Scholars call for stronger ROK-US alliance
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Becky Norton Dunlop, vice president of the Heritage Foundation for external relations, gives a welcoming speech to the ICAS Fall Symposium in Washington, D.C., Oct. 20. At second from right is Tong Kim, the Washington correspondent and columnist for The Korea Times. He is also a fellow at the Institute for Corean-American Studies (ICAS). The symposium was co-organized by The Korea Times and the Heritage Foundation. / Courtesy of ICAS
The Korea Times holds a joint symposium in Washington with ICAS and Heritage Foundation
By Tong Kim
Korea Times correspondent
WASHINGTON -- In celebration of the 65th anniversary of its publication, The Korea Times co-hosted a special conference on security and diplomatic issues relevant to the Korean Peninsula at the Heritage Foundation, in this U.S. capital, Oct. 20.
The conference was held in partnership with the Institute of Corean American Studies (ICAS), an independent research institute focusing on security issues, and the Heritage Foundation, a prestigious conservative think tank.
In a conference that lasted all afternoon, five speakers -- all with impressive credentials -- made their arguments on some of the hottest issues of today, including the ROK-U.S. alliance against North Korean threats, problems with Sino-American relations, mounting tensions in the South China Sea, the strained relationship between South Korea and Japan, and U.N. actions on the North Korean nuclear program and human rights issue.
The speakers’ presentations were followed by comments and questions from four discussants, all affiliated with academic or research institutions. The discussants contributed to a deeper understanding of and a more fruitful discussion of the points of the speakers’ insights. After the conference, a reception was provided for all the participants, during which they had informal and spontaneous discussions, enjoying drinks and hors d’oeuvres.
Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, noting China’s intent to use reclaimed islands in the South China Sea as “unsinkable aircraft carriers,” argued that the U.S. should send ships from the U.S. Navy -- maybe a destroyer rather than an aircraft carrier -- within 12 miles of some of these manmade islands. This is exactly what happened less than a week after O’Hanlon made his argument at the conference.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter admitted before a Senate hearing that the guided missile destroyer USS Lassen sailed within the 12-mile zone of an artificial island over which China claims territorial sovereignty.
O’Hanlon also suggested that as long as the conventional freedom of navigation is protected, and if Beijing’s military buildup in the disputed waters would be “modest and transparent,” and it complies with international law and norms, Washington should not have much to complain about.
Joseph Bosco, a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), spoke more about the evolution of Sino-American relations since the opening of China by Nixon and Kissinger, whose realist legacies still dominate the geopolitics of the Korean Peninsula and East Asia.
In a Q&A session, Bosco made it clear that China will continue to obstruct the efforts of the U.S. and South Korea to denuclearize North Korea, a differing view from that of many specialists in and out of government in Seoul and Washington.
In this regard, he pointed out that Kissinger argued for many years that China had opposed North Korean nukes, but only to offer eight explanations why China tolerated the North Korean nuclear programs.
Bruce Klinger, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, concluded that the last Park-Obama summit successfully countered perceptions that the U.S. is worried about South Korea’s shifting loyalty to Beijing, which the speaker said were more prevalent in Seoul than in Washington. Klinger sees Beijing “using history issues to divert attention from its own belligerence and to drive a wedge between the U.S. and its allies in the region.”
Klinger also made the acute, sour point of “an odd optic for the South Korean president” reviewing the Chinese troops at a recent parade in Beijing. China was the most recent country to invade Korea, and their invasion prolonged the Korean War, causing more destruction and death, and fixed the continued division of Korea.
At the end of his speech, he said, “It should be clear that Washington, not Beijing, has Seoul’s best interest at heart.”
Glen Fukushima, a senior fellow from the Center for American Progress, argued that the most serious obstacle to the resolution of Korea-Japan issues, either “comfort women” or history, is the leadership of both countries. He noted undesirable statements by Japanese politicians often do not reflect the sentiments of the Japanese people.
He regretted that the wrong direction of Japan’s policy toward South Korea also influences the media and books to foster anti-South Korean attitudes. However, the Japanese people in general do not have complaints about the South Korean people.
In view of Fukushima’s diagnosis of relations between these two close neighbors, attention is drawn to a summit between President Park Geun-hye and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe which will be held in Seoul this week during a trilateral summit with China or on a separate occasion in the future.
Oh Joon, Republic of Korea ambassador to the United Nations, presented a comprehensive view of U.N. actions taken on the issue of the Korean Peninsula, beginning with the creation of the United Nations Command in Korea and covering the latest status of the North Korean human rights issues at the U.N. Security Council.
He discussed his government’s policy that Seoul and Washington will never accept a nuclear North Korea, and the two allies, with the support of the international community, are determined to make it more difficult and more costly for Pyongyang to continue with its nuclear and missile development programs.
With the efficacy of U.N. sanctions, he pointed out that sanctions work “accumulatively.” As an example, he offered the recent impounding of a North Korean cargo ship carrying a concealed fighter plane from Cuba. Ambassador Oh expressed his confidence that South Korea and the international community are ready to meet any future North Korean provocation with increasingly effective sanctions.
The Korea Times plans to put a webcast of the symposium running about 4 hours on its website upon the publication of the special edition on November 3.
Lee Chang-sup, president-publisher of The Korea Times said in a congratulatory message to the ICAS symposium that the English newspaper plans to co-host a similar conference each year that would contribute to the lasting friendship of Korea and the United States, and a better future for the Korean Peninsula.
Tong Kim is the Washington correspondent and columnist for The Korea Times and a fellow at the Institute of Corean-American Studies. He is also a visiting scholar at Korea University and a visiting professor at the University of North Korean Studies.