In-flight meeting on the way home from NATO tour
China’s risk is “not exclusive of a specific country”
As President Yun Seok-yeol returned home from the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain on the 1st, he said, “(At the Korea-US-Japan summit), it is desirable that military security cooperation that has been suspended for a long time is desirable to respond to the North Korean nuclear program. I have come to terms with the principle,” he said. The fact that the ‘China risk’ has been strengthened by the close relationship between Korea, the US, and Japan and NATO is not to exclude a specific country, he said.
At a press conference held on the flight from Madrid to Seoul, President Yoon said, “There are positions on the North Korean nuclear issue between the three countries, respectively, or between South Korea and the United States, but this is the first time that the three heads of state have discussed a response together. “It’s the first time in five years,” he said. He said that the specific details of the resumption of military and security cooperation will progress through discussions between foreign and defense ministers and security officials in each country in the future.
President Yoon selected the Korea-US-Japan trilateral summit on the 29th of last month as the most meaningful event of the three-night five-day diplomatic schedule. As President Yoon directly mentioned “military security cooperation,” the specific contents and level of cooperation are likely to become controversial in the future. The presidential office used the word ‘security cooperation’ in the data of the previous trilateral summit between Korea, the United States, and Japan, saying, “We have decided to closely consult on ways to increase the level of security cooperation between the three countries.” There is a difference from Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s mention of military training and strengthening the right to defend the country.
President Yoon “Korea and Japan can cooperate for the future without progress in the past”
“Korea-US-Japan summit” was selected as the most meaningful schedule among 5 days 3 nights
At a briefing on the 29th of last month, an official from the presidential office said, “In the long term, security cooperation between Korea, the United States, and Japan should be reviewed gradually, including Japan’s exercise of the right to collective self-defense.” Discussing Japan-Japan military cooperation is a story to skip.” If the trilateral cooperation between South Korea, the US, and Japan moves toward full-scale military cooperation, the South Korean government must also bear a considerable burden.
The South Korea-US-Japan military cooperation is highly likely to be accepted as a military check against China. It could provide an excuse for Japan, which is trying to strengthen its own military power in response to North Korea’s nuclear program.
Some observers suggest that President Yun’s remarks may have taken into account the fact that South Korea, the United States, and Japan had agreed to conduct a missile warning exercise and a North Korean ballistic missile detection and tracking exercise in August. Earlier, the defense ministers of South Korea, the United States, and Japan held a meeting in Singapore on the 11th of last month and reached an agreement.
President Yoon said that he had confirmed the international community’s strong stance toward responding to the North Korean nuclear issue. President Yoon said, “The topics that each country’s leaders (mainly) talked about at the NATO summit were the Ukraine crisis and the North Korean nuclear issue. It was the position that strict tension management was necessary,” he said.
Although NATO’s strengthening anti-China stance and close relations between South Korea, the US and Japan made China risk management a priority, he said, “It is not the exclusion of a specific country,” but said that any act contrary to values and norms should be punished. Although he refrained from mentioning China directly, it is interpreted as a remark that maintained distance.
President Yoon said, “Participation in the Korea-US-Japan trilateral talks and NATO summit does not exclude specific countries. We have to deal with international and domestic issues with a spirit.” He then gave an example in domestic affairs, saying that just because a person violates norms and values “does not exclude him from our society or do this.”
Values and norms were also emphasized in the future Korean diplomatic principles. President Yoon said, “Korea’s diplomacy has been biased towards how to deal with a specific country,” adding, “There is no need to mention a specific country. “If any country does not respect the norm-based order and acts against values and norms, we will condemn it together and apply sanctions in solidarity,” he said.
Regarding the issue of past history, which is considered a prerequisite for the Korea-Japan summit, he said, “The issues of the past and the future of both countries should be put on the same table and solved together.” The mindset that it cannot be discussed should be avoided. “If the two countries can cooperate for the future, the problems of the past will be sufficiently resolved,” he said.
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