World

In South Korea, Ukraine War Revives the Nuclear Question

Published

3 years ago

April 6, 2022

In South Korea, Ukraine War Revives the Nuclear Question

SEOUL — When Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons within the Nineteen Nineties, consultants debated whether or not the choice would make the nation safer or extra susceptible to an invasion from Moscow, its nuclear-armed neighbor.

Now, as Russia kilos Ukrainian cities whereas being accused of committing atrocities in opposition to civilians, many in South Korea say there is no such thing as a extra room for debate.

Because the battle started, South Koreans have flooded on-line chat rooms with discussions about their nation’s must have nuclear weapons to forestall an invasion from North Korea, their very own nuclear-armed neighbor. On Tuesday, North Korea warned that it could use its nuclear weapons “on the outset of warfare,” ought to one with the South ever begin.

Like Ukraine, South Korea as soon as had nuclear weapons inside its borders. And Seoul deserted its personal covert nuclear program within the Nineteen Seventies in trade for safety ensures from the US. However as they watch Ukrainians battle Russian forces and plead for out of doors army help, many South Koreans concern that was a mistake.

“There isn’t a justice on this world, solely nationwide pursuits,” said one commentator on Twitter. “We should construct our personal protection, arming ourselves with nuclear weapons, except we wish to discover ourselves within the sorry state Ukraine is in now.”

South Koreans have demanded nuclear weapons for years as North Korea expanded its arsenal and provoked Washington with missile assessments. In a single current survey of South Koreans, 71 % of the respondents supported arming the nation with nuclear weapons, in line with a analysis paper printed in February by the Carnegie Endowment and the Chicago Council on World Affairs.

Whereas North and South Korea see the warfare in Ukraine in another way — with the North supporting Russia and the South condemning Moscow’s army adventurism — each international locations seem to have drawn related conclusions from the battle.

For South Koreans, the warfare has proven the extent to which a nuclear-armed energy can get away with invading a non-nuclear neighbor when fears of nuclear warfare make intervention much less seemingly. And for the North, it provided additional proof of the benefits of a homegrown nuclear deterrent.

Analysts say North Korea is now extra decided than ever to maintain its nuclear arsenal, because the South confronts its personal vulnerability.

“The warfare in Ukraine is a chilling reminder that when issues get actually dicey, there’s a restrict to how a lot your mates can do for you,” mentioned Cho Kyong-hwan, a member of the Presidential Fee on Coverage Planning in Seoul. “On the finish of the day, you solely have your personal energy to defend your self.”

Drawing parallels between South Korea and Ukraine could be deceptive. South Korea ranks sixth on the planet in army power and North Korea is thirtieth, in line with the World Firepower Index, which ranks standard war-making capabilities. (Ukraine is twenty second and Russia is second.)

Ukraine isn’t a NATO member and doesn’t have a proper alliance with the US, whereas Seoul and Washington are sure by a mutual protection treaty.

When the protection chiefs of the US and South Korea held their annual assembly in December, Washington renewed its dedication to “prolonged deterrence,” vowing to defend its South Korean ally with all its army capabilities, “together with nuclear,” ought to warfare escape on the Korean Peninsula. About 28,500 American troops are stationed right here.

Nonetheless, many within the nation can’t shake the concern that they could at some point be deserted by the US.

South Koreans questioned Washington’s dedication to the alliance when President Donald J. Trump demanded what they mentioned had been exorbitant sums for maintaining American troops within the nation. They watched in disbelief as the US led a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan final 12 months.

And as they witnessed Washington’s failure to forestall the Russian invasion of Ukraine, they questioned whether or not the US would cease North Korea from invading the South, particularly on the danger of leaving American cities and army bases within the Asia-Pacific extra susceptible to a nuclear assault.

“We don’t see international American management anymore. As an alternative, we moderately discover it feckless and helpless,” Lee Sang-min, a senior lawmaker affiliated with the governing Democratic Get together, advised a parliamentary listening to in February. “We even get skeptical whether or not we should always rely fully on the US on points that relate on to our survival and prosperity.”

