South Korea: “ A House Divided Cannot Stand.”

by Pamela Williams
 
I was interested in knowing what is being said in South Korea now that the THAAD Missile System has become operational by the United States.  There has been talk of South Korea’s unrest concerning the THAAD deployment, and one has to understand their point of view.  It puts them between a rock and a hard place, and I am very empathetic to that feeling.
They are such a beautiful and gentle people, and they have yielded their trust and welfare to the United States.  But will this prove to be to their advantage or disadvantage?  At the present time, I feel they should reevaluate their positioning on this highly controversial subject.
A stern warning has come from China to the US and South Korea today.  They are making their position very clear that they simply will not tolerate this invasion of privacy, as the THAAD system sits upon their doorstep, peering into their privacy.
China:  “China calls for an immediate stop to the THAAD deployment on the Korean Peninsula,” China’s foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said during a regular press briefing. “China will pursue protecting its interests going forward by taking the necessary measures in a stern manner.”
 
What is being said in South Korea?  The following was taken from  www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20170502000874
If divided, we will become weak and vulnerable. Suppose North Korea attacks us with a missile? We will not be able to defend ourselves because we are divided. When Japan offends us, we will not be able to protest either, for we are not united. What if the United States decides to pull out its troops? We cannot but helplessly watch from the sidelines because we are split between pro-America people and anti-America people. Now China is retaliating because we have decided to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system. And yet we are helplessly being pushed around because we are divided.
 
On June 16, 1858 at the Republican State Convention held in Springfield, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln delivered the following address to the Republican Party members in the Hall of Representatives. “If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it. A house divided against itself cannot stand. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided.”
 
Lincoln’s famous speech is still valid today. Indeed, how can a house stand if it is divided? In Lincoln’s speech, the word, “house” has a double meaning: the Republican Party or the Congress and a house. Watching our sharply divided National Assembly and our irreparably torn nation, one cannot but recall Lincoln’s words. United, we can defend ourselves from foreign aggression. Divided, we will end up losing our sovereignty again. United, nobody can break us. Divided, we will be easily broken.
 
Lincoln also emphasizes the importance of knowing where we are now and where we are headed. Regrettably, however, we do not seem to know where we are and where we are going. At least our political leaders should know, so they could steer us in the right direction. Unfortunately, many of our political leaders’ immediate concern is how to win the election at any cost, rather than to check whether we are moving in the right direction in the whirlwind of international politics.
 
Leaders are like the captain of a ship, who should be constantly alert to the ship’s bearings in the vast, perilous ocean. Alas! Currently we are like passengers in a ship without a captain caught in a heavy storm. Yet our first, second and third mates are busy fighting over the captain’s chair, not realizing the advent of the dark clouds and the approaching storm.
 
The above speaks volumes to me in understanding the South Korean mindset during this time of peril.  I would hope the US understands what position the THAAD Missile System has put SK in.  The impeached President of SK was more in line with the US than the current fill-in President is.  The current President is pro-North Korea.  It would not surprise me at all if he reaches out to Kim Yong-un during this confusing and critical time.
The United States should rethink the situation South Korea is in.  Are we pushing a peaceful people to a conflict with China?  For that matter, are we pushing ourselves to a war with China?  We are in a dire situation that is leading to a world war.  Is there anyway to turn back?
 
President Trump has made the diplomatic gesture to meeting with North Korean President Kim Yong-un.  Most are making this gesture into a joke, but that is their mistake.  We are not in a joking matter, and it takes a President like Donald Trump to see that.  He is a man who is not too proud to do what it takes to stop a World War.  The American people should be proud and stand by his side.  I do.
Source: www.reviewjournal.com/news/nation-and-world/what-a-donald-trump-kim-jong-un-meeting-might-look-like/

Published on May 1, 2017
Trump willing to meet North Korea’s Kim Jong-un
 
Tensions between the US and North Korea have been increasing. But President Donald Trump has indicated he would be willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ”under the right circumstances”.
Al Jazeera’s James Bays reports from Washington, DC.