UN Command in South Korea 'outdated,' says China

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Calling the multinational UN Command in South Korea “outdated,” China on Tuesday said it was a “product of the Cold War.”

“Relevant countries use the name UN Command to stoke confrontation and create tensions,” said Mao Ning, spokeswoman of China’s Foreign Ministry.

Beijing’s statement same after South Korea hosted the first joint UN Command-member states defense ministers’ meeting in Seoul on Tuesday. Defense ministers and representatives from 17 UN Command member states participated.

“This is not conducive to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula,” Mao told reporters in Beijing, according to the ministry.

Following the outbreak of the Korean War on June 25, 1950 – with China on the side of North Korea, support that continues to this day – the UN Command was established that July 24. The war ended in 1953 in armistice, after which the US deployed around 28,500 soldiers in South Korea.

According to the UN Command website, UN Security Council Resolutions 83 and 84 “provided the international legal authority for member states to restore peace on the Korean Peninsula, and they designated the United States as the leader of the unified command we know as UN Command.”

It adds that the UN Command continues its “unbroken commitment to secure a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula by enforcing the Armistice Agreement, facilitating diplomacy with North Korea, and serving as the integrator for multinational forces during crisis or conflict.”

The UN Command is headquartered in the US Army Garrison Humphreys in South Korea.

​​​​​​​Besides South Korea, its members include the US, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, and Türkiye, which fought in the Korean War, with hundreds of Turkish soldiers giving their lives.