The Possibility of the United Nations Command Entering a War against China over Taiwan
The U.S. has used the instability of the Korean Peninsula. And there is a possibility that the United Nations forces will enter a war against China over Taiwan.
On November 1, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson indicated that China would not interfere in the relations between North Korea and Russia. He said they "are two independent sovereign states, and how to develop bilateral relations is a matter for themselves." One of the reasons why China distances itself from North Korea is that the U.S. has used the frozen conflict on the Korean Peninsula.
Though the Korean Peninsula became independent from Japan in 1945, the U.S. and the Soviet Union divided it into South and North at the 38th parallel. On June 25, 1950, North Korea, which the Soviets supported, opened an offensive on South Korea (Republic of Korea, ROK), beginning the Korean War.
The United Nations Security Council immediately adopted a resolution requesting North Korea's withdrawal and recommending that the Members of the U.N. assist South Korea "to repel the armed attack and to restore international peace and security to the area." U.S. President Harry Truman announced he had ordered the U.S. Far East air and sea forces, which had been in Japan as occupation forces, to give the South Korean troops cover and support.
July 7 resolution recommended that "all Members providing military forces and other assistance pursuant to the aforesaid Security Council resolutions make such forces and other assistance available to a unified command under the United States of America" and requested the U.S. to designate the commander of such forces.
On July 15, South Korea, which was not a member of the U.N., assigned its forces operational command to the U.N. forces. On July 25, the U.N. forces command was established in Tokyo, Japan. Sixteen countries provided combat troops: the U.S., the U.K., Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, France, New Zealand, the Philippines, Turkey, Thailand, South Africa, Greece, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ethiopia, and Colombia. The United Nations forces in Korea were substantially multinational forces led by the U.S.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida showed his intention to cooperate with the United Nations Command on July 15. The U.N. forces, mainly the U.S. forces, had used bases and ports in Japan, and Japan dispatched the Coast Guard and civilians, who had been engaged in marine transport, for minesweeping following the U.S. forces' order. In October, Chinese forces (People's Liberation Army) entered the war.
The Allied Powers must end World War II legally, and Japan must return to the international community, but it must not be a hindrance to the Korean War. Therefore, three agreements were signed on September 8, 1951, including expressions that enabled the war to continue.
Article 5, paragraph (a)-(iii) of the Treaty of Peace with Japan imposes an obligation on Japan "to give the United Nations every assistance in any action it takes in accordance with the Charter." Article 1 of the Security Treaty between the United States and Japan prescribed that the U.S. obtained the right to deploy its forces in and about Japan in order "to contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security in the Far East" and the subordinate Administrative Agreement, signed in 1952, enabled the U.S. forces to build and use bases in Japan wherever and as many as the U.S. wanted.
Notes Exchanged between Prime Minister Yoshida and Secretary of State Acheson at the Time of the Signing of the Security Treaty between Japan and the United States of America promised that Japan would provide bases and logistic support to the U.N. forces that engaged in any U.N. action in the Far East, because "the future is unsettled and it may unhappily be that the occasion for facilities and services in Japan in support of United Nations action will continue or recur."
The combat ended on July 27, 1953, when the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed, creating the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). No peace treaty has been signed between South Korea and North Korea, making the war a frozen conflict. Paragraph 60 of the Agreement recommended, "to the governments of the countries concerned on both sides that, within three months after the Armistice Agreement is signed and becomes effective, a political conference of a higher level of both sides be held by representatives appointed respectively to settle through negotiation the questions of the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Korea, the peaceful settlement of the Korean question, etc."
However, the U.S. feared being attacked by China. In October 1953, the U.S. and South Korea (the Republic of Korea) signed the Mutual Defense Treaty. The Treaty grants "the right to dispose United States land, air and sea forces in and about the territory of the Republic of Korea." It states, "Each Party recognizes that an armed attack in the Pacific area on either of the Parties [...] would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional processes."
The 1954 Geneva Conference broke down because South Korea proposed unreasonable terms; for instance, U.N. forces, a belligerent party in the war, should remain as a police force, but Chinese troops should withdraw. Although Chinese Premier and Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai suggested that a peace treaty be implemented on the Korean peninsula, the U.S. Secretary of State, John Dulles, did not accommodate this attempt to achieve such a treaty. China announced its forces' withdrawal in 1954 and finished it in October 1958.
