Muscle flexing
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The timing and unprecedented scale of joint military exercises by the United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK), which began Sunday, could open a Pandora's box, thrusting Northeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula into the centerpiece of contention in yet another great power game.
Although the location of the joint naval and air drills was changed from the Yellow Sea to the Sea of Japan after opposition from China, the largest-ever gathering of gunboats, warplanes and military personnel in the region in several decades cannot be seen as a gesture aimed at strengthening peace.
Both Washington and Seoul have said the drills are meant to deter the "aggressive" behavior of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
However, as history has repeatedly proved muscle flexing is ineffective to secure peace, especially in a region already brimming with serious security concerns.
In the wake of the Cheonan incident, the situation in the Peninsula has become acutely fragile. Four days before the joint military drill, Washington announced a series of sanctions against Pyongyang, drawing a furious response from the latter. In the past few days, the DPRK has been responding strongly to the US-led show of force with increasingly harsh words, saying it is equally prepared for dialogue or war.
Pyongyang has repeated its willingness to return to the Six-Party Talks, an initiative that involves the DPRK, ROK, China, US, Japan and Russia for denuclearizing the Peninsula. Instead of wrenching Pyongyang back to the negotiation table, the US-led military exercises will only trigger more opposition and hostility.
The international community is increasingly shying away from Cold War era stealth and military maneuvers and is all for peaceful coexistence. Under such a scenario, it is clear that those who have a penchant for saber rattling will, to say the least, find their popularity graphs sliding pretty quickly.
