Republic of Korea Army Captain Hosub Shim spoke on the history and security challenges of modern South Korea. Captain Shim is a graduate and former teacher at Korea’s national military academy. He also took an MA degree from Waseda University in Tokyo and is presently working on a Ph.D. in history at the University of Kansas. Historically Korea has been invaded and occupied many times by powerful neighbors, including China and Japan. However, Korean culture has survived and in South Korea, the people have prospered and built a powerhouse economy.The partition of Korea in 1945 was a defining moment in the history of the country. The ensuing war between North and South devastated the peninsula. The Korean War was also a Cold War
The partition of Korea in 1945 was a defining moment in the history of the country. The ensuing war between North and South devastated the peninsula. The Korean War was also a Cold War showdown with China and the United States engaged in combat in support of their respective allies. Open combat ended after bitter fighting only to be replaced by a contentious ceasefire that is still in place. North Korea continued to exist as a closed society with a one-party system dominated by the military and a ruling family. Most of the people of the north live in poverty and suffer periodic famine and other material shortages. In contrast the South is a democracy and boasts one of the strongest economies in the world. Captain Shim illustrated the contrast by sharing a nighttime satellite photograph of the peninsula that shows the South full of points of light and the North almost totally dark.Captain Shim believes the biggest threat to the region is the present unstable regime in the North and their continuing development of nuclear capability. The North continues to make threats and initiate provocative incidents. South Koreans welcome the presence of U.S. military forces as a deterrent but the nuclear threat makes the status quo untenable. Captain Shim belies it is essential for the United States to make a diplomatic neutralization of the North’s nuclear capability the highest priority. Despite all obstacles South Koreans long for a reunification of the country some day.
Captain Shim believes the biggest threat to the region is the present unstable regime in the North and their continuing development of nuclear capability. The North continues to make threats and initiate provocative incidents. South Koreans welcome the presence of U.S. military forces as a deterrent but the nuclear threat makes the status quo untenable. Captain Shim believes it is essential for the United States to make a diplomatic neutralization of the North’s nuclear capability the highest priority. Despite all obstacles South Koreans long for a reunification of the country some day.
