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valign="top"> <strong><span
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style="color:#ba2025"><span
style="font-family:lato,helvetica neue,helvetica,arial,sans-serif">War
Looks Just as War Looks:
Dismal and Ugly: The
Forty-Fourth Newsletter
(2023)</span></span></span></strong>
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<div id="attachment_88863"
class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img
aria-describedby="caption-attachment-88863" loading="lazy"
class="wp-image-88863 size-full img-responsive mcRssImage"
src="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Sangho-Lee-South-Korea-Long-for-Korean-Reunification-2014.-e1698848305614.jpg"
alt=""
srcset="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Sangho-Lee-South-Korea-Long-for-Korean-Reunification-2014.-e1698848305614.jpg 558w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Sangho-Lee-South-Korea-Long-for-Korean-Reunification-2014.-e1698848305614-199x300.jpg 199w"
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style="color: #ba2025;">Sangho
Lee (South Korea), <i>Long
for Korean
Reunification</i>,
2014.</span></p>
</div>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"> </p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">Dear
friends,</p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">Greetings
from the desk of <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=0b03c99ee1&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">Tricontinental:
Institute for Social
Research</a>.</p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">It
is impossible to look away
from what the Israeli
government is doing to
Palestinians not only in
Gaza, but also in the West
Bank. Waves of Israeli
aircraft pummel Gaza,
destroying communications
networks and thereby
preventing families from
reaching each other,
journalists from reporting
on the destruction, and
Palestinian authorities and
United Nations agencies from
providing humanitarian
assistance. This violence
has spurred on protests
across the world, with the
planet’s billions outraged
by the asymmetrical
destruction of the
Palestinian people. If the
Israeli government claims
that it is conducting a form
of ‘politicide’ – excising
organised Palestinian forces
from Gaza – the world sees
Israeli aircrafts and tanks
as conducting nothing but a
genocide, displacing and
massacring Palestine
refugees in Gaza, 81% of
whose residents were <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=8300e7607e&e=d206d0a40d"
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moz-do-not-send="true">expelled</a>
from, or are the descendants
of those who were expelled
from, what was declared
Israel in 1948. All images
coming out of Gaza show that
Israel’s assault is
unrelenting, sparing neither
children nor women nor the
elderly and sick. The
failure of the world to stop
massacre after massacre
shows us the deep brokenness
of our international system.</p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">That
broken international system,
rooted in the UN, brought us
the conflict in Ukraine and
is now egging on a dangerous
confrontation in Northeast
Asia, with flashpoints
around the Korean peninsula
and Taiwan. While there are
<a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=3f9c7795eb&e=d206d0a40d"
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moz-do-not-send="true">indications</a>
that the US and China will
restart the military talks
that were suspended in
August 2022 when former US
Speaker of the House Nancy
Pelosi visited Taiwan in an
act of reckless adventurism,
this does not indicate
lowered tensions in the
waters around Northeast
Asia. For this reason,
Tricontinental: Institute
for Social Research, <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=4f502ef679&e=d206d0a40d"
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moz-do-not-send="true">No
Cold War</a>, and the <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=9d4b6e1ca1&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">International
Strategy Centre</a> have
partnered to produce
briefing no. 10, <i>The US
and NATO Militarise
Northeast Asia</i>, which
makes up the rest of this
week’s newsletter.</p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"> </p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"><strong><img
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class="aligncenter wp-image-88925 size-full img-responsive mcRssImage"
src="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Briefing10_Card_EN-e1698857592233.png"
alt=""
srcset="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Briefing10_Card_EN-e1698857592233.png 840w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Briefing10_Card_EN-e1698857592233-300x300.png 300w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Briefing10_Card_EN-e1698857592233-150x150.png 150w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Briefing10_Card_EN-e1698857592233-768x768.png 768w"
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style="max-width: 100%;width: 100%;padding-bottom: 0;display: inline;vertical-align: bottom;border: 0;height: auto;outline: none;text-decoration: none;-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;"
moz-do-not-send="true"
width="840" border="0"></strong></p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"> </p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">On
22 October, the United
States, Japan, and South
Korea held their first-ever
<a
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moz-do-not-send="true">joint
aerial drill</a>. The
military exercise took place
after US President Joe
Biden, Japanese Prime
Minister Fumio Kishida, and
South Korean President Yoon
Suk Yeol <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=4416cd19ae&e=d206d0a40d"
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moz-do-not-send="true">gathered</a>
at Camp David in August ‘to
inaugurate a new era of
trilateral partnership’.
