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Commentary
Wall Street Journal

70 Years After the War, No Resolution in Korea

walter_russell_mead
walter_russell_mead
Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship
North Korean and Chinese troops celebrate a victory against U.S. forces in South Korea, c. June 25, 1950.
Caption
North Korean and Chinese troops celebrate a victory against U.S. forces in South Korea, c. June 25, 1950.

The Korean War began 70 years ago, on June 25, 1950, when Kim Jong Un’s grandfather sent troops across the 38th parallel into the South. Pyongyang seemed bent on commemorating that event this year by trash-talking—literally. North Korea plans to retaliate for packages sent over the border by defectors containing derogatory information about Kim Jong Un along with South Korean soap operas on memory sticks. According to Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency, “12 million leaflets of all kinds reflective of the wrath and hatred of the people from all walks of life” have been printed, and 3,000 balloons are being prepared to unleash a massive propaganda blitz against the offending South.

The master strategists of Pyongyang plan to include bundles of trash with the propaganda. “South Korea has to face the music,” the North’s news agency said. “Only when it experiences how painful and how irritating it is to dispose of leaflets and waste, it will shake off its bad habit. The time for retaliatory punishment is drawing near.”

Or maybe not. On the eve of the anniversary, North Korea announced that Mr. Kim had told officials to put the campaign on hold.

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