"Invincible Spirit" :Triggering the Korean Peninsula to war

The joint military exercise "Invincible Spirit"off the sea of Japan by the Military of USA and South Korea have once again set the ball of flames rolling in the Korean Peninsula. The Koreans are on a stand off after the Sinking of Cheonan. The trigger started by the sinking of the South Korean Ship Cheonan which they claimed the North torpeded it where as the North said it had nothing to do with the sinking of the ship. The Korean peninsula suddenly became volatile.

The Korean peninsula is the third most economically and industrially prosporous zone after America and Europe and is nearer to China and Japan.That gives the strategic angle for the control of the Korean Peninsula. The two superpowers like China and USA are pitted against each other for the control of the Peninsula. The Chinese supports the communist North Korea where as USA supports the Democratic South Korea. USA wants to lessen the Chinese influence in the region but due to geographical advantage the Chinese are having an upper hand. The joint military drill has been shifted from the yellow sea to the sea of Japan following the protest from the Chinese. The nuclear armed North is openly declaring to use the nukes if a threat comes from the South. In such a scenario the situation might escalates into a full scale of regional war which will destabilise the region. The joint miltary excercise will show the strenght of the south but it will provoke north. The big four (Russia, Japan, China & USA) should encourage the North for the dialogue instead of isolating it. They have to continiously engage the north in dialouges. The attempts sanctions by security council might not work as china is the largest trading partner of the north and also ts biggest ally. So the only way out is dialouge. The big four should devise a strategy to engage the North in the discussion table for a way out of the crisis.