Although North Korea has
frequently been invoked as a
regional bogeyman to justify
militarisation, the
formation of a trilateral
alliance between the US,
Japan, and South Korea is a
key element of Washington’s
efforts to contain China.
The militarisation of
Northeast Asia threatens to
divide the region into
antagonistic blocs,
undermining decades of
mutually beneficial economic
cooperation, and raises the
likelihood of a conflict
breaking out, in particular
over Taiwan, entangling
neighbouring countries
through a web of alliances.</p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"> </p>
<h3
style="display: block;margin: 0;padding: 0;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 20px;font-style: normal;font-weight: bold;line-height: 125%;letter-spacing: normal;text-align: left;"><span
style="color: #ba2025;"><b>The
Remilitarisation of
Japan</b></span></h3>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">In
recent years, encouraged by
the United States, Japan has
undergone its most extensive
militarisation since the end
of the Second World War.
After Japan’s defeat, a new
postwar constitution was
drafted by US occupation
officials and came into
effect in 1947. Under this
‘peace constitution’, Japan
<a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=9983361824&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">pledged</a>
to ‘forever renounce war […]
and the threat or use of
force as a means of settling
international disputes’.
However, with the Chinese
Revolution in 1949 and the
breakout of the Korean War
in 1950, the US quickly
reversed its course in
Japan. According to US State
Department <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=07475a7559&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">historians</a>,
‘the idea of a re-armed and
militant Japan no longer
alarmed US officials;
instead, the real threat
appeared to be the creep of
communism, particularly in
Asia’. The cause of amending
and circumventing Japan’s
‘peace constitution’ was
taken up by the right-wing
nationalist Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP),
which <a
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style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">received</a>
millions of dollars in
support from the US Central
Intelligence Agency during
the Cold War and has ruled
the country almost without
interruption (except for
1993–1994 and 2009–2012)
since 1955.</p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">Over
the past decade, the LDP has
transformed Japan’s defence
policy. In 2014, unable to
amend the constitution, the
LDP government led by Shinzo
Abe ‘re-interpreted’ it to
allow for <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=90885bc757&e=d206d0a40d"
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moz-do-not-send="true">‘proactive
pacifism’</a> and <a
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moz-do-not-send="true">lifted</a>
a ban on Japanese troops
engaging in combat overseas,
enabling the country to
participate in military
interventions to aid allies
such as the US. In 2022, the
Kishida administration <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=0eb5fcb0c7&e=d206d0a40d"
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moz-do-not-send="true">labeled</a>
China ‘the greatest
strategic challenge ever to
securing the peace and
stability of Japan’ and
announced plans to double
military spending to 2% of
gross domestic product (on
par with NATO countries) by
2027, overturning Japan’s
postwar cap that limited
military spending to 1% of
GDP. The administration also
ended a <a
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moz-do-not-send="true">policy</a>
dating back to 1956 that
limited Japan’s missile
capability to defend against
incoming missiles and
adopted a policy that allows
for counter-strike
abilities. This move has
paved the way for Japan to <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=5bc7d92ee5&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">purchase</a>
400 US Tomahawk missiles
beginning in 2025, with the
ability to strike Chinese
and Russian naval bases
located on the countries’
eastern coasts.</p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"> </p>
<div id="attachment_88873"
class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img
aria-describedby="caption-attachment-88873" loading="lazy"
class="wp-image-88873 size-full img-responsive mcRssImage"
src="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Shigeru-Onishi-Japan-flickering-Aspect-1950s..jpg"
alt=""
srcset="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Shigeru-Onishi-Japan-flickering-Aspect-1950s..jpg 950w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Shigeru-Onishi-Japan-flickering-Aspect-1950s.-300x246.jpg 300w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Shigeru-Onishi-Japan-flickering-Aspect-1950s.-768x631.jpg 768w"
sizes="(max-width: 950px) 100vw, 950px"
style="max-width: 100%;width: 100%;padding-bottom: 0;display: inline;vertical-align: bottom;border: 0;height: auto;outline: none;text-decoration: none;-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;"
moz-do-not-send="true"
width="950" border="0">
<p
id="caption-attachment-88873" class="wp-caption-text"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"><span
style="color: #ba2025;">Shigeru
Onishi (Japan), <i>Flickering
Aspect</i>, 1950s.</span></p>