Individuals in each Koreas view themselves as a small nation that has suffered quite a few invasions and been occupied and divided by international forces. A once-common Korean saying suggested: “Don’t belief the Individuals and don’t be fooled by the Soviets, the Japanese will rise once more and the Chinese language will kill you — Koreans, watch out!”

Final week, Ukrainian officers warned that Russia could attempt to divide their nation as Korea was divided after World Warfare II.

Kim Jong-un, the chief of North Korea, has known as his nuclear arsenal a “treasured sword” that may safeguard his nation as soon as and for all from international invaders. “We have to be robust,” Mr. Kim mentioned after resuming intercontinental ballistic missile assessments in March. Solely “nuclear warfare deterrence” will defend North Korea from “all threats and blackmails by the imperialists.”

Not way back, related concepts had been widespread in South Korea. Within the Nineteen Nineties, a novel titled “The Rose of Sharon Blooms Once more” grew to become a runaway finest vendor, with a plotline selling nuclear nationalism.

Within the guide, the C.I.A. is suspected of assassinating a Korean nuclear physicist to cease him from constructing nuclear weapons, however South and North Korea be part of forces to construct them — and deter one other Japanese invasion of Korea.

“Who can assure that the Individuals will stay our protector eternally?” the protagonist, a newspaper reporter chasing the C.I.A. plot, says within the novel’s most well-known line.

In actual life, South Korea’s army dictator, Park Chung-hee, launched into a covert nuclear weapons program within the Nineteen Seventies, when the US started lowering its army presence within the nation. Washington compelled Seoul to desert this system, promising to maintain the nation below its so-called nuclear umbrella.

In 1991, the US withdrew all of its nuclear weapons from South Korea, as soon as numbering as many as 950, as a part of the worldwide nuclear arms discount program. However Washington couldn’t cease North Korea from constructing its personal nuclear arsenal.

That has left South Korea going through three nuclear states to the north and west: North Korea, Russia and China.

“South Koreans marvel who would defend them if the US bowed out,” mentioned Lee Byong-chul, an knowledgeable in nuclear proliferation at Kyungnam College’s Institute for Far Japanese Research in Seoul.

Requires nuclear weapons have usually bubbled up in South Korea over the many years, however they’ve by no means turn out to be part of a mainstream political motion. President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who has promised to strengthen ties with the US, has disavowed a nuclear-armed South Korea.

Washington fears that if Seoul had been to construct nuclear weapons, it could set off a regional arms race and remove any hope of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. Secretary of the Military Christine Elizabeth Wormuth mentioned final month that she “can be hesitant to ponder” bringing nuclear weapons again to the peninsula.

Analysts like Mr. Cho, nevertheless, have argued it’s time for Washington to spice up South Korea’s confidence in prolonged deterrence. One risk, they are saying, is to introduce a nuclear-sharing settlement with Seoul, just like the one during which NATO plane can be allowed to hold American nuclear weapons in wartime.

When contemplating such choices, South Koreans have greater than a belligerent North Korea in thoughts: Within the Carnegie Endowment survey, 56 % of the respondents mentioned that China can be “the most important menace” to South Korea within the subsequent 10 years.

If China had been to invade Taiwan — the self-governing, democratic island that Beijing claims as its personal — would North Korea, Beijing’s ally, see that as a possibility to invade the South? And if Washington had been going through conflicts in each Taiwan and South Korea, how would it not reply?

Uncomfortable questions similar to these have led to “larger requires South Korea to truly have its personal nuclear deterrent,” mentioned Jenny City, a senior fellow on the Stimson Heart in Washington, throughout an internet discussion board final month. “This is a matter that we’re actually going to should grapple with within the close to future.”

World

Chad’s ruling party wins majority in controversial parliamentary election

Published

24 minutes ago

January 12, 2025

Press Room

Chad’s ruling party wins majority in controversial parliamentary election

Electoral body says President Mahamat Idriss Deby’s party secured 124 of 188 National Assembly seats in vote boycotted by opposition.

