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That prospect is sure to bring a chill to veterans of the brutal 1950-53 Korean War like 78-year-old Harry Marshall of Peterborough, Ont. He served 18 months in the region in 1952 and 1953; he said he hopes the situation there improves without the need for military action.

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Marshall agrees, though, that Canada would help out its allies if tensions boiled over, but he hopes the new leader will take a different approach to governing.

“I hope to hell it doesn’t come to that,” said Marshall, who serves as president of a chapter of the Korea Veterans Association of Canada in Peterborough. “This one would be a modern (war) with all the nuclear stuff they’ve got going around. I don’t think I’d want to see that happen at all. Once was enough.

“I think Canada would stand up again to help them out. I think North Korea would have to let off some of those long-range missiles they got. So far, they haven’t directed them on any positive targets — from what I can tell. It would take quite a bit (to motivate military action), but I don’t think South Korea will stand for anything. What I’ve seen of their army, they’re pretty good, too. Very skilful.”

On Monday, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Canada has made a firm commitment to ensure peace in the region.

“It is past due for North Korea to change its ways and for those who lead it to meet the real needs of the North Korean people,” Baird said in a statement. “Canada remains committed to a secure Korean Peninsula and a peaceful, prosperous broader region; we will work with our allies to those ends.”