“We need to participate in Ocus in Korea and Japan and expand NCG against North Korea and China threats”

In order to respond to regional security threats from North Korea and China, South Korea and Japan will participate together in AUKUS, a security alliance between the United States, Britain and Australia, and the Korea-US Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) ), an expert opinion was suggested that Japan should consider a plan to cooperate.

(Pyongyang Rodong Sinmun = News 1) = North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) ‘Hwasong-18’. [Available only in Korea. Redistribution prohibited. DB prohibited. For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. Redistribution Prohibited] rodongphoto@news1.kr

Choi Wan-gyu, a professor of military history at the Korea Military Academy, made this announcement through a defense policy seminar held at the Army Hall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, co-hosted by the Global Defense Research Forum and the Graduate School of Political Science at Kookmin University on the morning of the 22nd.

In a discussion on the topic of ‘Changes and Prospects in the ROK-US Alliance and Security Cooperation between the US and Korea,’ Professor Choi said, “In order to strengthen the ROK-US alliance and ensure the effectiveness of trilateral security cooperation between the US, Korea and Japan, additional policy review is necessary.” In order to respond, it is necessary to participate in the minority security consultative body in the Indo-Pacific region.”

Currently, the US administration of Joe Biden is leading consultative bodies such as Ocus and Quad (USA, Japan, Australia, India) in the Indian and Pacific regions.

Professor Choi argued, “Korea needs to actively participate in Quad, which Japan is already participating in, and consider a plan to receive technology from the US nuclear-powered submarine by jointly participating in Ocus.”

In addition, he said, “In order to achieve a deterrence effect on the advancement of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities, it is necessary to consider a plan to further expand the extended deterrence posture by having Japan and others additionally participate in the NCG between South Korea and the United States.”

“Extended deterrence” refers to the concept that the United States provides deterrence capabilities, such as nuclear capabilities, conventional forces, and missile defense capabilities, to a level commensurate with the defense of the US homeland in order to protect allies from nuclear and missile threats from adversaries.

Professor Choi said, “The US is providing extended deterrence not only to South Korea, but also to Japan and Australia, which are allies in the Indo-Pacific region. I will bring it,” he added.

Professor Choi also said, “In order to further strengthen the ROK-US alliance, we need to make efforts to strengthen the alliance, such as the insertion of an automatic intervention clause into the (Korea-US) Mutual Defense Treaty, which Presidents Rhee Syngman and Park Chung-hee persistently attempted.” For the defense of South Korea, there is a need for a safeguard that allows US troops to immediately enter the war without going through all the necessary approvals according to the constitutional process,” he said.

Professor Choi also mentioned, “There is an argument that the presence of USFK itself acts as a ‘trip wire’, but it has become unclear due to the relocation of the US military base to Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do.”

In this regard, Rep. Ki-ho Han, chairman of the National Defense Commission of the National Assembly, said in a congratulatory speech at the seminar that day, “If we lack strength, we must fill it,” and “so we have no choice but to get closer to Japan.”

Opinions were also presented at the seminar that the level of the ROK-US alliance in the field of security should be higher than the current one.

Park Cheol-kyun, head of the Security Strategy Center at the Global Defense Research Forum, said in a presentation on the theme of ‘The Washington Declaration, Extended Deterrence in the ROK-US Alliance, and Future Tasks’, “(Through the Washington Declaration), we are not a country that is unilaterally provided with only extended deterrence from the United States, but the United States “It is now possible to discuss strategic planning related to nuclear weapons jointly with the Ministry of National Defense,” he said.

“We can target more than 170 nuclear warheads,” Park said, considering the number of targets managed by North Korea. It will take more than 10 years to secure the nuclear warheads North Korea wants.”

In the midst of this, Vice Minister of National Defense Shin Beom-cheol said in a congratulatory speech at the seminar that day, “The ROK-US alliance itself is our strategic asset for foreign affairs and security.” We are working hard to strengthen our deterrence,” he said.

Source : fnnews.com