Chad’s governing party has taken the majority of seats in last month’s parliamentary election that was mostly boycotted by opposition parties, according to provisional results.

President Mahamat Idriss Deby’s party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement, has secured 124 of the 188 seats at the National Assembly, Ahmed Bartchiret, head of the electoral commission, announced late on Saturday.

The participation rate was put at 51.56 percent, which opposition parties said showed voter doubts about the validity of the contest.

The December 29 election was presented by Deby’s party as the last stage of the country’s transition to democracy after he took power as a military ruler in 2021.

The takeover followed the death of Deby’s father and longtime President Idriss Deby Itno, who spent three decades in power. Mahamat Deby eventually won last year’s disputed presidential vote.

The vote, which also included municipal and regional elections, was Chad’s first in more than a decade.

Deby had said the election would “pave the way for the era of decentralisation so long-awaited and desired by the Chadian people”, referring to the distribution of power beyond the national government to the various provincial and municipal levels.

‘Charade’

The election was boycotted by more than 10 opposition parties, including the main Transformers party, whose candidate, Succes Masra, came second in the presidential election.

The main opposition had called the election a “charade” and expressed worries that it would be a repeat of the presidential vote, which election observers said was not credible.

Last month’s vote came at a critical period for Chad, which is battling several security challenges – from attacks in the Lake Chad region by the Boko Haram armed group to ending decades-long military cooperation with France, its former colonial power.

The severing of military ties echoes recent moves by Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, which all kicked out French troops and fostered closer ties with Russia after a string of coups in West and Central Africa’s Sahel region.

This week, security forces foiled an attack on the presidency that the government referred to as a “destabilisation attempt”.

World

Sudan’s Military Recaptures Key City From Paramilitary Accused of Genocide

Published

7 hours ago

January 12, 2025

Press Room

Sudan’s Military Recaptures Key City From Paramilitary Accused of Genocide

The Sudanese military recaptured a key city in Sudan’s breadbasket region on Saturday, chasing out a paramilitary group that the United States accused last week of genocide.

Sudan’s information minister said the army had “liberated” the city, Wad Madani, while the military said that its troops were working to “clear the remnants of the rebels” from the area.

If the army can hold on to the city, it would be its most significant victory since the war started nearly two years ago. Experts said it would most likely shift the focus of the war northward to Khartoum, the capital.

Videos circulating online showed the army entering Wad Madani, which lies about 100 miles south of the capital. Local media reported that fighters with the paramilitary group, known as the Rapid Support Forces, or R.S.F., were fleeing the city.

The group’s leader, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, admitted defeat but vowed to soon recapture the city. “Today we lost a round; we did not lose the battle,” he said in an audio address to his fighters and the Sudanese people.

The victory brought joyous scenes in army-held parts of the country among Sudanese who hoped it might signal a turning point in a ruinous civil war that has led to massacres, ethnic cleansing and a spreading famine in one of Africa’s largest countries.

People massed on the battle-scarred streets of Khartoum, while church bells pealed in Port Sudan, the wartime de facto capital where many Sudanese have fled the fighting. Celebrations also erupted among exiled Sudanese in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The R.S.F. defeat came just over a year after the group seized Wad Madani in a victory that forced tens of thousands of people to flee and sent shock waves across Sudan. The group’s fighters went on to capture swaths of the country, far from their stronghold in Darfur in western Sudan.

But much of the most brutal fighting was in Darfur, where R.S.F. fighters massacred members of rival ethnic groups, according to human rights groups and the United Nations. Last week the United States formally determined that those killings constituted genocide, and it imposed sanctions on the R.S.F.’s leader, General Hamdan, who is widely known as Hemeti.

The United States also imposed sanctions on seven companies in the United Arab Emirates that it accused of trading gold and buying weapons on behalf of the R.S.F.

