The International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) strongly condemns the US’ continuous warmongering in the Korean Peninsula and the rest of the region. The US imperialist and its puppet South Korea government have continued to wreck peace and stability in the region  by staging large-scale joint military exercises, simulating an all-out war against the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea (DPRK). 

Last March 13-23, the South Korean and US military forces held the Freedom Shield, their biggest joint military exercise in five years. The US flew a long-range B-1B bomber to the Korean Peninsula in a show of force and aggression against  the DPRK. The deployed B-1B bombers are capable of carrying large conventional weapons and short-range missiles. This field exercise included the training of US and South Korean militaries for a combined amphibious drill. 

This April, the 3-party naval forces of the US, South Korea, and Japan started their first anti-submarine drills in six months to intensify their coordination against the DPRK. . These joint maritime exercises in international waters utilize nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and naval destroyers. These landing operations against the DPRK involve tens of thousands of special task forces of the US Marine Corps and South Korean puppet troops. 

Despite hiding under the guise of “defensive routines”, Japan and South Korea have been partners of this US strategy of aggression. Their aggressive agenda of serving as provocateurs to the deliberate military actions can never be concealed. In late 2022, Japan started to heighten its policies towards militarism as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida approved national security documents outlining proposals for expanding Japan’s military spending and capabilities in the next five years. The country is set to participate more actively in military partnerships with the US, projecting force beyond its borders. 

These latest provocations come at a time of the US government fortifying its deployment of military weapons and troops not just to the Korean Peninsula but also to several parts of Asia Pacific. In the Philippines, the US government has already laid down its agreed locations of military bases under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). This April 11, more than 12,000 US troops from all four branches will join their Philippine counterparts as part of the largest  US-Philippine military exercises in 38 years. (Note that the Balikatan was first held after the VFA was approved in 1998)

The International League of Peoples’ Struggle calls on all its member organizations, regions, country chapters, and allied networks to stand with the Korean people in exposing, condemning, and opposing the aggressive joint war games of US imperialism and its Japan and South Korean puppets. This joint imperialist warmongering has been responsible for disturbing the situation in the Korean Peninsula, and violating the national sovereignty and peaceful reunification of the Korean people. ###

 

Signed by:

Len Cooper

ILPS Chairperson

10 April 2023 

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