After 65 Years Of Conflict In The Koreas, Is Peace Possible?

WAMU 88.5

Published July 25, 2018 at 11:20 AM EDT

Korean People's Army soldiers stand before the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) at the truce village of Panmunjom on the North Korean side of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea on June 11, 2018. On the world's last Cold War frontier, North and South Korean troops have long faced off against each other at Panmunjom, the truce village in the Demilitarised Zone that divides the two Koreas.

As an outcome of the Singapore summit, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un agreed to help return the remains of U.S. troops killed in the Korean War to American soil. Some of them could be coming home in the next few weeks.

Families of these soldiers have been waiting a long time for their loved ones to return. The Korean War took place between 1950-53. There are more than 7,700 American troops whose bodies are unaccounted for, according to Reuters. About 5,300 of those are lost in North Korea.

But the return deal could be complicated.

Former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson told Reuters that Pyongyang was using the issue as “a bargaining chip.” He has experience negotiating with North Korea, and helped free seven Americans in 2007.

“They’re stalling,” he told Reuters. “I think in the end the North Koreans will turn over the majority of the remains that they have – but it will have a price. Not just a financial price.”

Also, satellite imagery shows that North Korea has started dismantling a missile-engine test site, a possible early step toward denuclearization. And South Korea is planning to relax defense resources along its border, seemingly in response to the recent overtures its northern neighbor has made.

As the 65th anniversary of the establishment of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) approaches, we ask: Are we witnessing full cooperation from North Korea toward a more peaceable relationship with the rest of the world?

Produced by Jonquilyn Hill.

GUESTS

Robin Wright, Analyst and fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center; author of “Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World”; contributing writer to The New Yorker; @wrightr

Naoko Aoki, Research Associate, Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland; @naokoaoki

Noreen Loper, Sister, Airman James O’Meara, Jr.

For more, visit https://the1a.org.