In recent months, the tide of the fight appeared to turn as the R.S.F. ceded territory in Khartoum and in parts of the east of the country. The military launched a counteroffensive in the area around Wad Madani, culminating in the recapture of the city on Saturday.

Still, it was too early to say if the victory would fundamentally change the course of the conflict. Since the first shots were fired in April 2023, the momentum of the fighting has swung back and forth, sometimes wildly.

The army and the R.S.F. were once allies, and their leaders joined to mount a military coup in 2021. But in the war between them, they have enjoyed the backing of different foreign powers.

The R.S.F. is supported by the United Arab Emirates, a wealthy Gulf sponsor that has supplied it with weapons and powerful drones, mostly smuggled into Sudan from neighboring countries.

The Sudanese military has obtained or bought weapons from Iran, Russia and Turkey. Both sides mine the country’s vast reserves of gold to finance the fight.

For ordinary Sudanese, the war has brought only misery, death and destruction, killing tens of thousands of people, scattering 11 million from their homes and setting off one of the world’s worst famines in decades.

The global authority on hunger, known as the I.P.C., reported last month that famine had spread to five areas in Sudan and was expected to reach another five in the coming months. In all, 25 million Sudanese suffer from acute or chronic hunger.

Both sides have committed atrocities and war crimes, according to the United Nations and American officials, although only the R.S.F. has been accused of ethnic cleansing.

World

Biden admin slammed for ‘waiting’ to declare genocide in Sudan

Published

8 hours ago

January 12, 2025

Press Room

Biden admin slammed for ‘waiting’ to declare genocide in Sudan

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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – The Biden Administration has been blasted by the incoming Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho., for “waiting” until the outgoing President had only 13 days left in office before declaring rebel actions in Sudan, a country torn apart by 21 months of bitter war, to be “genocide.”

Earlier this week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared that members of the Sudanese rebel group, the Rapid Support Forces or RSF, “have committed genocide in Sudan.”

In a statement, Blinken said, “The United States is committed to holding accountable those responsible for these atrocities. We are sanctioning RSF leader Mohammad Hamdan Daglo Mousa, known as Hemedti, for his role in systematic atrocities committed against the Sudanese people.”

BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN ACCUSED OF ‘TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE’ TO SAVE THE PEOPLE OF WAR-TORN, FAMINE-STRICKEN SUDAN

The Biden administration recently declared members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), committed genocide in Sudan. Pictured: U.S. President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images.)

Blinken made his rulings, he stated, because “the RSF and RSF-aligned militias have continued to direct attacks against civilians, have systematically murdered men and boys—even infants—on an ethnic basis, and (have) deliberately targeted women and girls from certain ethnic groups for rape and other forms of brutal sexual violence.”

The Secretary continued, “Those same militias have targeted fleeing civilians, murdering innocent people escaping conflict, and prevented remaining civilians from accessing lifesaving supplies.”

Blinken added that the African nation is suffering through “a conflict of unmitigated brutality that has resulted in the world’s largest humanitarian catastrophe, leaving 638,000 Sudanese experiencing the worst famine in Sudan’s recent history, over 30 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, and tens of thousands dead.”

Risch has held out that the situation in Sudan has been catastrophic for well over a year, and called into question the timing of Blinken’s declaration. In a statement earlier this week, he wrote, “It has been nearly a year since I introduced a resolution calling the atrocities in Sudan what they are: a genocide. Additionally, I first called for Global Magnitsky sanctions to be imposed against the RSF and Hemedti 263 days ago – and yet these sanctions still have not been leveraged.”

BIDEN TRAVELS TO AFRICA WHERE POLICIES WERE ‘OVER-PROMISED AND UNDER-DELIVERED,’ AMID MASSIVE CHINA EXPANSION

Fighters of the Sudan Liberation Movement, a Sudanese rebel group active in Sudan’s Darfur State which supports army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, attend a graduation ceremony in the southeastern Gedaref state on March 28, 2024. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images.)

