Recently,
in the North/South Korea Reconciliation Column of the Catholic Times
Weekly the Bishops' Reconciliation committee director gives us his
thoughts on some problems faced in attaining peace.
He mentions
reading an article by a military expert who suggested securing '10,000
missiles' as a response to North Korea’s nuclear weapons. He brought up
the name of Yulgok the minister of defense from history who wanted to
raise an army of 100,000 against a Japanese attack. By some, his worry
was well founded for after his death, Japan invaded Korea in 1592-1596.
The military expert "proposed to secure 10,000 powerful and
sophisticated missiles within 10 years."
Although there is
controversy over its authenticity in the academic world, the 100,000
soldiers trained in preparation for foreign enemies, is a familiar story
to the Koreans. In the past, the spirit of Yubimuhwan (有備無患) (the state
of being prepared and worry-free). of Yulgok often appeared in history
books and educational cartoons that children read. While listening to
Yulgok’s '100,000 theory' during class, the students learned that the
reason they went through the Imjin War was because of Korea's
insensitivity to security.
However, the North Korean authorities,
which possess nuclear weapons, also claim the purpose of strengthening
their military power is for security. The missile launch tests continue
in response to the large-scale ROK-US joint military training. "No
matter how precious peace is, I will never beg for it." As the lyrics of
a North Korean song say: "There is peace at the end of our guns and
spears."
North Korea, as well as South Korea and other countries,
believe that peace can only be guaranteed through a strong national
defense.The accelerating arms race in Northeast Asia is the epitome of a
Security Dilemma. In the context of the security dilemma, if one
country feels security anxiety and increases its military power, the
opposing party will also strengthen its military power, which inevitably
increases the security anxiety of the hostile parties. In this process,
the dilemma intensifies as both sides define their own military power
for defense and the other side's military power for attack.
No
matter how many state-of-the-art weapons one side has, security concerns
will not be resolved. Immanuel Kant, who longed for peace while
watching the international society and its law of the jungle, left us
the following words: in 'Politics,' "be smart as snakes", and with
morals, "be as pure and guileless as doves."... The proposition that
'honesty is better than any policy is not disputed and is in fact
regarded as an indispensable condition. Children of God who believe in
the peace of Christ must overcome the 'idol of realism' and find a new
way of peace.
