http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/opinion/13harrison.html
The New York Times
December 12, 2010
Drawing a Line in the Water
By SELIG S. HARRISON
THE crisis in the Yellow Sea, which was set off by the North Korean
shelling of South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island last month, is probably
mystifying to many Americans. Why did the North fire a deadly artillery
barrage at a sparsely inhabited, relatively insignificant island? Why
has the United States dispatched an entire aircraft-carrier group to
the scene?
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Can anything be done to put an end to the simmering conflict in the
Yellow Sea? Yes, and the solution could be quite straightforward: the
United States should redraw the disputed sea boundary, called the
Northern Limit Line, moving it slightly to the south.
The Northern Limit Line was so named because it was meant to impose a
limit on any potential South Korean encroachment into North Korea. The
South's president, Syngman Rhee, still dreamed of winning the war -- he
refused to sign the armistice -- and repeatedly vowed to overthrow the
Pyongyang regime.
Rhee's hopes were never realized, but one thing the Northern Limit Line
did was to give the best fishing grounds in the area to South Korea.
It's no coincidence that many of the clashes there have occurred during
the summer crab-fishing season. If the boundary were refashioned in a
more equitable way, tensions would undoubtedly ease.
And, fortunately, President Obama has the authority to redraw the line.
On July 7, 1950, a United Nations Security Council resolution
established the United Nations Command for Korea and designated the
United States as the executive agent, with authority to name its
commander. That original command is still with us today in vestigial
form. It is commanded by Gen. Walter Sharp, who is thus the current
successor to Gen. Mark Clark, who signed the 1953 armistice.
The Obama administration would do well to consult with both Seoul and
Pyongyang on where to best set the new boundary, get an agreement from
both governments to abide by it, and put it on the map. South Korea
should not be given a veto over the redrawing. And North Korea should
be warned that any future provocations on its part like the shelling of
Yeonpyeong will result in swift, appropriate retaliation by the joint
forces of the United States and South Korea.
Ideally, redrawing the line would not only ease the present crisis, but
also set the stage for negotiations among the United States, North
Korea and China on a peace treaty that would replace the temporary
armistice and formally end the Korean War. (Since South Korea did not
sign the armistice, it cannot sign a peace treaty, but North Korea has
agreed that Seoul could be part of a future trilateral peacekeeping
body.)
One possible mechanism to replace the armistice is the "trilateral
peace regime" for the peninsula that has been proposed by North Korea's
principal military spokesman, Gen. Ri Chan-bok. Under the plan, the
armed forces of the United States, North Korea and South Korea would
set up a "mutual security assurance commission." Its role would be to
prevent incidents in the demilitarized zone that could threaten the
peace and to develop arms-control and confidence-building arrangements
on the peninsula. General Ri has said explicitly that the North would
not object to the presence of American forces on the peninsula if the
armistice and the United Nations Command were replaced.
Defusing tensions in the Yellow Sea and keeping the peace at the
demilitarized zone are the prerequisites for pursuing the larger goals
that should govern United States policy in Korea: eliminating nuclear
weapons on the peninsula and establishing normal diplomatic relations
with the Pyongyang regime, all in the aim of reducing the risk of
American involvement in another Korean War.
Selig S. Harrison, the author of "Korean Endgame," is the director of
the Asia program at the Center for International Policy.