Main focus of Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Korea's conflict

Warships from North and South Korea exchanged fire on Tuesday in the Yellow Sea in a skirmish in which the North Korean vessel was reportedly set ablaze. European commentators say the incident demonstrates that Korea is still far from reunification, and that a new Korean War could ignite at any time.

Die Presse - Austria

As Germany and Europe celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall military skirmishes have once more broken out between and North and South Korea, this time at sea. The border between the two states is still one of the most dangerous in the world, but how long that will last is unsure, writes the daily Die Presse. "As Europe commemorates with thanks the reunification of the continent, the Korean border town of Panmunjom is the scene of a ghastly daily spectacle. Martial South Korean border guards wearing sunglasses face off with grim North Koreans in a game of Cold War. The entire border is a death strip with machine gun nests, minefields and barbed wire. Is there hope for a reunification of the two Koreas? Unlikely. All the neighbouring states as well as the US have interests in maintaining the status quo. And reunification would be far more expensive for South Korea than it was for Germany. But 1989 taught the world that history is unpredictable." (11/11/2009)

» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Germany, » Asia, » U.S.
All available articles from » Thomas Seifert

Diário de Notícias - Portugal

The exchange of fire is likely to provoke only a minor dispute, but the possibility of a new Korean war is always present, the daily Diário de Notícias writes: "The escalation in tensions will no doubt remain on a verbal level. Neither of the two countries is interested in a conflict and two other minor sea battles ended in the past [1999 and 2002] without it coming to a major armed confrontation. But as North and South Korea are both heavily militarised and the Korean War between 1950 and 1953 ended without a peace treaty a new war could break out at any time. North Korea's nuclear programme increases this risk. … A solution to the Korean problem, which would be comparable with the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany, can only be achieved through dialogue. But a normalisation would require a certain opening up on the part of North Korea. This, however, seems to go against the nature of the regime. Only its Chinese ally could one day persuade North Korea to take such a step." (11/11/2009)

» full article (external link, Portuguese)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Asia, » China

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - Germany

The fact that Pyongyang did not resort to the usual militaristic rhetoric after the latest skirmish in the Yellow Sea leads the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung to presume that there is more to the clash than a mere unforeseen incident: "If North Korean leader Kim Jong-il wanted to send out a message with the clash then it is primarily directed to those at home. The most probable addressee is the military, which is widely considered as the true locus of power in the ruined state. In recent times North Korea had sent various conciliatory signals to the world. For the most stubborn minds in Pyongyang - all of whom are widely believed to wear uniforms - constructive behavior is only a sign of weakness. And demonstrating weakness must be avoided at all cost. This message from Pyongyang is worrying." (11/11/2009)

» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Asia

» To the complete press review of Wednesday, November 11, 2009