</div>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"> </p>
<h3
style="display: block;margin: 0;padding: 0;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 20px;font-style: normal;font-weight: bold;line-height: 125%;letter-spacing: normal;text-align: left;"><span
style="color: #ba2025;"><b>Absolving
Japanese Colonialism</b></span></h3>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">Historically,
Washington’s efforts to
create multilateral
alliances in the
Asia-Pacific have failed due
to the legacy of Japanese
colonialism. During the Cold
War, the US resorted to a
network of bilateral
alliances with countries in
the region known as the <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=c51949fea5&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">San
Francisco System</a>. The
initial step in creating
this system was the San
Francisco Peace Treaty
(1951), which established
peaceful relations between
the Allied Powers and Japan.
To expedite the integration
of Japan as an ally, the US
<a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=676a2df09e&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">excluded</a>
the victims of Japanese
colonialism (including
China, the Kuomintang-led
administration in Taiwan,
and both Koreas) from the
San Francisco peace
conference and excused Tokyo
from taking responsibility
for its colonial and war
crimes (including massacres,
sexual slavery, human
experimentation, and forced
labour).</p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">The
new trilateral alliance
between the US, Japan, and
South Korea has been able to
overcome previous
impediments because South
Korea’s Yoon administration
has waived away Japan’s
responsibility for the
crimes committed during its
colonial rule over Korea
(1910–1945). More
specifically, the Yoon
administration <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=6fe9395289&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">abandoned</a>
a 2018 South Korean Supreme
Court ruling holding
Japanese companies such as
Mitsubishi responsible for
the forced labour of
Koreans. Rather than finally
being held accountable,
Japan has once again been
let off the hook.</p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"> </p>
<div id="attachment_88883"
class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img
aria-describedby="caption-attachment-88883" loading="lazy"
class="wp-image-88883 size-full img-responsive mcRssImage"
src="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Lim-Eung-Sik-South-Korea-Looking-for-Work-1953..jpg"
alt=""
srcset="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Lim-Eung-Sik-South-Korea-Looking-for-Work-1953..jpg 776w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Lim-Eung-Sik-South-Korea-Looking-for-Work-1953.-245x300.jpg 245w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Lim-Eung-Sik-South-Korea-Looking-for-Work-1953.-768x940.jpg 768w"
sizes="(max-width: 776px) 100vw, 776px"
style="max-width: 100%;width: 100%;padding-bottom: 0;display: inline;vertical-align: bottom;border: 0;height: auto;outline: none;text-decoration: none;-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;"
moz-do-not-send="true"
width="776" border="0">
<p
id="caption-attachment-88883" class="wp-caption-text"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"><span
style="color: #ba2025;">Lim
Eung Sik (South Korea),
<i>Looking for Work</i>,
1953.</span></p>
</div>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"> </p>
<h3
style="display: block;margin: 0;padding: 0;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 20px;font-style: normal;font-weight: bold;line-height: 125%;letter-spacing: normal;text-align: left;"><span
style="color: #ba2025;"><b>Towards
an Asian NATO?</b></span></h3>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">In
2022, NATO <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=6b6eecd039&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">named</a>
China a security challenge
for the first time. That
year’s summit was also the
first <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=85245f49a8&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">attended</a>
by leaders from the
Asia-Pacific region,
including Japan, South
Korea, Australia, and New
Zealand (these four
countries <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=200e5aa90e&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">participated</a>
again in 2023). Meanwhile,
in May, it was reported that
NATO was <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=0270d4d89e&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">planning</a>
to open a ‘liaison office’
in Japan, though the
proposal appears to have
been <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=8c3e844042&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">shelved</a>
– for now.</p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">The
US-Japan-South Korea
trilateral alliance is a
major step towards achieving
NATO-level capabilities in
Asia, namely
interoperability with
respect to armed forces,
infrastructure, and
information. The agreement
reached at the Camp David
meeting in August <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=97f05ff272&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">commits</a>
each country to annual
meetings and military
exercises. These war
exercises allow the three
militaries to practice
sharing data and
coordinating their
