Recently, the situation on the Korean Peninsula has been very tense, which has attracted attention from all parties. On the evening of August 15, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov at the invitation, focusing on exchanging views on the current situation on the Korean Peninsula.
On the phone, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said this -
Under the current situation, China and Russia should further strengthen strategic communication, work together to control the situation, and make every effort to maintain stability and promote talks, and do not allow anyone to provoke trouble at the doorstep of China and Russia. The most urgent task is to "step the brakes" on the words and deeds of North Korea and the United States, cool down the tension and prevent the "August crisis."
So what is the "August crisis" mentioned by Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the phone? Things go back to 2015 -
htmlOn August 4, a landmine exploded on the South Korean side of the military demarcation line of the Korean Peninsula, causing serious injuries to two South Korean soldiers. One of them had amputated both legs and the other had amputated one leg. htmlOn August 10, after investigation by the international investigation team, it was confirmed that it was caused by a wooden mine buried in North Korea. In retaliation, South Korea announced the resumption of broadcasting of the offensive battle against North Korea. htmlOn August 14, the North Korean side denied burying landmines and asked South Korea to stop broadcasting and demolish facilities, otherwise the North Korean army would destroy it by force. htmlOn August 20, an artillery battle broke out in North Korea and South Korea. Subsequently, the situation on the peninsula suddenly became tense. North Korea ordered the front troops to enter a quasi-war state, while South Korea ordered the troops to enter the highest level of alert. At this time, South Korea and the United States launched the "joint combat system" and implemented the "joint combat plan to respond to local provocations in North Korea."At 4 pm on August 21, North Korea first proposed to the South Korea to hold an emergency high-level dialogue between North Korea and South Korea.
At 6 pm on August 25, Huang Bingsu, Director of the General Political Bureau of the People's Army of North Korea, and Kim Yangjian, Secretary of the Central Committee, held talks with Kim Kuan-jin, Director of the National Security Office of South Korea, and Hong Rongpyo, Chief of the Ministry of Unification, held talks at the "House of Peace" on the Korean side of the Banmendian. The negotiations on
were held for four days. After a 43-hour "marathon" dispute, an agreement was reached in the early morning of August 25, and the peninsula crisis tended to ease.
Speaking of which, the confrontation crisis between North Korea and South Korea has not occurred once or twice. Why did Foreign Minister Wang Yi specifically emphasize the prevention of the "August Crisis"? Let’s first look at what’s different about the crisis in 2015 –
First of all, the formation and resolution of the crisis were suddenly realized, with obvious traces of immediate decision-making. The mine incident was the fuse of the "August Crisis", but the crisis was formed after North Korea and South Korea bombarded each other on August 20 and issued a 48-hour ultimatum to South Korea.
After that, the two sides were urgently preparing for the war and vowed to start the war. The US military warned to intervene. North Korea suddenly turned around and suggested negotiations. In just two days, the situation has had great ups and downs, with obvious traces of immediate decision-making. Although this reflects the decision makers' ability to adapt to changes, it is a hasty response and lack of long-term thinking, which greatly increases the possibility of mis-decision, thus filling the crisis with the danger of being out of control.
Secondly, we noticed that in the past, Koreans were worried that turmoil would affect their affluent life, so they often retreated in the confrontation and calmed down. However, in the "August Crisis", South Korea changed its past combat principle that it could only "retaliate against the same intensity by the same means" and changed it to "double back, fight back first and report later." This has allowed North Korea, which has always threatened to "fight a full-scale war and nuclear war", to meet a South Korea that is no longer afraid of war and is equally tough for the first time. The strong intervention of the US military in accordance with the agreement forced North Korea to propose peace talks when the situation quickly approached the critical point of the war. This is the first failure of North Korea's policy of "using super tough to tough" and has also affected the style of confrontation between the north and the south of the peninsula.
Let’s look at the situation in August this year and have entered a very critical node -
On August 5, United Nations Security Council passed resolution 2371 of unprecedentedly severe sanctions against North Korea. According to the resolution, North Korea is banned from exporting coal, iron, lead and seafood. In addition, the resolution also prohibits countries from adding new entry permits for North Korean migrant workers. The new sanctions will reduce North Korea's foreign exchange revenue by at least $1 billion a year, accounting for about one-third of its foreign exchange revenue.
0009
00 From August 21, the United States and South Korea will hold a large-scale military exercise on the Korean Peninsula with the Pyongyang regime as an imaginary enemy, code-named " Ethiopian Freedom Guardian ". At that time, the two aircraft carrier battle groups, "Carl Vinson" and "Reagan", are expected to gather in the waters near the peninsula.
Under such complex circumstances, any choice of each party will lead to different directions, and the chain reaction may bring about greater crisis, so what Foreign Minister Wang Yi said about preventing the occurrence of the "August Crisis".
In short, it is obviously unacceptable to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue through military force. We must insist on peacefully resolving the nuclear issue on the peninsula through political and diplomatic means. China has also made the best efforts in this direction. All parties should also make correct judgments and wise choices based on an attitude of being responsible to history and the people.
