South Korea rejected China's proposal for restarting Six-Party Talks. South Koreans are now being misguided by radical emotions. It's true that Six-Party Talks can ease Korean Peninsula tensions, but South Korea first needs to vent its anger.
South Koreans are demonstrating almost concordant toughness, which is not normal for the country. South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade should have the wisdom and insight that is clearly absent among netizens.
With an overall national strength much stronger than the North's, and defense assistance from the US, South Korea should be worried less of security issues than the North. The probability of enduring a massive invasion from the North is almost zero.
China cannot help vent South Korea's anger, but is sincerely helping ease Peninsula tensions and wants to find ways of defusing the Korean crisis. The South Korean government showed its reluctance to support China by not agreeing to talks. Decision-makers in Seoul probably believe that acting against pragmatic solutions entails much smaller political risks in the short term.
Since the US declared its return to Asia, the frequency of clashes in Korea Peninsula has accelerated. Instead of reflecting upon this, South Korea became more obsessed with its military alliance with the US, which has proven faulty at best. Seoul and Washington are seeking to pull Beijing to their side. They think once China gets tough, North Korea will behave - but such logic is quite ludicrous among Chinese.
People from the South and the North are one people. South Koreans clearly know about the Korean temperament of sticking to independent choices and being reluctant to succumb to external dissuasion.
Isn't Pyongyang's decisiveness in front of orders by external powers also part of South Koreans' national character? Does South Korea really think the North would submit to pressure?
The illusion of forcing North Korea to yield has plagued Northeast Asia for years. It stops the region from taking advantage of moments of opportunity to solve the Korean deadlock.
There is no simple solution to the complex Korean issue. Saying that China should blockade North Korea to make Pyongyang succumb is not only self-deceiving, it is a humiliation to the entire Korean people.
As long as people in this region do not want another war and let blood-and-iron policies reshape Peninsula dynamics, the only pragmatic solution is still to sit down and trade mutual compromise for lasting peninsular peace.
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