May 08, 2024
Opinion

The U.S. obligation to defend the South from North Korea is not limitless

American soldiers should not die because of Seoul's bad decisions

There is the potential for some serious fallout from the conviction of impeached South Korean president Park Geun-hye. Just as often happens in American elections, voters could very well react by electing a liberal candidate, one more inclined to revert to the Sunshine Policy tried in the past. This time, however, the stakes will be much higher if the political pendulum swings too far to the left.

There has been talk of engaging more with the North in an effort to transfer South Korean capitalism through osmosis, one of the justifications for the Kaesong Industrial Complex. And there are people in favor of a peace treaty with North Korea. One South Korean educator has even suggested that the Demilitarized Zone is a barrier to this and thus must be done away with.

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