Editorial: U.S.-South Korean Alliance Is an Occasional Atomic Bomb

On November 24th, U.S. President Obama requested China to declare her stance toward North Korea. Some American politicians and media request China to “control” North Korea. Some media in South Korea agrees with the U.S., but the South Korean government has so far not claimed that China is standing by North Korea.

The U.S. and the West always have a self-conflicting attitude in terms of China’s role in the Korean Peninsula. On one hand, they want China to ally with them against North Korea. On the other hand, they wish China could exert special influence on North Korea. Such reflects their incompetence regarding North Korea as well as their self-centered approach.

In terms of the Korean Peninsula, China’s core policy is to maintain the stability of the peninsula and its periphery. China’s attitude is genuine and firm. More importantly, China’s pursuit of stability is the common denominator of the mutual benefit of the northeastern Asian countries. The Sino-Korean relationship cannot be exempted from such a major principle.

China has her own perspective and uses her own special resources to influence North Korea. If China acts like the U.S., forming an alliance to achieve her goal, China is not China. The Korean diplomacy then becomes America’s global unification. Such imbalance is not beneficial to the region.

On November 24th, South Korea and the U.S. declared a joint military exercise. South Korea immediately announced a U.S.-South Korean alliance. The South Koreans at present cannot find an alternative but in reality, the security of South Korea cannot solely rely on a U.S.-Korean military alliance.

The past has already proved that U.S. military presence does preserve the overall safety of South Korea. However, her military presence cannot resolve the daily problems between North and South Korea. The U.S.-South Korean alliance is like an atomic bomb, strategically threatening but not practical. The U.S.-South Korean alliance appears invincible; in reality, South Korea is always the underdog during any conflict with North Korea.

Maybe South Korea needs to reassess her own security strategy. The U.S.-South Korean alliance is only an ingredient in building her security, not all of it. South Korea should build her security upon a safe North Korea, going after a structure of “A safer South Korea is a safer North Korea.” It is hard to maintain the stability of the Korean Peninsula with a safe South Korea but an unsafe North Korea.

It is something difficult to accomplish. The so-called “Sunshine Policy” of the previous South Korean government, before President Lee Myung-bak, was considered a failure. Looking back, it is questionable whether the strong fist policy of Lee Myung-bak is more unsafe than the “Sunshine Policy.”

The huge trade surplus of Northeast Asia has already made it a united body. However, each individual nation acts by itself, looking for its own safety net. Moreover, Japan and South Korea do not recognize that the poverty and insecurity of North Korea is detrimental to the whole region, resembling a huge gap between the rich and the poor within a nation, leading to instability. The great gap between North Korea and its periphery will create a huge explosive power.

If the world depends on China to maintain some flexibility in their Korean diplomacy, more room should be given to China.