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This week it's in the news that North Korea has detained an American veteran of the Korean War. He couldn't leave at the end of his tourist visit there in October. The authorities took Merrill E. Newman, an elderly man, off a plane at the airport, leaving his wife to wonder what happened. The North has refused Newman's habeas corpus rights for weeks. But of course, no one has rights in North Korea.
Newman fought during the Korean War as an American soldier. He served with honor and distinction. I read that another American veteran named Merrill H. Newman also fought in the war. That Merrill Newman received a Silver Star for valor. There's speculation North Korean authorities confused the two. I doubt it. The North tracks enemy combatants too.
American officials are trying to reach a diplomatic solution. Let's hope it works out. The story has gotten modest attention in the American media. It's Thanksgiving week over here, a time when many think of family reunions and national spirit. Why detain an 85-year-old man? There's no sign he violated North Korean laws while on his visit. He just had a dream to visit the place and likely hopes for a better world. It's pathetic and offends our sense of peace and concord.
Or perhaps we should say such thinking is foolish. It's no good to blame Newman. But we cannot forget the Korean War isn't technically over. The armistice didn't end the political conflict. The North-South border is among the world's most heavily guarded. There's no treaty of peace. Concord remains fleeting.
Many thousands visit the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) at Panmunjom each year. We can walk into the buildings where contacts between American and North Korean officials occur. We can gaze across the square and see North and South Korean soldiers poised opposite one another. The scene takes on a staged feeling. High-profile diplomatic and military meetings occur at times. Photo ops occur, and souvenirs go for a modest price.
I remember seeing a display depicting the hacking to death of two American soldiers there in 1976. The murders arose from a dispute about a poplar tree _ yes that's right _ a tree that blocked clear sight from the United Nations post near the Bridge of No Return.
That event occurred nearly 40 years ago. We haven't advanced far in creating a lasting peace on the Korean peninsula.
I don't want to make light of, or criticize, the efforts made by parties on all sides for many years, including the Chinese, Russians, Japanese and the two Koreas. But let's face it. Britain's International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) paints an unpleasant picture of our present day reality. It warns us that North Korean special forces have many weapons trained on the South. Long-range artillery, chemical weapons, and short-range missiles top the list. The North continues to develop nuclear weapons, too.
We know the US-ROK forces have an equally lethal array of weapons to counter those threats. The DMZ is a dormant war zone, not a dead military volcano. Every year, we invest billions more in armaments that breed insecurity in our enemies. The North Koreans spend far less to do the same.
Scholars such as Kim Tae-hyo and Kim Jin-ha have written about the inherent codependence of the North Korean regime on provocations for concessions. The North bides time this way. It reinforces the worth of the Kim leaders, dead and alive. It grouses for concessions and probes coalition weaknesses. It postures to domestic elites and resists foreign influence. In this and many related pretenses and delusions, North Korea exists.
We shouldn't send octogenarian veterans to the North, not without telling them they may never come back. There's nothing there to see worth the risk. In 2008, the North shot a South Korean tourist who strayed into the wrong area. Kaesong and Diamond Mountain family visits are pawns for attention and cynicism.
In the United States today, stupid commercials make light of Kim Jong-un. He appears opposite buddy Dennis Rodman in a commercial for salted nuts. We acclimate ourselves to think it's cool. Belly up to the North Korean leader! Kim is a pathetic tyrant who's the latest icon of the North's nationalist and totalitarian elite. The North Korean melodrama has run longer than any soap opera ever and shows little signs of stopping!
Americans and South Koreans can be proud of their alliance, which works to guarantee human rights, democracy and freedom for hundreds of millions in our countries. My Thanksgiving prayer is that we see the safe return of Merrill E. Newman and a renewal of the realization that Kim Jong-un and North Korea are not our friends. Don't be fooled once again.
Bernard Rowan is assistant provost for curriculum and assessment, professor of political science and faculty athletics representative at Chicago State University, where he has worked for 20 years. He can be reached at browan10@yahoo.com.
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