Las Vegas Sun

July 25, 2008

Sun editorial:

Long wait for families

China appears ready to share information about missing Korean War servicemen

Thu, Feb 28, 2008 (2:07 a.m.)

Almost 55 years after the armistice that ended Korean War fighting, China has finally agreed to review its military records pertaining to the more than 8,100 U.S. servicemen who were either killed or captured in that conflict and are still unaccounted for.

China has defied repeated U.S. requests for this information ever since the hostilities ended on July 27, 1953. But on Friday it is scheduled to announce it has at least partially agreed to a request that was made during the Clinton administration.

Why the gesture is being made now has not been announced, but it is probably more than coincidental that it is being made as China is trying to soften its image for the Olympics, which it is hosting for two weeks in August.

Although details of the agreement are not yet known, we are gratified that at least some progress appears to be at hand. The families of the dead and missing servicemen have been waiting decades for this development.

The Korean Peninsula was divided after the Japanese were driven out toward the end of World War II, with the northern portion falling under communist control and the southern portion becoming democratic and under the protection of the United Nations.

Tensions flared in the late 1940s over the issue of unification, leading North Korea to invade the south on June 25, 1950. President Harry Truman ordered U.S. forces to lead the United Nations’ response, and by autumn of that year the communists had been driven out of the south and were on the defensive in the north. But the tide turned when forces from communist China entered the war, leading to the armistice, or truce, that remains in place today.

In our view, China has had a moral obligation from the start to share its Korean War casualty records with the Pentagon. We hope the agreement about to be announced represents a sincere effort by Chinese officials to fully disclose all that they know about the missing U.S. servicemen.

Discussion: 2 comments so far…

  1. By skysailer_2000
    2/29/08 at 12:41 a.m.
    Suggest removal

    Tensions flared on the Korean Peninsula in the later 40's over the issue of unification in the same way that tensions flared in Berlin in the late 40's over the issue of the unification of Berlin as the sole capital of East Germany.

    The siege of Berlin was broken by the Berlin Airlift, which embarrassed Stalin and the head of East Germany. Stalin wanted the Allies out of Berlin and eventually all of Germany so that Russia could bring all of Germany into the Russian sphere.

    Kim Iel Sung was called to visit Stalin in Moscow just prior to the start of the invasion of South Korea to hear Stalin's plans for the invasion, the assignment of Russian planes and pilots to fly the Mig's being sent to the PRK as well as to assure the PRK of Russian financial and logistics support.

    This action took place soon after the breaking of the siege of Berlin. Stalin thought that if the PRK invaded South Korea, that the US would not call up the US Army Reserves, as the US had just demobilized tremendously after VJ day. Stalin felt the West was too soft and war weary to undertake a new war.

    Stalin believed that the US would choose to withdraw the professional troops facing the Russians, and send them to confront the PRK in Korea. His strategy was that a not too quick but not too long PRK victory in Korea would catch the US with it's army in transit to Korea.

    With the US Army out of Germany with all its equipment and the hostilities over in Korea following a North Korean victory, the US would have no choice but to return the Army back to the US, leaving the Communists in power in East Germany, the French and Germans standing alone and the West German government weakened.

    Truman decided the Russian were the real threat, and ordered the occupation troops in Japan to build a firewall until the reserves could be called up and dispatched to Korea.

    Your articles misses the entire real reason for the Korean War: the unification of Berlin into East Germany and the removal of Allied troops from all of Germany.

    Kim Il Sung could never have acted without the approval of Stalin, unless he wanted a quick trip to an underground cell in Moscow's KGB headquarters.

    I think you will find the same formula was used for the French Indo-China war in the 50's, the Algerian conflict and the Cuban missile crisis in the 60's and the Vietnam war in the 70's. Nothing happens in a Communist system by "accident"

    Interesting theory!

  2. By smr2149
    3/2/08 at 9:22 a.m.
    Suggest removal

    sky_sailor2000,

    While Kim Il Sung could not have invaded South Korea without Stalin's assistance and backing, he planned the invasion himself. It was his brain child, and he didn't want Russia or China involved at any point, because he believed that his great and powerful army could easily defeat the South. He also believed that the US would not get involved.

    Stalin provided weapons, financial backing and some strategic planning. But he really didn't want any part of it because he knew that the US would automatically blame Russia (which they did) for the invasion. He kept his distance from the invasion.

    While Stalin's desire to kick the Americans out of Germany may have helped influence his decision to help Sung carry out his master plan, Sung spent months trying to convince Stalin that it was a good idea to invade the South. Even when the North got in over its head during the fall of 1950 when the Americans crossed the 38th parallel, Stalin stayed out of it and Sung had to go to China for help.

    Whatever the reasoning behind the start of the war--Stalin's desire to get rid of Americans in Germany, or the unification of North and South Korea--the fact the Chinese are opening their archives is great for the families of these missing soldiers.

Post a comment

Commenting requires registration.

Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Full comments policy.

Username:
Password: (Forgotten your password?)

OR Create an account (It's free)

  • Most Read
  • Discussed
  • Editors’ Picks

Complete Listing

Calendar

Jim Gaffigan

Jim Gaffigan

Comedian from TBS series "My Boys." (8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Mandalay Bay)