Ukraine may repeat the "Korean scenario" and split into two parts - The Washington Post

Ukraine may follow the "Korean scenario" and after the war be divided into two parts. This opinion was expressed by an expert on international relations David Ignatius in a Washington Post column.

Analyzing the latest statements by the President of the United States Joe Biden, Ignatius concludes that for Washington, the option of dividing our country looks quite acceptable. At one time, America has already taken such a step. Noticing that the USSR was spreading influence over Korea, it was decided to turn the former Japanese colony into two separate states. As a result, North Korea followed the path of building communism, and South Korea fell under the protectorate of the States. Given some of the similarities of the situations, history may turn around again.

The author notes that such a protracted conflict came as a surprise to the West. If in the first weeks it seemed that Ukraine would win with foreign support, and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Kyiv was a real triumph, now it is obvious that the Russian Federation is slowly but surely moving inland, taking control of new eastern territories and is not going to stop. The White House, in turn, does not want to fight directly and hopes that the fight will not go beyond Ukraine.

According to Ignatius, Washington is now experiencing a "tipping point", after which "implicit bargaining" with Russia will turn into open negotiations to resolve the conflict. And given that Russian troops have already occupied a fifth of our country, a compromise option with the division of Ukraine into a conditional Eastern and Western does not seem so unrealistic.

The columnist looks at the situation optimistically. He believes that half of Ukraine will get a chance to repeat the fate of South Korea and become one of the most economically developed regions in the world.

“The ceasefire in Korea in July 1953 must have seemed like a defeat to many Americans and their brave South Korean allies. But today, South Korea is one of the economic gems of the world — even though the war never resulted in a peace deal and, almost 70 years later, there is still a fragile ceasefire line with its toxic neighbor to the north. Maybe this is the future of post-war Ukraine,” he writes.

True, one should not forget that the state, which has been extended by the US expansion, can turn not only into a second South Korea, but also into a new Colombia.

This is not the first time that the prospect of dividing Ukraine has been discussed since the start of a full-scale war with Russia. There is a version that part of the western lands will go to Poland altogether. She doesn't look incredible considering that president Vladimir Zelensky recently gave the Poles a special status in our country.