Revival of Spectre of “UN Command”

The spectre of the “UN Command” is now reviving on the Korean peninsula as a multinational war organization, expanding the sphere of its activities to the entire Asia-Pacific region.

Abusing the Name of UN

The US instigated the ROK to start the Korean war on June 25, 1950 in a bid to realize its wild ambition for world domination. Then, to invent a legal excuse for its entry to the Korean front, it manipulated the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution No. 84 (1950) on July 7, 1950.

The “resolution” empowered the US to lead the organization of the “combined forces command”. On July 25, over 10 days later, it submitted a report to the UNSC in which it named the organization the “UN Command”. By doing so, it abused the name of the UN to give the world an impression that the UN played some role in the Korean war.

In November 1975, several decades after the ceasefire, the UN adopted a resolution No. 3390 (xxx) B at a general assembly demanding the dissolution of the “UN Command”, so that the US could no longer mislead the public opinion by abusing its name for military actions.

Former UN secretary generals Boutros Boutros Ghali and Kofi Annan strongly opposed the US forces’ ceaseless abuse of the name of the “UN Command”.

As an answer to the question by a journalist on the opinion of the UN secretary general on the legal status of the “UN Command”, his spokesperson said at a daily news briefing on July 26, 2023: This was created during the Korean conflict by the Security Council. The resolutions are clear. It is… however, it has no operational link, no administrative link, no financial link with the United Nations. As far as my understanding, even when it was created, it was funded, paid for by the United States.

This being a hard fact, the US still abuses the name of the UN.

“UN Command”—a Threat to Security of Asia-Pacific Region

After the ceasefire the nations affiliated to the “UN Command” withdrew their troops from the ROK. But only the US has kept its military presence in the ROK so as to maintain the “UN Command” which exists only for form’s sake.

Recently, the US has been getting more undisguised to revive the moribund “UN Command”. As a typical example, it is now drawing to the military drills led by it the countries which sent troops to the Korean war under the signboard of the “UN Forces”, clamouring that it is going to expand the role of the states involved in the Korean war and organize the multinational staff of the allies forming the “UN Command”. It is trying to expand the role of the organization, making its member nations take part in mapping out emergency operational plans and also in their detailed actions.

In March it staged large-scale joint military exercises in the ROK by mobilizing huge nuclear strategic means and armed forces from 11 countries belonging to the “UN Command”. The exercises including field manoeuvres which doubled as compared to last year, was reportedly reminiscent of the situation of the Korean war in the 1950s.

Under the pretext of strengthening combined military operations, it is trying to expand the sphere of activities of multinational armed forces to the entire Asia-Pacific region beyond the Korean peninsula and draw troops from its vassal states to various multinational joint military drills.

Military experts comment that the US, a war nation which holds hegemony in the world through regularized war actions, is depending on its allies more than ever before so as to maintain its supremacy in Asia and that such military organizations as the “UN Command” and Asian-version NATO formed on the pretext of “joint defence” are war organizations that serve the US interests for hegemony and realize them.