Risch spoke to Fox News Digital, declaring, “The Biden Administration waited until it has less than two weeks in office to sanction RSF-affiliated companies and Hemedti for their crimes and to call atrocities in Sudan a genocide.”

Risch said, “This neglect to address the crisis in Sudan weakened America’s influence in the region and the world years ago. If the Biden Administration backed its rhetoric with action, Sudan would be in a better position today, more lives would be saved, and the foreign proxies exacerbating this conflict would be kept at bay.”

Risch added, “This war must end. Further instability in Sudan will only breed terrorism and regional turmoil, threatening global security. The U.S. and our allies must seek to end the killing and atrocities, end the malign actions by proxies, manage migration pressures from mass displacement and protect strategic interests like the Red Sea corridor.”

UAE, OTHER COUNTRIES REMOVED FROM INTERNATIONAL MONEY LAUNDERING WATCHLIST

People board a truck as they leave Khartoum, Sudan, on June 19, 2023. The U.N. human rights office said in a new report on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, that scores of people, including children, have been subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence in the ongoing conflict in Sudan, assaults that may amount to war crimes. (AP Photo, File)

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan, Thomas Perriello, said “Making an atrocity determination is an immense responsibility that the Secretary takes seriously. Such determinations are based on a careful review of the facts and the law. It requires information not only of certain acts but also that those acts were done with the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in substantial part, a racial, ethnic, national, or religious group. Information demonstrating intent is often difficult to find and assess.”

“Since the start of the conflict the United States has taken repeated action to promote accountability of the RSF for its atrocities conduct. The U.S. already had sanctioned five RSF leaders, including two of Hemedti’s brothers. We also determined in December 2023 that members of the RSF committed ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. So the designation of Hemedti and the genocide determination reflect a consistent effort to document and call out atrocities, acknowledge the suffering of victims and survivors, and pursue justice and accountability.”

In his declaration, Blinken announced new sanctions stating, “We are also sanctioning seven RSF-owned companies located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and one individual for their roles in procuring weapons for the RSF.”

The new Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, U.S. Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. (Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images)

The Treasury Department also sent out a statement, virtually simultaneously to the one from State, saying “the RSF’s ability to acquire military equipment and generate finances continue to fuel the conflict in Sudan.” Treasury stated one particular company in the UAE, owned by a Sudanese national “has provided money and weapons to the RSF.”

Other UAE companies sanctioned this past week have been accused by the Treasury Department of handling financial transactions, of being “an essential part of the RSF’s efforts to finance its operations”, and of importing IT and security equipment .

One gold company in the UAE has been sanctioned because it has allegedly “purchased gold from Sudan, presumably for the benefit of the RSF, and subsequently transported it to Dubai.” Additionally, Treasury claimed “the RSF’s procurement director and brother of RSF leader Hemedti maintained access to (the gold company’s) bank account in the UAE, which held millions of dollars.”

Women from El Geneina, West Darfur, weep after receiving news of their missing relatives in Ardamata, as they waited for them in Adre, Chad, November 7, 2023. Ardamata was the latest site of an ethnic purge led by the RSF and allied Arab militias against the ethnic African Masalit tribe. (Reuters/El Tayeb Siddig. )

“The United States continues to call for an end to this conflict that is putting innocent civilian lives in jeopardy,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo stated. “The Treasury Department remains committed to using every tool available to hold accountable those responsible for violating the human rights of the Sudanese people.”

In response to Fox News Digital questions involving UAE registered companies an official from its foreign ministry fired back, stating. “The UAE’s primary focus in Sudan remains on addressing the catastrophic humanitarian crisis. We continue to call for an immediate cease-fire and a peaceful resolution to this man-made conflict. In this regard, the UAE has already made absolutely clear that it is not providing any support or supplies to either of two belligerent warring parties in Sudan.”

The official continued, “the UAE takes its role in protecting the integrity of the international financial system extremely seriously. We remain committed to combating financial crime globally, enhancing international cooperation and developing strategies to address emerging risks.”