Road leads to a peaceful peninsula

THE Korean War: A History, a book by Bruce Cumings, a professor of history at the University of Chicago, has attracted a lot of attention from the US media. Since Cumings has revealed the US army's atrocities in the "forgotten war" and said American hegemony in international politics is not right, some US media outlets have called him a leftist.

It is no longer that important to discuss who fired the first shot in the war 60 years ago. The "two camps" theory is outdated, too, to assess that war now that the Cold War (1950-53) has become history. But it's a fact that the Korean War has not ended according to international laws despite the end of Cold War.

For the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) both, the Korean War is a tragedy. A decade ago, The New York Times revealed that US soldiers had killed an unidentified number of Korean refugees in the "No Gun Ri Massacre".

China was forced to join the Korean War, and later won for itself a peaceful half century and the historical opportunity to modernise its defence capability. The Korean War also ended China's history of being invaded since 1840.

Since the 1980s, China has been adjusting its policy toward the Korean Peninsula with the changing times, and it has completely got rid of the ideological shackle since the establishment of diplomatic relations with the ROK. Despite the China-DPRK Treaty for Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, China has established a strategic cooperation partnership with the ROK. No wonder, China is considered a friend of the DPRK and the ROK both

That's why China has been hosting the Six-Party Talks and played a key role in maintaining peace and stability on the Korea Peninsula.

The existing security regime in East Asia is a relic of the Cold War, which was a product of East-West confrontation. With the end of the Cold War, former military alliances have lost their real bases. But some of them have remained intact in varying degrees. The ones like the US-Japan military alliance and US-ROK military alliances have even got stronger.

America's top concern is its unilateral interest, and not the common safety of the East Asian region. Since East Asia is of great strategic importance to the US, it is highly sensitive to any attempt to undermine its interests in this region.

The US has signed seven military cooperation treaties with other countries, five of which are in the East Asian region: Australia, Japan, the ROK, the Philippines and Thailand. The US-Japan military cooperation is most important to Washington, and the ROK is its largest military cooperation partner after the UK and Japan. It's obvious that the US tries its best, even resorts to military force, to maintain its strategic position in East Asia. The DPRK, on its part, will try to maintain its existing system at any cost and even develop nuclear weapons to counter security threats from the US.

But if the DPRK tries to develop nuclear weapons, it will not only upset the existing strategic power balance in East Asia, but also could start a nuclear arms race in the region and even the entire Asia Pacific zone. Of course, China and other neighbouring countries will oppose such attempts by the DPRK.

Therefore, the root of US-DPRK antagonism is not the so-called difference in their ideologies, but the conflict of interests. The fear of war between the US and the DPRK is real. Recently, the Cheonan incident led to the most fearful military confrontation between the ROK and the DPRK since the signing of the Korean War armistice in July 1953.

The US and the ROK's massive joint navy drill antagonised the DPRK further and evoked China's anxiety and anger.

Although it's widely believed that a Korean War-like conflict is not likely to be repeated, all parties should draw a lesson from history, maintain their calm and exercise self-restraint. They should try to resolve their disputes peacefully and as soon as possible. And the Six-Party Talks are the best platform to do that.

To restart the Six-Party Talks, many things have to be adjusted according to the changing situations, such as the agenda and the supervision mechanism. Once the DPRK's nuclear issue is resolved and its relations to with US are relaxed, it would be time to create a multilateral free trade zone and establish a new security regime in Northeast Asia.

Given the complicated situation in Northeast Asia, a "politically cold but economically warm" situation may last for some time.

But cooperation is what every country desires, and to ensure that that is fulfilled, China will continue to promote harmony in international relations through economic and cultural cooperation.

I believe economic integration in Northeast Asia will lead to harmony among countries in the region, as well as stability within these countries.

The author is director of Border Area Research Institute under the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences.

China Daily/ANN