Korean War

Background information:

Succeeding the surrender of Japan in 1945, American administrators separated the Korean peninsula along the 38^th Parallel, with the United States conquering the southern part and Soviet troops occupying the northern part. However, in 1948, the failure to hold free elections throughout the Korean Peninsula further deepened the division between both sides, and the North established a Communist government. A nationalist democracy, on the other hand, was imposed onto the South by the United States. From then on, the 38^th Parallel became a political border between the two Koreas.

Causes of War:

After the ravage by the Japanese on Korea, both the Soviet Union and the United States claimed to establish a stable and unified Korea in order to withdraw their military forces from the region. Yet, both parties were unwilling to fulfill and mete out their promises due to the distrust between them – Neither the Soviet Union or the United States wanted the peninsula to fall into the other’s hand. Korea, therefore, became a stage for war, which was a result of the physical division of Korea by an agreement of the victorious Allies at the conclusion of the Pacific War at the end of World War II.

Process of War:

On a Sunday 25^th June1950, under the guise of counter-attacking a South Korean provocative invasion, the Korean People’s Army crossed the 38th parallel behind artillery fire at dawn. The Korean People’s Army claimed that Republic of Korea Army (ROK Army) troops, under command of the régime of the "bandit traitor Syngman Rhee", had offended them by trespassing their land first, and that they would capture and execute Rhee. Both Korean armies had incessantly harassed each other with raids and each persistently staged skirmishes across the 38th parallel border.

There were times when victory was in sight, yet the other party would retaliate back, seizing back their land. With both North and South Korea supported by external powers, the Korean War was a proxy war. From a military science standpoint, it combined strategies and tactics of World War I and World War II: it originated from mobile crusade of swift infantry assaults shadowed by air bombing raids, but became a stagnant trench war by July 1951. The Korean War finally ceased fire, when an armistice was signed on 27^th July 1953.

Outcomes and Consequences:

Being the most destructive of the 20th century, the Korean War devastated Korea, with casualties of 4 million Koreans, and China losing up to 1 million soldiers. The United States suffered 36,934 dead and 103,284 wounded while Other UN nations grieved over 3322 dead and 11,949 wounded. Korean War also brought social impairment to Korea, especially in the North, where three years of bombing left hardly a modern building erect, yet reinforced the boundaries between the North and the South. North Korea remained a communist nation and South Korea became a free republic. This social difference still brings about clashes even today.

Lessons learnt from War:

We can learn from this war that weak countries totally have no power to make decision for their own future. Taking the Korean War as an example, they are just regarded as chess pieces by the strong countries such as the Soviet Union and the United States. It also can be seen that dominant countries, when combating for a bigger land space and seizing power, often lead to the death of innocent lives, and result in even bigger losses and unforgivable faults, such as leading to the breakup of Korea and the disharmony and unrest among the citizens there.

'Students should be given more freedom in deciding school rules.' What are your views?

Teachers set and determine the school rules. Students abide accordingly to the school rules. The school’s system had been so from past till present, since teachers have years of experience and wisdom gained from their past, they knew precisely the steps and the guideline for a student’s moral uplift and excellence. Freedom, democracy, liberty, these nonsensical thoughts should be abolished and abandoned by these rebellious youngsters, because this would simply lead to the blind leading the blind, and the downgrading of moral education.

Students nowadays, having an easy and smooth life and with the society focusing on academics and neglecting moral education, are getting more rebellious. They think that they have a fully-developed and sufficiently matured mind, thus, transforming into a stubborn and obstinate person who does not accept others viewpoints and at the same time, changed into someone that wants their own set of rules, fighting for ‘freedom in speech’ and ‘liberty in setting their own school rules’.

I feel that students already have enough freedom to choose their own set of school rules. For instance, in my school, students are allowed to voice their opinion out to the school and teachers would take those advices for consideration. If we give more freedom to them, letting them choose their own set of rules without the teacher’s selection and guidance, the rules would be absurd and pointless, since all of their rules would be easy to fulfill and even possible that they stress on wrong qualities, causing students to go astray and taking the wrong turn in life.

Furthermore, most of them do not have an aim and are just blindly opposing. They feel that the school rules are too rigid and it is too hard to fulfill them. If schools allow them to speak, they would demand for a set of rules that is easier on them, downgrading the level of moral education. Hence, it is compulsory for a teacher to lead them, and a set of proper and well-maintained rules for them to adhere strictly to, lest most of them would probably change for the worse.

