[Dike's Scales] The guns of a great power cannot be an excuse for impunity

Hansin Kim / Attorney, Chairman of the Center for U.S.-Korea Politics and Economy

Recent reports that US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is being investigated for war crimes have caused significant controversy.

The claim that he ordered a second attack on an enemy vessel already out of action during a military operation in the Caribbean, killing all of its crew, raises the possibility of a war crime under international law. While the investigation will determine whether the killings were military necessity or unnecessary, this incident naturally leads to a fundamental question:

What is a war crime, and why has the humanity strived to establish minimal norms even amid the tragedy of war?

War has been one of the oldest and most horrific realities of human history. In ancient times, plundering, destroying cities, and capturing women and children were common practices of victors. The Biblical "Babylonian Captivity" also represents a case of mass deportation of defeated civilians.

War was not a subject of regulation, but a means of demonstrating power, and human dignity was not protected. This reality began to change only in the modern era.

Dutch jurist Grotius argued that civilization could only be established if there were "rules" even in war. The Hague Conventions of the late 19th century and the Geneva Conventions of the mid-20th century institutionalized basic principles such as the protection of civilians and the treatment of prisoners of war into international law.

The scenes of "prisoners-of-war camps" that we so readily see in movies today are in fact possible because of this international law. Without the Geneva Conventions, the very concept of protecting prisoners of war would have been difficult to establish.

The Nuremburg War Crimes Trials after World War II legally concretized the concept of war crimes by proclaiming the principle that "state orders cannot exempt individuals from responsibility." This was a declaration that human dignity must take precedent over any order.

Under international law today, war crimes refer to acts that cannot be justified under any circumstances, such as attacks on civilians, abuse of prisoners, torture, and indiscriminate bombing.

The United States is also a party to the Geneva Conventions and has a system for prosecuting war crimes under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and federal law. Nevertheless, the fact that several parties to the conflict, including Russia, Israel, Hamas, the US military, and Saudi Arabia, are under investigation of war crimes demonstrates the reality that any nation that wages war is unlikely to be free from suspicion. The inherent vulnerability of war crimes to state power further complicates this issue.

Human efforts to regulate war crimes are grounded in clear legal and philosophical assumptions. While recognizing the impossibility of completely eliminating war, there is a civilized consensus that war must be prevented from destroying humanity.

Therefore, international law has established a minimal framework of norms to be observed even in war. This is not a mere ideal; it is a self-imposed limitation to prevent humanity from being swayed by its own wilderness.

Powerful nations, in particular, must adhere to these norms even more strictly. If the United States is to assert its normative leadership in the international community, it must address the allegations surrounding Secretary Hegseth transparently and rigorously. The moment a powerful nation weakens norms, the entire international norms that deter war crimes are shaken.

War is a moment when the darkest aspects of human nature are revealed. However, it is also human effort to build a fence to prevent humanity from completely collapsing even in such situations. War crimes norms are not intended to justify war, but rather a last line of defense to preserve human dignity even in the unavoidable reality of war.

I hope that the scales of Dike will tip not toward the logic of power but toward norms and responsibility. That direction is the path toward civilization that humanity must follow.

(This article was originally published as a column in The Korea Daily in Korean and translated into English with the help of Google Translate. The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not represent the official stance of the center.)