South Korea successfully launched a two-stage rocket carrying a research satellite Wednesday. And recently North Korea warned of the launch of a series of long-range rockets and a higher-level nuclear test. Tensions in the Korean Peninsula have been exacerbated.

The Korean War (1950-53), which directly led to today's confrontation between the North and the South, ended six decades ago, but tensions seem to have become the norm in this area.

Meanwhile, external interventions have made the situation more complex.

The Coldest Winter II, written by Paik Sun-yup, a retired South Korean military officer who is known for his service during the Korean War and for being the first four-star general in the history of the South Korean military, reexamines the Korean War from a personal perspective.

The title references US Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Halberstam's famous history of the war, The Coldest Winter.

In this latest book, Paik describes in detail South Korean soldiers' ecstatic feelings after the battle of Dabudong, excitement when entering Pyongyang, and frustration after the negotiations.

Paik does not deny South Korean failures, although he sometimes tries to defend them or mention them in passing.

Although the war happened on the Korean Peninsula, most people believe that China and the US were the real actors in this war.

The book not only highlights the plight of South Korean soldiers during the war, but also focuses on the Chinese People's Volunteer Army.

Paik cites a famous sentence from The Art of War, "Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight 100 battles without defeat." He hopes that his book can help Chinese people know better about their former enemies and learn how their grandfathers sacrificed their youth on the battlefield.

Paik once mentioned that he expects this book to make readers turn the map upside down and try to understand the war from the other side's position. It is a praiseworthy attitude toward history.

The smoke from the guns on the Korean Peninsula has dispersed. Year 2012 marked the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea, and these two countries have already achieved fruitful outcomes in their military exchanges and friendly communication.

All these outcomes are of great significance to the peaceful development of the East Asian region.

However, the dark clouds of war could still gather in this region. The combatants in the Korean War, China, the US, North Korea and South Korea, are still alert to the others militarily.

The coldest winter has been gone for six decades, and everyone needs to do their part to try and lift the chill.