American Diplomacy and North Korea

This piece was originally written and submitted in the Summer of 2025. It was rejected from publication, or lost in the transition when Editor Anton Schauble stepped down from his role as Editor at Fair Obsevar to pursue a law degree. At the time I thought it was because my ideas weren’t worth publishing, I have come to understand it was part of something larger. The Words I wrote are outdated but still deserve a home.

Recovery a tool of Diplomacy

The 2025 Korea/Cold War Annual Government briefing brought renewed hope that America may soon be allowed access to North Korea (DPRK) in effort to bring our fallen heroes home.

For context we are speaking specifically about our American Military personnel lost during the Korean War (1950 -1953)

The optimism stems from two sources, the first being that Kim Jong Un’s quite enigmatic and powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, reportedly and cautiously open to fresh negations.

The second ray of light is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

As recently as July 2025 Kim Yo Jong commented that North Korea is willing to talk as long as those talks do not include pressure for her country to denucularize.

Diplomacy and nuceralization must be de-coupled.

According to Dr. Stephen Linton, Chairman of the Eugene Bell Foundation, an NGO that specializes in medical humanitarian aide, and an individual who has spent a substantial amount of time in DPRK, Kim Jong Un is never ever (like ever) going to give up his nuclear program.

Dr. Linton went on to briefly explain his theory of the psychology behind why.  

To paraphrase he said that the only thing that halted the Japanese from conquering Korea in World War II was when the American’s dropped the atomic bombs Little Boy on Hiroshima and Fat Man on Nagasaki.

North Korea, the Hermit Kingdom sees Nuclear weapons as the only guaranteed way to protect themselves from possible invasion. North Korean’s believe they absolutely have a right to defend themselves.

Dr. Linton said in may ways and for many centuries, Korea has always been walled off and closed to trade and tourists, so this idea of isolationism isn’t new.

He was also keen to point out that from the prospective of North Korea, it is America who is in the wrong.

To this statement, there were many mumbles from the crowd, but speaking just for myself, I can hold space for the duality, because I want to bring our people home.

For me this is not only a personal issue, but one more piece in the puzzle of rekindling the loss of America’s Identity.

As I have been told many many times, it is a very distinctly American priority that we leave no man behind.

There is an excellent book, “Unwavering,” written by Judy Gray and Taylor Kiland that tells the story of the women who were determined that our soldiers were never forgotten, and that we who call ourselves American’s must fulfill our promises.

It is not just a personal recovery, but a recovery of nationalism.

The Korean War is often called the forgotten war.  

Those who fought, including my mothers father, Grandpa Rex never spoke of the war.

My dad’s uncle 1st Lt Thomas William Greer, never came home.

He has never been laid to rest.

In Memory of our son

Thomas W Greer 

1st Lieut U.S. Army

World War II - Korea

1924 - 1951

is written in memorial on the back of his parents tombstone in Arlington National Cemetery.

His corporal body is almost assuredly still in North Korea.

During the conference, at my family case briefing, a historian showed me a map of the Korean Peninsula.

The map was marked with the last recored location of were my great uncle Tom might have been.

First Lieutenant Thomas William Greer, was assigned to 1 Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division.  He was reported Killed in Action on 11 September 1951 northwest of Ch’orwon, Republic of Korea (R.O.K. or South Korea). 1st Lt Greer’s name does not appear on the “Johnnie Johnson List” or the “Missing in Action, Captivity” report compiled from returning prisoners of war (POWs).  1st Lt Greer was also awarded the Silver Star for his bravery in the face of combat on 23 May 1951.  

He died just a few months after receiving that silver star.

Regarding his remains, some possibility that he was buried unknown in Hawaii at Punch Bowl (National Memoria Cemetery of the Pacific) is still a possibility.

The dedicated forensic Anthropologist, Dr. Jennie Jin and her team have been diligently working and making progress to disinter and DNA test the unknown at Punch Bowl.

Cutting edge technology in the field of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Next Generation Sequencing (SNP-NGS) are making matches that were previously unable to be made.

They are imploring those with family DNA to take a check swab and send it in, the more DNA on file the better.  Though Dr. Jin cautions that not every sample is tested for various reasons.

Personally, I do not like the idea of the government having my DNA, but if I were a viable genetic descendant I would honor my great uncles sacrifice, and send it in.

Fortunately my Dad could be a match and he agreed to do the sample once he has returned from overseas.

My other uncle declined, and my other other uncle does not speak to me.

Family dynamics can be an honest hinderance to legacy.

Dr. Jin and a few others seem to be feeling trepidatious, with almost 80% of the disintured tested, they will soon run out of leads.

This is why it is so crucial to be allowed access to the 38th Parallel our people, our families, my great uncle is still there.

For me, the connection is distant, I barely knew my grandfather, and never even understood he had a brother who died in North Korea until a few years ago.

For others, wives, brothers, sisters the inability to find closure is reaching a fever pitch of desperation.

The fear, that when they are gone (and they are all quite old) the link and the memories will be lost.

Who will be the torchbearers? Who will pick up the baton for this next segment of this marathon, and who will carry that baton over the finish line?

Their fear is valid, I am in my 40s and never knew of my familie’s ultimate sacrifice.

If I hand’t become been personally interested when I did, my great uncles existence would likley have been lost to the sands of time.

Serendipitously it was not, and I have a child.  

He will learn the family lore.  

I will teach him what it means to be an American.  

I will teach him that it is the ideals that we strive for, even when in practice we are currently ideological lost.

Dr. Linton seems to believe that it is authentic, organic family remembrance that just my soften the North Korean stance on recovery efforts.

He says from a North Korean Perspective, Americans have shown to be ruthlessly individualistic, with short memories, and a lack of filially pioty.  That this is in direct opposition to the core Korean values of family and ancestral obligation and remembrance.

He muses that if after 75 years we still have citizens remembering, we still have family looking for our loved ones, that this is something impressive, that this is something that Kim Jong Un and Kim Yo Jong can likely understand and respect.

In practicality it is an indicator that North Korea and America can indeed build a lasting relationship of mutual understanding and eventual respect.

This brings us to our second point of hope, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and restoring the Warrior Ethos.

It was General Kelly McKeague who brought this sentiment to attention. 

The Warrior Ethos

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

The Korean War will only be the forgotten war if we forget.

Family members have fallen.

It is time to bring them home.

It is time to restore who we are AMERICANS.

We are the living memory.

We are torch bearers.

We are warriors.