Paper
Chung Min Lee
{
"authors": [
"Chung Min Lee"
],
"type": "legacyinthemedia",
"centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
],
"collections": [],
"englishNewsletterAll": "asia",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"programAffiliation": "AP",
"programs": [
"Asia"
],
"projects": [],
"regions": [
"East Asia",
"South Korea",
"North Korea"
],
"topics": [
"Security"
]
}
Source: Getty
In The Media
Ending the Korean War Won’t Be Easy as Long as North Korea Exists
A just, enduring peace is possible on the Korean Peninsula, but it’s not going to happen just because political leaders decide to formally end the Korean conflict.
Published on Jul 5, 2020
Source: National Interest
With South Korea and the United States marking the seventieth anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, which began on June 25, 1950, it’s time to consider the conditions for a lasting and just peace on the Korean Peninsula. The Korean conflict was instrumental in solidifying the Cold War at both ends of the Eurasian continent. While vestiges of the Cold War have disappeared from Europe, the Cold War remains very much alive on the Korean Peninsula. Formally ending it will serve as a major catalyst in implementing a more stable security structure in and around the Korean Peninsula.
But a declaration of an end to the war based on political expediency and naïve conceptions of peace between the two Koreas isn’t going to result in real peace. The reason why a Cold War persists on the peninsula is because of the continuing threat emanating from North Korea—the world’s only communist dynasty. Armed with nuclear weapons since 2006 and with accelerating nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, North Korea under Kim Jong-un has hardly relaxed tensions with South Korea.
This article was originally published by the National Interest.
About the Author
Chung Min Lee
Senior Fellow, Asia Program
Chung Min Lee is a senior fellow in Carnegie’s Asia Program. He is an expert on Korean and Northeast Asian security, defense, intelligence, and crisis management.
- Are Long-Term NATO–South Korea Defense Ties Possible? Transitioning From an Arms Exporter to a Trusted Defense Partner
- President Lee Jae Myung and the Resetting of Korea, Inc.Article
Chung Min Lee
Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
More Work from Carnegie China
- China’s Mediation Offer in the Thailand-Cambodia Border Dispute Sheds Light on Beijing’s Security Role in Southeast AsiaCommentary
The Thai-Cambodian conflict highlights the limits to China's peacemaker ambition and the significance of this role on Southeast Asia’s balance of power.
Pongphisoot (Paul) Busbarat
- How to Predict China’s Economic Performance for 2025: A Sectoral ApproachCommentary
GDP growth means something fundamentally different in China than in most countries.
Michael Pettis
- China Is Determined to Hold Firm Against Trump’s PressureCommentary
Beijing believes that Washington is overestimating its own leverage and its ability to handle the trade war’s impacts.
Rick Waters, Sheena Chestnut Greitens
- How Southeast Asia Sees Xi Jinping’s Regional Push Amid U.S.-China TensionsArticle
The Trump administration’s effort to reshape the global trading system and reset overseas security commitments is creating an historic inflection point. Less clear is how far China will be able to capitalize on these dynamics.
- +1
Li Mingjiang, Le Hong Hiep, Ngeow Chow Bing, …
- A Second Trump Term: Will Southeast Asia Tilt Toward China?Commentary
Tapping our network of China experts in the region, Carnegie China offers this latest “China Through a Southeast Asian Lens” report to offer preliminary assessments of whether the U.S. effort to reshape the global trading order will lead countries in the region to tilt toward Beijing.
- +6
Selina Ho, Khin Khin Kyaw Kyee, Joseph Ching Velasco, …