Though the U.N. showed concern, the U.S. unilaterally abrogated paragraph 13(d) of the Korean Armistice Agreement in 1957 and introduced new equipment for U.S. Forces in Korea, including nuclear weapons.
To continue the U.N. forces deployment in Japan, the Agreement Regarding the Status of the United Nations Forces in Japan took effect in June 1954, signed by the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Canada, France, Italy, New Zealand, the Philippines, Turkey, Thailand, and South Africa. The U.S. signed this Agreement as "the government of the United States of America acting as the Unified Command."
In July 1957, the U.N. transferred its command from Tokyo to Seoul. However, the U.N. Command-Rear remained in Japan, and seven U.S. forces bases in Japan are designated as the U.N. forces facilities. The U.N. Forces Status Agreement prescribes that "All the United Nations forces shall be withdrawn from Japan within ninety days after the date by which all the United Nations shall have been withdrawn from Korea," and "This Agreement and agreed revisions thereof shall terminate on the date when the withdrawn has been completed."
On January 19, 1960, although the U.S. and Japan revised their Security Treaty, the U.S. maintained the right to deploy its forces in Japan for "international peace and security in the Far East." However, U.S. Secretary of State Christian Herter and Japanese Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi exchanged notes promising that the U.S. must consult with Japan in advance if the U.S. uses facilities and areas in Japan as bases for military combat operations except for defending Japan because Tokyo feared being involved in a U.S. war.
Two weeks before revising the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, the U.S. and Japan signed a secret agreement on January 6, 1960, called the Korean Minutes. The Korean Minutes exempt the U.S. from the prior consultation regarding the Korean emergency. In this case, the U.S. forces enter the war as the U.N. forces. The Korean Minutes came to light in a 2010 investigation by the Democratic Party of Japan government.
I have written the two other secret agreements revealed by the 2010 investigation on my Substack.
Also, U.S. President Nixon and Japanese Prime Minister Sato announced a joint statement in 1969 mentioning the Korean Peninsula and Taiwan. Sato "deeply appreciated the peacekeeping efforts of the United Nations in the area and stated that the security of the Republic of Korea was essential to Japan's own security." He said that "the maintenance of peace and security in the Taiwan area was also a most important factor for the security of Japan."
In 1975, the U.N. General Assembly adopted resolution 3390B, which called upon the parties to the Armistice Agreement to replace it with a peace agreement and expressed the hope of the dissolution of the "United Nations Command" and the withdrawal of all the foreign troops stationed in South Korea under the flag of the United Nations. Still, the U.N. recommendation was ignored, and the UNC has continued functioning.
The ROK/US Combined Forces Command (CFC) was established in 1978. A four-star U.S. Army general commands the CFC and serves as the Commander of United Nations Command and Commanding General of U.S. Forces Korea. South Korean forces are under a binational command led by a U.S. general in wartime.
The U.S.-South Korea Mutual Defense Treaty covers the Pacific, not just the Korean Peninsula. The U.S. and Japan agreements cover the Far East, not only the Korean Peninsula or Japanese territory.
United Nations Command operates under the mandates of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions 82, 83, 84, and 85. These passed while the Soviet Union was boycotting the U.N. because China's seat in the Security Council was awarded to the Republic of China(Taiwan).
If an emergency that can be interpreted as stemming from North Korea's military action occurs, the United Nations Command can take action under a unified command led by the U.S. to repel the armed attack and restore international peace and security in the area, for example, Taiwan.
The U.S. declared in 1957, "If Communist Chinese military power participates in or supports a Communist renewal of Korean hostilities, (the U.S.) take direct military action against such participating or supporting power, wherever located." Also, the U.S. announced it would "call on other U.N. members for effective military assistance appropriate to direct military action against Communist China."
The U.S. has exploited the instability of the Korean Peninsula for its benefit. The times have changed, but the agreements and resolutions are still valid. In 1994, U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali wrote in a letter to the North Korean Foreign Minister, "The dissolution of the unified command does not fall within the responsibility of any United Nations organ but is a matter within the competence of the Government of the United States." That's why China distances itself from North Korea.
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