School rules are meant for students to follow, not to oppose. Therefore, in order to eradicate this unhealthy mindset of youngsters, schools must increase their focus civic and moral education and stress on the importance of such rules.

Does nuclear energy still have a part to play in the world?

Nuclear energy leakage from a nuclear plant had an important part to play in the recent disaster that struck Japan, and it also had to be held responsible for the pandemonium caused in the past few decades, namely the Three Island in 1979 and Chernobyl 1985. Nuclear disasters wreaked havoc and caused chaos in the economy flourishing Japan, resulting in a huge calamity of innocent lives and the plummet of Japan’s economy. However, though nuclear energy seemed dangerous and a precarious time bomb that may explode anytime, yet it still could be a very useful tool that aids us in everyday lives, thus the benefits and harms done by the usage of these useful and dangerous energy source is greatly dependent on the owner himself.

Nuclear material has a number of useful properties, including the smoke detectors. The research industry also uses radioactive waste in projects to discover information about the subatomic or otherwise undetectable parts of their project. The medical profession uses radioactive waste from nuclear plants in a large number of applications: X-rays, detection of cancer, fighting cancer, magnetic resonance imagining and thyroid treatment. Low-level radioactive waste however, could be developed and used in the production of clothing, hand tools and in water purifying resins.

Nuclear energy, after all these advanced and high-technology examples given, seemed to be very attractive and an indispensible daily necessity, or perhaps in the medical point of view. Yet, if the owner misuses it, it could be the most disastrous weapon ever on earth, for instance, the nuclear bomb, releasing a destructive force of approximately 10,000,000 tons of TNT, is definitely sufficient to cause devastation in any medium-sized country, using blast, fire and the aftermath effect – radiation, which could cause numerous diseases such as the fatal skin cancer.

Nevertheless, it is a source of power for nuclear plants to produce electricity in a much greener way, reducing the emission of the vast amount of toxic gases such as carbon dioxide and monoxide. Though efficient, decreasing the greenhouse effects and decelerating the rate of global warming, it is a ticking bomb and could shatter a country simply with any overwhelming force such as the natural disasters in Japan recently.

As the saying goes, better safe than sorry, in my point of view, although electricity is vital for a country’s growth and development, it is not compulsory just for living a simple life, therefore I feel that nuclear plants still have a part to play in the world, yet it is not a necessity in certain perspectives!

War - A Personal Response

A ghastly white and dilapidated building stood astray of the dusted and scorched street, with it straightening its body up in disgust and struggling not to see the depressing scene right below its foot. Yet, it was unable to do so. Wooden planks that laid on either sides of it vibrated in objection and the sharp, merciless lines and cracks instantly appeared on the very walls of the cold block of building. They were the old wounds, resulted from the wreckage of guns and cannons. And now, they burst again without any blood, reflecting the way people are living now. No blood, no feelings, no nothing, without a single strand of sadness and sorrow to those injured or even died, because they were simply too tired to do so.
Two men leaned their backs again the weak walls of the building, faces stricken in disgust and pity and sympathy for another life gone, but yet pulling their bodies away from the body directly in front of their very eyes. It, the body, was dragged and carried off by three men. Its head drooped lifelessly downward, seemingly disintegrated from the neck of the man. The face was surrounded under the darkened shadow of death, and all we could see is the messy and curly silver-linen hair of the man, which added to the paleness of him. Two men beside him caught hold of his arms, and tugged it strongly and hastily. Wearing thick coats and long jeans and crude gloves, their face hung down in indifference. Possibly, they were already very used to the shifting of dead bodies.
Behind them, the last man stood, also aiding in the moving of the dead body. Snatching the back hem of his clothes, his face was yet only a bit grieved and dejected. He too, was hasty in his movements, but at least he gave a little respect through his clam eyes and thick brows.
Perhaps they all felt oppressed and devastated, perhaps this was life - a flickering speck of light. Perhaps they were just overwhelmed by the deaths in war, and had too much to think of therefore, leaving no attention to the dead.
The dead, the soul, would just fade and rot and decompose away, without any attention, prayer, a coffin or funeral...