Horrible war in Ukraine must be stopped right now
Most wars start with delusions. Seventy-three years ago, North Korea's Kim Il-sung started a war here, vowing to take South Korea "in three days." Kim underestimated South Koreans' determination to fight and the free world's willingness to defend the southern half of this peninsula.
Different stages, same story. Russia's conflict, which many had thought would end in a few weeks, enters its second year in Ukraine.
On Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv to express the West's unwavering support, saying his Russian counterpart was "plain wrong." Less than a day later, China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, did roughly the same in Moscow, showing how the two hostile blocs started the war ― and would not stop it anytime soon.
Media reports say nearly 200,000 Russian soldiers have died. Ukrainian casualties might be similar, if not larger. In addition, about 8,300 civilians had been killed and 11,000 wounded in Ukraine as of November.
The world must stop this meaningless carnage right away.
Western media describe the war as a historic duel between democracy and authoritarianism. On the one side are the U.S. and its European allies, and on the other are Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Vladimir Putin started the war to retake Russia's control over the former east bloc. Others see it differently. Noam Chomsky, the U.S. linguist and political commentator, says Russia "was provoked" by the U.S.' eastern advance.
Global political pundits say the proxy war or the virtual World War III may likely continue for a few more years. However, the whole world already suffers from its side effects, including fuel and food shortages, which hit poorer countries and less privileged classes harder. And all this occurred when the earth began to strike back against human abuses and exploiting the planet. No human activities might be more harmful to the environment than wars, emitting carbon and destroying nature.
South Korea has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the world order of the past few decades based on political openness and free and fair trade. The ongoing shift toward closed national selfishness narrows South Korea's room to maneuver. Challenges will come from both politics and the economy. Politically, South Korea will have few other options but to stand beside its ally, the U.S. Seoul also must support Kyiv's struggle to protect itself against a far larger invader, as South Korea has done throughout its history. However, that does not mean Seoul should antagonize Moscow.
In this regard, the government has balanced the two sides quite well. It should continue sending various aid to Kyiv but not lethal weapons. There will come a time when South Korea needs Russia's cooperation concerning inter-Korean affairs. Some countries, such as India and Brazil, show examples of navigating a new world order by refraining from overly leaning to one side while defending their economic interests. South Korea's situation and position may be a little different from theirs. However, no one puts all their eggs in one basket, especially in an era of great transformation.
Pundits of international politics say the next theater of conflict could be Taiwan or the Korean Peninsula. On Monday, North Korea launched two short-range missiles into the East Sea two days after it fired an ICBM. Pyongyang made no secret that the two missiles made virtual targets of two South Korean air bases from where the U.S. military aircraft took off for joint exercises a day before. The North should stop its provocations and respond positively to the U.S. dialogue proposal. Seoul must also seek ways out of the ongoing escalation of confrontation.
Experts expect the Ukraine war to end in a truce where no one wins, just like in South Korea. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has historical, religious and cultural backgrounds of a millennium. However, the inter-Korean hatred is rooted in 80 years of division due to ideological differences that have long since become unimportant in the rest of the world. Shame on all 80 million Koreans.
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