My topic is about the South Korea and the U.S. military exercises in Korea. Because of the sinking of the Cheonan warship, South Korea and the U.S. decide to do the joint military exercises to strength the peace of the Korean Peninsula. The story is that a South Korean navy ship named Cheonan sank off near the border area in the Yellow Sea in South Korea, killing 46 soldiers on March 26, 2010. The report from the international investigation (South Korea, United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Sweden) concluded that the Cheonan warship was sunk by a North Korean torpedo fired by a submarine However, North Korea denied involvement, and China opposed the exercise near their territory, Moreover, North Korea has threatened a “Physical response” to joint U.S.-South Korea naval exercises. According to the article from BBC, they seem to agree the exercises saying that it raises the tension of the Korean Peninsula that the rising tension will confuse North Korea’s military elite. The perspective of this article shows that the real purpose of the exercises is to make North Korea’s military elite unstable. John Sudworth from BBC said, “North Korea's inflammatory rhetoric is nothing new, he adds, but the rising tension is causing concern, with China urging all parties to show restraint” (Sudworth, BBC) However, the article also shows the warning from North Korea shouldn’t completely be ignored for any case of peril.
The view of the article on New Times is mostly similar to the other sources that the article describes the exercise as “the largest war games”, which will show how tenuous peace has been on the Korean Peninsula. However, the last part of the article focuses on the China’s reaction of the exercises that the tension is not only both North and South Koreas. China has been criticizing the location, Yellow Sea (the west of the Korean Peninsula), of the exercise, and has demanded relocation to the east of the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, the article concluded that this joint military exercise has also raised the tension between the U.S. and China.
The article of USA Today emphasizes the North Korea’s threat “physical response” against the exercises. The response from the U.S. was announced by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “The U.S. is willing to meet and negotiate with the North, but that this type of threat only heightens tensions” (USA Today). The article also pointed out the relation between China and the U.S. has worsened due to the exercises, and Clinton’s concern that the threat can be come up with potential atomic collaboration between the North and Myanmar.
Two news articles from South Korea, Hankook-Ilbo and Chosun have a common idea of the exercises between the U.S. and South Korea that North Korea’s threat can be accepted as their usual direct attitude. However, it seems that the threatening message from the North has a meaning to show off their advanced ability of enriching the uranium or the possibility of the third nuclear test. Furthermore, there is a possibility that tighter financial sanction of the U.S against North Korea might bring provocation as a last resort.
This same news, the joint the U.S. and South Korea military exercises, from all different sources taught me to realize how the same news can be interpreted differently by the point of view. As media has direct effect, we might only see the news of the joint exercises is just for rising tension in the Korean Peninsula. However, we could also see the exercises bring negative relationship between the U.S. and China by various news sources.
Works Cited
“S Korea-US military exercise held in the Sea of Japan.” BBC. 25 July 2010. Web 25 July 2010
“As Tensions Rise, U.S. and S. Korea Begin Drills.” The NewYork Times. 25 July 2010. Web July 2010
“N. Korea issues threats as U.S. leads exercises.” USA TODAY. 24 July 2010. Web July 2010
“Sacred War from the North.” HanKook-Ilbo. 25 July 2010. Web. 25 July 2010
“Show off, Invincible Spirit “ Chosun-Ilbo. 25 July 2010. Web. 25 july 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment