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COLAP Resolution on Military Tension in Northeast Asia
  1. In 2022, under the pretext of the war in Ukraine, the governments of the United States, Japan, and South Korea have stirred up threats from Russia, China, and DPRK, and have increased military confrontations between Western countries and China and DPRK. Ceasing deterrence policies, provocations by military blocs and resorting to all out war directly and by proxy is our lesson from the war in Ukraine, with the threat of attack by nuclear weapons or ‘dirty bombs”, used hitherto by only one power the United States on Japan, in our continent of Asia, and thereafter the use of Depleted Weapons made from the waster product of nuclear fuel used by US led NATO forces, in the war on Yugoslavia, and thereafter by US led bombing operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
  2. The main cause of military tension in Northeast Asia is the U.S. security strategy toward Asia. The U.S. National Security Strategy under the Biden administration (October 2022) identifies the Indo-Pacific region as a region of vital importance and expresses a hostile posture toward China through military deterrence, focusing on alliances with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand, as well as with India and ASEAN countries.
  3. South Korean President Yoon Seong-Nyeol, who took office in May 2022, has taken a hard-line approach toward the North, and U.S.-South Korea military exercises have been conducted considerably more than those of the previous administration. According to a synthesis of North and South Korean announcements, DPRK’s recent missile launch actions have taken place after U.S.-South Korean military actions have taken place. Although the South Korean government claims that the ongoing ROK-U.S. military drills are defensive in nature, ROK and U.S. authorities have conducted offensive military exercises over the past several decades, including preemptive strikes against DPRK, strikes against hundreds of strategic sites, and operations to behead Kim Jong-un, mobilizing hundreds of thousands of troops, aircraft carriers, and hundreds of fighter jets to conduct military drills. Japan has also participated in them and has supported U.S. forces from U.S. bases in Japan. These are clear military threats and hostile actions against DPRK.
  4. Meanwhile, in Japan, Prime Minister Kishida, in response to the situation in Russia, is attempting to increase its military power that Japan’s Self-Defense Forces will possess an enemy base attack capability against China and DPRK. This is a violation of the principle of exclusive defense, which is the principle of Article 9 of Japan’s Constitution. It has the potential to lead to a preemptive attack, which is prohibited by the UN Charter. This is another hostile action that poses a military threat to DPRK and China.
  5. Since the Trump administration, the conflict between the U.S. and China has escalated, and President Xi has stated that resort to arms to resolve the conflict on Taiwan cannot be ruled out. in August 2022, the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, visited Taiwan in violation of the “one China principle” and it caused sharply tension between China and Taiwan, to which China responded with military exercises. The IADL statement on the war in Ukraine (March 2022) pointed out that NATO’s Eastward expansion and U.S. interference in its internal affairs were provocations against Russia. Such provocations are also so dangerous actions that they could lead to armed conflict; U.S. Vice President Harris’ visit to the military demarcation line between North and South Korea in September 2022 was also an act of provocation against DPRK.
  6. The U.S. has labeled DPRK a rogue state, especially after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and has threatened DPRK militarily, including with nuclear weapons, and imposed excessive economic sanctions. The South Korean government has maintained the National Security Law, which stipulates that DPRK is an anti-national organization and enhances the hostile relationship between North and South Korea, and widely punishes citizens who speak or act in favor of DPRK.
  7. However, in May 2022, the UN Security Council resolution on economic sanctions against DPRK was rejected for the first time due to opposition from China and Russia, on the grounds that they had other things to do, such as halting military exercises. The military idea of suppressing by military and economic coercion, rather than by dialogue and easing of tension, is not a panacea, and the UN Charter Chapter 6 stipulates that international disputes should be resolved peacefully through diplomacy.
  8. The root cause of the military confrontation described above is the aggressive U.S.-Japan-South Korea military alliance system. The continued expansion into an aggressive military bloc, even though the Cold War ended, is not over, triggers conflict, as does NATO’s Eastward expansion. The continued deployment of huge U.S. military bases in Japan and South Korea for over 70 years also poses a military threat to the DPRK and China.
  9. The right to collective self-defense and military alliance regimes that make permanent foreign military bases are against the spirit of the UN Charter and further heighten military tension in the Asia region. COLAP calls on the governments of North East Asia and in the Asian Continent, to end military alliances with the United States, dismantle US military bases, and for a peaceful solution to all outstanding disputes in North East Asia and on the Asian Continent by promoting dialogue and avoiding a hard –line military approach .

    COLAP calls on all governments to desist from the use of Nuclear Weapons, ‘ Dirty Bombs’,  ‘Small Nukes’ and Depleted Uranium weaponry, either directly or through proxies in any  region of the world, as the use of nuclear weapons is ‘omnicidal’, an act of war on humanity and our planet.