By Li Hongmei
The United States sent F-22 stealth fighter jets to South Korea on Sunday to join military drills aimed at underscoring the U.S. commitment to defend Seoul in the face of "an intensifying campaign of threats" from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The advanced, radar-evading F-22 Raptors were deployed to Osan Air Base, the main U.S. Air Force base in South Korea, from Japan to support ongoing bilateral exercises, the U.S. military command in South Korea said in a statement that urged Pyongyang to restrain itself.
"North Korea (i.e. the DPRK) will achieve nothing by threats or provocations, which will only further isolate North Korea and undermine international efforts to ensure peace and stability in Northeast Asia," the statement said.
The U.S. military did not say how many of the planes were flown to South Korea from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa. The statement described Sunday's deployment as part of routine shifts of air power among bases in the Western Pacific that U.S. forces have been conducting since 2004.
Meanwhile, the wave of global condemnation that the DPRK will be facing shortly after declaring a state of war with the South is spiraling. But there is no doubt that the DPRK did not declare war arbitrarily. Once again the U.S. is meddling in the regional crisis, leading to a completely unpredictable situation.
Pyongyang said it had entered into a state of war with South Korea and had threatened to strike United States targets in South Korea as well as in the continental United States.
The news may not come as a surprise, considering the DPRK has been making more and more bellicose statements as of late due in a large part to war games involving South Korean and US forces that have recently been taking place.
Rather than defusing the situation and the tensions in the region and toning down its war games, the United States chose to escalate tensions by flexing its military muscles. Moreover, the immature U.S. command structure tends to act like the schoolyard bullies and force Pyongyang further into a corner.
Regardless of who is at fault, all sides involved in the escalation must stand down and sit down at the negotiating table.
The DPRK must not allow itself to be provoked into war and South Korea must not allow itself to be a surrogate for those hungry for a sweeping regional war.
On the other hand, the U.S. and its allies must maintain the common sense to stop where it should stop before pouring fuel onto the flames, if they are really fond of a tranquil Korea Peninsula and a peaceful and stable north-eastern Asia.
