A Look At North And South Korea’s Recent Peace Talks — Good Or Bad For U.S.?

ISIS, Syrians, and Boko Haram have been the main discussions among United States citizens, recently. Yet, we’ve overlooked North and South Korea’s recent peace talks. What could this mean for the United States and its presence in the divided nation of Korea?

The United States has a lot on its plate right now. Not that the nation wants to be a glutton, but right now, it doesn’t need “seconds.” As mentioned in a previous Inquisitr report, the U.S. is already entangled in the ISIS situation, butting heads amid the Syrian crisis, and being opposed due to its lack of concern in Nigeria’s Boko Haram massacres.

Now, there seems to be another potential threat to the United States: a possible reunion of North and South Korea. Although this is wonderful news for the Republic of Korea, as a whole, what does it mean when America is allied with the South, but the South rejoins the North? As you may know, the U.S. has bases, as well as naval fleets in the southern region, as part of an old alliance against the country’s counterpart.

However, as reports The Diplomat, “For the alliance to continue into the future, it must expand beyond old parameters.” Yet, United States Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter made the following statement after North Korea fired two short-range missiles into its waters, just days before he arrived to South Korea.

“It’s a reminder of how dangerous things are on the Korean Peninsula and how a highly ready force in support of a very strong ally.?.?. is necessary to keep the peace.”

Yet, to the contrary, according to a recent New York Times report on Friday, North and South Korea agreed to meet each other next week to further their discussion as it relates to “improving ties on the peninsula” and “easing tensions.” The news source specifically states as follows.

“The South Korean Unification Ministry said on Friday that it had accepted a proposal from the North to hold the talks next Thursday on the northern side of Panmunjom, a village straddling the border. It said the talks would be led by working-level negotiators to prepare for a full-fledged dialogue that both countries had agreed in August to hold in Seoul [S. Korea] or Pyongyang [N. Korea].”

So, where does that leave American forces in the area if such a governmental reunion takes place? From the report, at this point, the United States’ alliance with South Korea is only necessary while North Korea is a threat. If the northern region is no longer a threat to the southern republic, would the U.S. be required to pull out of the region? Furthermore, with concern for China’s growing threat while allied with North Korea, where would America stand against those odds in manpower?

Manpower Available: 1. #USA: 145,212,012. 2. #Russia: 69,117,271. 3. #China: 749,610,775. Source: CIA Factbook (2)

— Nadim M. Jisr (@nadjisr) November 9, 2015

While these senior-government talks are set to resume, during the previous meeting, North Korea was aptly apologetic to South Korea and its loss. According to another New York Times reported in August, two of South Korea’s soldiers were “maimed” during various mine explosions.

Likewise, South Korean leaders apologized for spreading propaganda through its loudspeakers, at the two nations’ border. North Korea saw this as an act of war and was readying itself for the possibility of another civil war.

However, since they’ve shown each other empathy in certain domestic regards, they’ve elected to continue such progressions. As part of the agreement, they briefly allowed those loved ones and families who were separated by the Korean War to reunite. The New York Times covered another article in October which featured a Korean couple who had only been married for approximately eight months before they were separated by the war.

Sixty-five years later, the couple — mentioned within the article as Lee Soon-kyu (wife) and Oh In-se (husband) — were allowed to recap their lost years together. Lee never remarried, and when she saw her husband, she spoke as follows.

“I can’t tell how much I missed you. I have wept so much thinking of us that there are no tears left in me.”

She had to raise their son, Oh Jang-gyun (64), alone after the war-forced split. Oh In-se replied, “My dear, I didn’t know that the war would do this to us.” Their reunion continued throughout the day. They were only one of several thousand families who were enjoying the sight of their loved ones again.

Nevertheless, how much further do you think these peace talks will extend? Do you think they’ll complete themselves into full reunion as the Republic of Korea? As can be seen, the people are happy about the recent decisions of their governments. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, below.

[Photo by Martin Rose/Getty Images Sport; Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images AsiaPac; Feng Li/Getty Images Europe]