Protesters stage a rally to oppose the planned joint military exercises between the US and South Korea, in front of the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, Aug 14, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)
SEOUL - The Republic of Korea’s move to step up security cooperation with the United States and Japan under a trilateral pact has evoked strong criticism within the ROK, with opposition parties in Seoul saying the agreement is not in the ROK’s interests.
“Many people see this summit as one where the national interests of the US and Japan are visible but not those of the ROK,” said Park Kwang-on, floor leader of the ROK’s main opposition Democratic Party.
Speaking at a party meeting on Aug 21, Park said the framework of the ROK-US-Japan cooperation should not be a confrontational strategy that focuses on military cooperation, but a cooperation strategic framework that promotes the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia.
Lee Jae-myung, head of ROK’s Democratic Party, said Yoon failed to raise the territory issues with Japan, as well as concerns over Japan’s planned release of nuclear-contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant
Lee Jae-myung, head of ROK’s Democratic Party, said Yoon failed to raise the territory issues with Japan, as well as concerns over Japan’s planned release of nuclear-contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
US President Joe Biden, ROK President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed on Aug 18 to historic trilateral security cooperation. during a summit held at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, the United States.
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A series of documents were adopted at the summit, including a “Commitment to Consult” document that said that the three countries committed their governments to “consult trilaterally with each other, in an expeditious manner, to coordinate our responses to regional challenges, provocations, and threats affecting our collective interests and security”.
“Through these consultations, we intend to share information, align our messaging, and coordinate response actions,” the document said.
Though the documents did not use the term “military alliance”, Woo Su-keun, head of the Institute of East Asian Studies of Korea in the ROK, said the trilateral meeting has set a foundation for forming an “Asian NATO”.
The real target of trilateral cooperation is China and not the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), because the latter is not a big threat for the US, Woo told China Daily, adding that the trilateral security cooperation may further increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
From the DPRK’s perspective, if it feels bigger threat in national security due to the enhanced defense cooperation among the US, the ROK and Japan, it is impossible for it be willing to have friendly and peaceful dialogue with the ROK, said Woo.
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“This strengthened trilateral security cooperation is for sure going to push the DPRK away from the peace process,” said Lakhvinder Singh, director of the peace program at The Asia Institute, a Seoul-based think tank.
“It had brought us closer to nuclear catastrophe”, Singh said, noting that what the region needs is closer cooperation among the countries.
Singh said the trilateral cooperation put too much focus on defense, while what the ROK and Japan really need to deal with is their economic situation.
The US has taken the Russia-Ukraine conflict “as an opportunity to refurbish NATO and has forged the ‘Indo-Pacific’ strategy”, senior international affairs writer Jung E-gil, noted in a commentary published in ROK newspaper Hankyoreh on Aug 20.
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With the Yoon government’s “generous concession” to Japan, the trilateral alliance system has been put back on track, but Jung quoted Haruki Wada, an emeritus professor at Tokyo University as saying that cooperation with Japan in a confrontation with fellow Koreans in the DPRK is the wrong course for the ROK.
“The Yoon administration’s headlong plunge into great power conflict, like a moth to the flame, will likely be the pit of our despair,” Jung wrote, noting the trilateral summit is a pivotal element in the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy that aims at confronting China.
Commenting on the trilateral meeting in Camp David, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Aug 18 that “the Asia-Pacific is an anchor for peace and development and a promising land for cooperation and growth, and should never be turned into a wrestling ground for geopolitical competition again”.
On Monday, a group of ROK peace activists held a rally against the joitn military drill with the United States that kicked off earlier in the day
On Monday, a group of ROK peace activists held a rally against the joint military drill with the United States that kicked off earlier in the day.
The activists from the Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea (SPARK) gathered near the presidential office in central Seoul, where the defense ministry is also headquartered, to call for peace for the Korean Peninsula.
The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise between ROK and the US, a summertime joint military exercise involving large-scale field maneuvers, was scheduled to continue until Aug 31, according to ROK's Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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The activists said that the efforts for the trilateral military cooperation among the US, Japan and ROK should be stopped as it can escalate regional tensions.
With Xinhua inputs
