Berlin to commit personnel to tense North-South Korea border

Germany is for the first time to provide personnel to the United Nations Command, the US-led multinational headquarters that oversees the armistice that concluded the 1950-53 Korean War, a commitment welcomed by South Korea.

The German contingent is expected to be made up primarily of senior military personnel working alongside officers from 17 other UN nations to monitor the uneasy peace on the peninsula, with analysts suggesting the contribution is largely designed to underline international support among nations facing down increasingly aggressive dictatorial states.

President Yoon Suk Yeol expressed gratitude for Berlin's application to join the United Nations Command (UNC) during talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington on July 10, adding, "We look forward to Germany fulfilling its necessary role as a member of the UNC as soon as the related procedures are completed."

The agreement comes at a tense time on the peninsula and in eastern Europe, points out Chun In-bum, a retired lieutenant general in the Republic of Korea Army who served on the UNC's Military Armistice Commission.

North Korea-Russia security alliance

North Korea signed a security agreement with Russia last month that commits the two nations to come to each other's aid in the event of a conflict, he said, while North Korea is also widely believed to be providing millions of artillery rounds and short-range missiles to Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.

"Maintaining peace on the Korean Peninsula has always been a challenge, so the more nations that get involved in the maintenance of the armistice is beneficial not only to South Korea but also the stability of the entire world," Chun told DW.

"A country like Germany is an influential leader in Europe and the world, and that is why this commitment is being welcomed by the South Korean government and people," said Chun, who is presently a senior fellow with the National Institute for Deterrence Studies.

Chun agreed that the arrangement is unlikely to involve German boots on the ground in the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone that divides the two sides, with guarding the frontier now "99% in the hands of the South Korean military," he added.

"This is military diplomacy," he said. "I expect to see staff officers carrying out monitoring of the border and inspections of the DMZ to make sure that the armistice is being upheld."

Chun said the South Korean government remains keen for the governments of other like-minded nations to commit personnel to the UNC as it helps to bolster the alliance that has helped to shield the democratic South at a flashpoint location that foreign troops assigned to the country still refer to as "freedom's frontier."

German expectations

Scholz visited the DMZ himself in May 2023, using his visit to South Korea for a summit with Yoon to call on the regime in Pyongyang to cease ballistic missile tests. Saying that the situation on the peninsula is "still dangerous," Scholz said he hoped that the two Koreas might one day follow in the footsteps of Germany and be reunited.

North Korea has responded angrily to NATO member states forging closer ties with a number of countries in the Indo-Pacific region, claiming that the alliance is planning to expand by adding South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and possibly other states to its line-up.

On July 15, a statement issued by North Korean state media declared that a recent talks in Berlin between Scholz and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was a meeting of "defeated war criminal nations."

Andrei Lankov, a professor of history and international relations at Seoul's Kookmin University, said both Seoul and Pyongyang are feeling the impact of the conflict in Ukraine.

"The democracies want to create a united front against the revisionist powers; Russia most notably at the moment, but China and Iran will be more significant challengers in the future," he told DW.

Benefitting Seoul and Berlin

"A German presence here will help both South Korea and Germany, both of which are very concerned about US isolationism," he said.

Lankov said there is a "high chance" of Donald Trump being reelected to the White House in November, indicating that "the isolationism that he proposes is not an aberration but a deep and growing trend in US politics."

Many American voters are tired of the US providing much of their partners' security, he suggested, and there is a growing movement for the US to make those nations take responsibility for their own defense. That has led both Seoul and Berlin to decide they need to make greater efforts to face down their shared security challenges, he added.

"A lot of this commitment by Germany is going to be about waving the flag, but we must remember that symbolism matters as it will help bring in other partners," he said.

Edited by: Shamil Shams