activities in real time. In
addition, the General
Security of Military
Information Agreement
(GSOMIA) between Japan and
South Korea – much sought
after by the US – <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=472955781d&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">expands</a>
military intelligence
sharing between the two
countries to not only be
‘limited to the DPRK’s
missiles and nuclear
programs but also includ[e]
the threats from China and
Russia’. This allows the US,
Japan, and South Korea to
develop a common operational
picture, the foundation of
interoperability in the
Northeast Asian military
theatre.</p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"> </p>
<div id="attachment_88893"
class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img
aria-describedby="caption-attachment-88893" loading="lazy"
class="wp-image-88893 size-full img-responsive mcRssImage"
src="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Yuta-Niwa-Japan-Painting-of-exterminating-a-tiger-wolf-catfish-2021..jpg"
alt=""
srcset="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Yuta-Niwa-Japan-Painting-of-exterminating-a-tiger-wolf-catfish-2021..jpg 950w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Yuta-Niwa-Japan-Painting-of-exterminating-a-tiger-wolf-catfish-2021.-300x216.jpg 300w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Yuta-Niwa-Japan-Painting-of-exterminating-a-tiger-wolf-catfish-2021.-768x553.jpg 768w"
sizes="(max-width: 950px) 100vw, 950px"
style="max-width: 100%;width: 100%;padding-bottom: 0;display: inline;vertical-align: bottom;border: 0;height: auto;outline: none;text-decoration: none;-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;"
moz-do-not-send="true"
width="950" border="0">
<p
id="caption-attachment-88893" class="wp-caption-text"
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"><span
style="color: #ba2025;">Yuta
Niwa (Japan), <i>Exterminating
a Tiger-Wolf-Catfish</i>,
2021.</span></p>
</div>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"> </p>
<h3
style="display: block;margin: 0;padding: 0;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 20px;font-style: normal;font-weight: bold;line-height: 125%;letter-spacing: normal;text-align: left;"><span
style="color: #ba2025;"><b>Waging
Peace</b></span></h3>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">Earlier
this year, in reference to
the Asia-Pacific, US
Ambassador to China Nicholas
Burns <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=045e64378a&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">declared</a>
that his country is ‘the
leader in this region’.
While China has proposed a
concept of ‘indivisible
security’, meaning the
security of one country is
dependent on the security of
all, the US is taking a
hostile approach that seeks
to form exclusive blocs.
Washington’s hegemonic
attitude towards Asia is
stoking tensions and pushing
the region towards conflict
and war – particularly over
Taiwan, which Beijing has <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=8e71d16f5d&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">called</a>
a ‘red line’ issue. Defusing
the situation in Northeast
Asia will require moving
away from a strategy that is
centred on maintaining US
dominance. Those positioned
to lead this movement are
the people who are already
struggling on the
frontlines, from <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=d9dfeab13a&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">Gangjeong
villagers</a> who have
opposed a naval base for US
warships since 2007 and <a
href="https://thetricontinental.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6a79324d3b4acfde1e7e546c6&id=e783bd2c40&e=d206d0a40d"
style="mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #007C89;font-weight: normal;text-decoration: underline;"
moz-do-not-send="true">Okinawans</a>
fighting to no longer be the
US’s unsinkable aircraft
carrier to the people of
Taiwan who may ultimately
have the most to lose from
war in the region.</p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"> </p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"><img
loading="lazy"
class="aligncenter wp-image-88903 size-full img-responsive mcRssImage"
src="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/kim-namju-copy-e1698848865113.jpg"
alt=""
srcset="https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/kim-namju-copy-e1698848865113.jpg 950w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/kim-namju-copy-e1698848865113-300x158.jpg 300w, https://thetricontinental.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/kim-namju-copy-e1698848865113-768x403.jpg 768w"
sizes="(max-width: 950px) 100vw, 950px"
style="max-width: 100%;width: 100%;padding-bottom: 0;display: inline;vertical-align: bottom;border: 0;height: auto;outline: none;text-decoration: none;-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic;"
moz-do-not-send="true"
width="950" border="0"></p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;"> </p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">Northeast
Asia has a long tradition of
battles that fight to
establish the good side of
history against the ugly and
dismal side. Kim Nam-ju
(1946–1994) was a warrior of
one of these battles, a poet
and a militant in the <i>minjung</i>
(‘people’s’) movement
against the dictatorships in
South Korea, which
imprisoned him, and many
others, from 1980 to 1988.
