hawaii and the west coast of the United States. If China will not cause Kim Jong-un to dismantle its nuclear program, more-drastic action will be required.
The preferred result is regime change from within North Korea. If that does not or cannot happen, then regime change brought about by a coalition of nations will be necessary. The situation is complex, difficult and dangerous, but eventually, action will be needed.
I am disappointed that President Trump, after his meetings with President Moon, only seemed to discuss improving the trade deficit with no mention of solving the imminent danger that hangs over the Peninsula. My plea is that he convince President Moon to mobilize and be able and ready. He then should order all American troops withdrawn from Korea.
In 1951, I was with the First Marine Division fighting the Chinese army at the 38th Parallel in Korea. To me the war is not about the statistics noted above. I still see the fixed stare of death in the unseeing eyes of a young Marine lying in the muck on a hillside. I still taste and smell the cordite mixed with the acrid odor of blood. I hear my best friend, Darry, talking about his plans for a future that was not to be.
To repeat the horrors of the Korean War must not be allowed to happen. I urge action now before it is too late.
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