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Time to see beyond North Korea’s threats

Posted May. 28, 2015 07:45,   

한국어

The dispute over Spratly Islands in South China Sea is the biggest issue between the U.S. and China. The U.S. has recently stepped in as China created seven artificial islands in the contested waters where six Asian countries claim their sovereignty. The conflict between the two countries is escalating into the phase of a military confrontation because it is a matter of a hegemony in Asia Pacific. Japan, which can exercise the right to collective self-defense after the recent revision of the U.S.-Japan defense guidelines, is siding with the U.S. to block China. While our focus is fixed on North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles, superpowers around Korea have started a fight over hegemony in East Asia.

China is unveiling its military ambitions by shaking the chess board of Asia Pacific, which has been led by the U.S. for 70 years since the end of World War II. According to its Defense White Paper released on Tuesday, China mentioned the U.S.’s return to Asia, Japan’s rearmament and instability on the Korean Peninsula as threats to its security. In response, it plans to go beyond the traditional way of thinking of “valuing land and disregarding sea” and safeguard its sovereignty and national interests. It implied that it could mount a preemptive attack on a limited basis by changing its defense strategy from defense to “active defense.” Of course, this increased the scope of the operation of its naval and air forces.

The U.S. will never sit idle and do nothing. It conducted the biggest combined military exercise involving 10,000 U.S. and Filipino soldiers in the South China Sea last month and will have a large joint military drill involving 30,000 U.S. and Australian soldiers in Australia in early July. Japan’s self-defense forces will join the drill for the first time. Japan appears to be ready for exercising the right to collective self-defense whether it be in China or North Korea as long as it can.

The South China Sea is a strategically important area connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. In the “One Belt, One Road” policy of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the maritime silk road passes the South China Sea. Korea imports most crude oil and trade goods via the sea. An inadvertent conflict between the U.S. and China in the sea would hit Korea hard in terms of economy, diplomacy and security. South Korea cannot safeguard its national interests in the tumultuous era simply by strengthening the Korea-U.S. alliance against North Korea’s military threats. It needs to have a bigger strategic perspective on Asia Pacific beyond the Korean peninsula. If South Korea fails to see the big picture, it will be in a position where it is sacrificed by superpowers again.