Here is his poem on the
Gwangju Massacre in 1980:</p>
<p
style="padding-left: 40px;margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">It
was a day in May.<br>
It was a day in May 1980.<br>
It was a night in May 1980,
in Gwangju.</p>
<p
style="padding-left: 40px;margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">At
midnight I saw<br>
the police replaced by
combat police.<br>
At midnight I saw<br>
the combat police replaced
by the army.<br>
At midnight I saw<br>
American civilians leaving
the city.<br>
At midnight I saw<br>
all the vehicles blocked,
trying to enter the city.</p>
<p
style="padding-left: 40px;margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">Oh,
what a dismal midnight it
was!<br>
Oh, what a deliberate
midnight it was!</p>
<p
style="padding-left: 40px;margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">It
was a day in May.<br>
It was a day in May 1980.<br>
It was a day in May 1980, in
Gwangju.</p>
<p
style="padding-left: 40px;margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">At
noon I saw<br>
a troop of soldiers armed
with bayonets.<br>
At noon I saw<br>
a troop of soldiers like an
invasion by a foreign
nation.<br>
At noon I saw<br>
a troop of soldiers like a
plunderer of people.<br>
At noon I saw<br>
a troop of soldiers like an
incarnation of the devil.</p>
<p
style="padding-left: 40px;margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">Oh,
what a terrible noon it was!<br>
Oh, what a malicious noon it
was!</p>
<p
style="padding-left: 40px;margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">It
was a day in May.<br>
It was a day in May 1980.<br>
It was a night in May 1980,
in Gwangju.</p>
<p
style="padding-left: 40px;margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">At
midnight<br>
the city was a heart poked
like a beehive.<br>
At midnight<br>
the street was a river of
blood running like lava.</p>
<p
style="padding-left: 40px;margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">At
1 o’clock<br>
the wind stirred the
blood-stained hair of a
young, murdered woman.<br>
At midnight<br>
the night gorged itself on a
child’s eyes, popped out
like bullets.<br>
At midnight<br>
the slaughterers kept moving
along the mountain of
corpses.</p>
<p
style="padding-left: 40px;margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">Oh,
what a horrible midnight it
was!<br>
Oh, what a calculated
midnight of slaughter it
was!</p>
<p
style="padding-left: 40px;margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">It
was a day in May.<br>
It was a day in May 1980.</p>
<p
style="padding-left: 40px;margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">At
noon<br>
the sky was a cloth of
crimson blood.<br>
At noon<br>
on the streets, every other
house was crying.<br>
Mudeung Mountain curled up
her dress and hid her face.<br>
At noon<br>
the Youngsan River held her
breath and died.</p>
<p
style="padding-left: 40px;margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">Oh,
not even the Guernica
massacre was as ghastly as
this one!<br>
Oh, not even the devil’s
plot was as calculated as
this one!</p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">Change
the word ‘Gwangju’ for
‘Gaza’ today and the poem
remains vital. Our look at
the reality unfolding in
Northeast Asia should
sharpen our understanding of
what is going on in
Southwest Asia – in Gaza, a
frontline of a world
struggle that bleeds with no
end in sight.</p>
<p
style="margin: 10px 0;padding: 0;mso-line-height-rule: exactly;-ms-text-size-adjust: 100%;-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;color: #202020;font-family: Helvetica;font-size: 16px;line-height: 150%;text-align: left;">Warmly,</p>
<p
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