Drone diplomacy since the end of the Cold War has cast the United States into the role of a big bully. We somehow want to negotiate for what is in our best interests, but won’t recognize that other countries want to do the same thing. What used to be called a “win-win”. Now it’s “do it our way or we’ll implement regime change.”
Now is the time for a gallant peace gesture from Washington or for Seoul to quit the war games – twice-yearly events, dating back to 1976, in which US and South Korean military forces deploy thousands of troops to simulate various scenarios for conflict with the North.
This summer’s games involved 17,500 US troops and 50,000 South Koreans. To North Korea the games simulate invasion. War games with a specific offensive objective violate the UN Charter, that is, international law. Read more here.