On Air: Is President Obama making the Korea situation worse?
| 09:50 UK time, Thursday, 25 November 2010
This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 25 November 2010. Listen to the programme.
On Wednesday President Obama announced that a joint between the US and South Korea will take place during the next week.
A South Korean foreign military spokesman said
Over telephone talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, we agreed that through the drill, we will be able to ...send a clear message to the North in relation to the recent situation.
But will this send a strong message to Pyongyang or will it add fuel to an already tense situation? North Korea has already threatened a military response to any further incidents on what it calls the 'illegal' maritime border.
Writing in the Independent newspaper, says that Obama is doing nothing to help the crisis:
The very worst response to the Korean crisis is to do what President Obama did yesterday...We've been here before and it's never done any good. Certainly it's done nothing to change Pyongyang's behaviour.
Leslie H. Gelb says that negotiation with North Korea is impossible and that the US is not going to risk a war. In the circumstances, this is the :
What policy choices does the United States have? Above all, there is agreement within the administration now, as before, that America must follow the South Korean lead. It is their country, and it is they who will be most at risk. Almost certainly, Seoul and Washington will agree to beef up America's naval presence in the area, and that's the right military move.
Not everyone is as convinced though. Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for the Philipines, Esteban Conejos Jr., said his government will be watching very closely to see what happens. In he said,
the Philippine government is "worried" over the implications of the joint exercise....which could be interpreted by some sectors as "a show of force".
And China is also of greater US involvement in the area
Writing on Facebook, Aniebet says the South Korean government should be stronger:
The weakness displayed by the South Koreans in their responses to military threats from the North! A vote of no-confidence should be passed on that regime.
Is President Obama right to send warships to the Korean border? Should the US support its South Korean ally? Will this make the situation worse? Is there any other way to deal with North Korea?
