(CNN) Calls grow for South Korea’s president to resign after martial law chaos.
There has been widespread comment at the political ineptitude of the move. About the motivation of Yoon Suk Yeol, there are these possibilities:
- He simply wanted to subvert democracy in South Korea, which is currently in legislative deadlock.
- The current North Korea vibe gives him really bad nerves.
- He thinks he knows something.
- He actually knows something.
In the past few months, some analysts have seen disturbing preparations by the North. See also (BBC) Man in US charged with allegedly shipping weapons to N Korea. Despite the problematic presidency of Yoon Suk Yeol, the fourth possibility should not be dismissed.
Is there a hair-trigger mechanism in place, subject only to the whim of Kim Jong Un? This question cannot be answered by open-source.
President Elect Trump should be aware of the circumstances that preceded the Korean War. Quoting from (National Archives) US Enters the Korean Conflict,
However, the entry of the United States into the conflict signaled a reversal of policy toward Korea. Although it backed the government of Syngman Rhee, the United States had begun withdrawing its troops from South Korea in 1948. As late as January of 1950, Secretary of State Dean Acheson had implied that the Korea Peninsula lay outside the all-important “defense perimeter” of the United States, a statement that some took to mean that the United States would not defend the ROK from communist attack.
Some historians fault Acheson for tipping Stalin’s judgement. What lurked in Stalin’s head we will never know, but it’s plausible.
***Be careful what you say***