Follow us on social

2019-12-12t024754z_209276362_mt1usatoday13782299_rtrmadp_3_dec-11-2019-washington-dc-usa-rep-andy-biggs-scaled

First House Republican to support measure calling for an end to the Korean War

The move represents a major step forward in efforts to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Analysis | Reporting | Asia-Pacific

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) announced on Thursday that he will support a resolution that calls for a formal end to the Korean War.

In July, I wrote about Rep. Ro Khanna’s (D-Calif) efforts to declare the Korean War over. Such a political declaration would be an important first step in formally ending the war, which in turn can help resolve the broader security challenge surrounding North Korea’s growing nuclear weapons.

This summer, Khanna announced  his plan to visit South Korea with Biggs, his fellow co-chair of the War Powers Caucus. And Biggs’ office confirmed that he also intends to co-introduce the resolution on formally ending the war, H.Re.152, with Khanna in the next Congress, as well as help secure a Republican Senator to introduce a companion bill in the Senate. 

"I am proud to join my friend and fellow co-chair of the War Powers Caucus Rep. Ro Khanna in calling for a formal end to the Korean War,” Rep. Biggs told me. “Americans are tired of endless wars. We must focus our limited resources on domestic priorities rather than engage in open-ended conflicts that could escalate into war."

That the chair of the influential Freedom Caucus will be the first Republican cosponsor to the Khanna resolution is a highly noteworthy development. It is the clearest indication yet that no matter what happens on November 3, both sides of the aisle in Congress will help end America’s original endless war. 

Most Americans may not know that the Korean War is technically still ongoing since no peace treaty was ever signed ending the conflict. Only an armistice agreement between the United States, North Korea, and China stands in the way of renewed fighting on the Korean Peninsula. The unresolved status of the war has been relegated as a secondary issue in Washington’s efforts to reduce the threat of North Korea’s nuclear and missile weapons, so far without success. 

Those in Washington who oppose the peace declaration argue that doing so would give away leverage on North Korea without getting much in return. This is flawed. Declaring the war over could create leverage by putting pressure on Pyongyang to reciprocate actions associated with the declaration that are designed to reduce tensions, which would be part of a broader peace regime on the peninsula. Peacebuilding moves could include verifiable reductions in North Korea’s ability to produce nuclear weapons, lifting of sanctions, and other types of security, political, economic changes. 

H.Res.152 currently has over 50 cosponsors, including all three contenders to lead the Democrats on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs: Reps. Joaquin Castro, Gregory Meeks, and Brad Sherman. The resolution enjoys support from a wide range of Democratic members of Congress, from anti-interventionist Rep. Barbara Lee, the sole member of the House of Representatives to vote against the authorization for the war in Afghanistan, to Rep. Katie Porter, who represents the second largest Korean community in the United States.

The growing number of members of Congress who are willing to go on the record about the Korean War has several implications. 

First, it reasserts congressional authority on the issue of the Korean War as the first branch of government that has the sole power to declare war. This is a matter of constitutional authority and enjoys bipartisan appeal.

As Nate Anderson of Concerned Veterans for America noted when announcing the bipartisan War Powers Caucus, “Congress, led by both parties over the last 17 years, has repeatedly failed to step up and exercise its war powers – a responsibility enshrined to it in the Constitution. We, along with our partners at VoteVets, eagerly look forward to working with this cohort to advance a better American foreign policy.” 

Second, the growing momentum for H.Res.152 will force a debate about U.S. policy toward the Korean Peninsula in ways that are far more transparent and democratic compared to having the issue under the firm control of the executive branch. Currently, there is a great deal of confusion about what a peace process would look like, in part because the Trump administration has not clarified the terms and sequencing of such an effort.

For example, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently expressed support for peaceful relations between the two Koreas, saying that the administration's " position on that set of issues, that suite of issues with respect to the denuclearization of North Korea ― a brighter future for the North Korean people, which would obviously include documents that would change the status between North and South Korea."

Pompeo seems to be equating a formal end to the war with “documents” that would change the status between the two Koreas. But Pompeo does not make clear that the actual peace treaty would not involve South Korea, since it was not a signatory of the armistice. He also does not mention how the United States would pursue these “documents,” which would involve negotiating with Pyongyang and Beijing, in consultation with Seoul. Congress should demand that the next president formally declare the war over and appoint a special envoy to negotiate a peace treaty to be ratified by the U.S. Senate. 

Third, growing support for the resolution lends support to the United States’ commitment of a “new U.S.–DPRK relationship,” as declared in the Singapore joint statement signed by President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un. This peace-oriented path is what South Korean President Moon Jae-in has also argued as the best path toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, both at the United Nations General Assembly in September and at the New York-based The Korea Society’s annual gala this month. 

Both Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden seem to prefer a diplomacy-centered approach with North Korea. President Trump met Kim Jong Un three times and left the door open for more negotiations, and Biden recently noted his support for a “principled diplomacy” with North Korea.

Both likely fear congressional pushback from those who oppose negotiating with Pyongyang. We saw this happen before. During the Clinton administration, a newly-controlled Republican Congress obstructed the Agreed Framework reached by Clinton’s negotiators without offering any alternatives to the deal’s cap on North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons in exchange for energy assistance. Within 10 days of signing the Agreed Framework in October 1994, Ambassador Stephen Bosworth said the deal became a “political orphan” due to partisan objections from Capitol Hill.

For too long, Washington has ignored the Korean War in its pursuit for building a peaceful Korean Peninsula. The next U.S. president should take the first step toward peace by declaring the Korean War over as part of a broad strategy toward de-escalating tensions with North Korea. This is not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue; it's an American issue.

Thanks to our readers and supporters, Responsible Statecraft has had a tremendous year. A complete website overhaul made possible in part by generous contributions to RS, along with amazing writing by staff and outside contributors, has helped to increase our monthly page views by 133%! In continuing to provide independent and sharp analysis on the major conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as the tumult of Washington politics, RS has become a go-to for readers looking for alternatives and change in the foreign policy conversation. 

 

We hope you will consider a tax-exempt donation to RS for your end-of-the-year giving, as we plan for new ways to expand our coverage and reach in 2025. Please enjoy your holidays, and here is to a dynamic year ahead!

Dec 11, 2019, Washington, DC, USA; Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.,gives his opening statement as the House Judiciary Committee meets to markup Articles of Impeachment against President Donald Trump. Mandatory credit: Jack Gruber-USA TODAY
Analysis | Reporting | Asia-Pacific
Committee Hearing: The Imperative to Strengthen America's Defense Industrial Base and Workforce
Top Image Credit: Senate Committee Hearing: The Imperative to Strengthen America's Defense Industrial Base and Workforce (YouTube/Screenshot)

Industry: War with China may be imminent, but we're not ready

Military Industrial Complex

Military industry mainstays and lawmakers alike are warning of imminent conflict with China in an effort to push support for controversial deep tech, especially controversial autonomous and AI-backed systems.

The conversation, which presupposed a war with Beijing sometime in the near future, took place Wednesday on Capitol Hill at a hearing of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) entitled, “The Imperative to Strengthen America's Defense Industrial Base and Workforce.”

keep readingShow less
Diplomacy Watch: Still tap dancing around NATO for Kyiv

Diplomacy Watch: Still tap dancing around NATO for Kyiv

QiOSK

Kyiv and Moscow both hinted this week at their shifting expectations and preparations for a potentially approaching conclusion to the Ukraine War, amid a frantic push from the Biden administration to “put Ukraine in the strongest possible position” ahead of President-elect Trump’s inauguration in January.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan reiterated this goal as part of a Dec. 2 White House announcement of $725 million in additional security assistance for Ukraine, which will include substantial artillery, rockets, drones, and land mines and will be delivered “rapidly” to Ukraine’s front lines. The Kremlin said on Tuesday that the new package shows that the Biden administration aims to “throw oil on the fire” of the war before exiting office.

keep readingShow less
Israel protest university of michigan
Top image credit: Students and other individuals walk throughout campus as they protest to express support for Palestinians in Gaza, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in front of the residence of the University of Michigan's president, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S. November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Emily Elconin

Free speech crises loom with crackdown on Israel criticism

Washington Politics

As one administration exits and another takes form, a harsh reality is becoming clear for critics of maintaining U.S. support for the Israeli government: in government bureaucracies and university campuses alike, crackdowns and pressure on free expression and assembly will continue in force.

Precisely how the incoming Trump administration will handle such criticism remains to be seen — but views expressed by his congressional allies and recent cabinet picks suggest a further diversion from upholding freedoms of speech and assembly in the name of maintaining support for Israel's war on Gaza and beyond.

keep readingShow less

Election 2024

Latest

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.