Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Korea's strategic importance growing amid US-China tensions
By Nam Hyun-woo
US, allies strengthen confrontation against China, Russia, NK
By Nam Hyun-woo
The deepening tension between the United States and China has shed new light on the geographical and strategic importance of Korea, as each of them stage military drills with their allies in and around the Korean Peninsula.
According to Russia's Interfax news agency, the country's Ministry of Defense said two Tupolev Tu-95 MS strategic bombers conducted a nine-hour routine flight over the East Sea, the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, on Tuesday.
The agency reported the bombers were escorted by Sukhoi Su-35 fighters, but did not elaborate on the route. And it was unknown whether South Korean fighter jets were scrambled in response to the flight.
The movement came amid the strengthening military ties between Russia and China. The two countries held large-scale joint military exercises in China's north-central Ningxia region last week, involving more than 10,000 ground troops and air forces. It was the first case of the Russian military conducting exercises in Chinese territory.
The pair's strengthening military ties are interpreted as a countermeasure against military exercises by the U.S. and its allies, including the ongoing combined military exercises between Seoul and Washington.
“The Russian bombers' flight, which came amid the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercise, can be interpreted as a signal that the tension is intensifying a bloc of the U.S. and its allies and another bloc comprised of China, Russia and North Korea,” said Choi Kang, acting president of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.
“The U.S. and its allies are confronting the bloc of China, Russia and North Korea in terms of economic, political and diplomatic issues, and it remains to be watched whether this dynamic will be realized in concrete military actions.”
The South Korean military and the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) began their combined military exercises on Aug. 16. Dubbed 21-2 Combined Command Post Training, the annual exercise will last until Aug. 26, with most of the activity taking place in computer simulation.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the exercise is “regular and defensive training, which does not pose a threat to a certain country.” But it is widely accepted as a rhetorical description, given the content of the exercise.
According to sources, the exercise is comprised of two parts. The first part is focused on defense, while the second part is aimed at practicing counterattack scenarios, which include operations on advancing troops to northward.
Due to this, North Korea as well as China have been making sensitive responses against the drills. And this year the exercises are gaining greater attention due to the rising tensions between the U.S. and China.
The HMS Artful, a nuclear-powered fleet submarine of the British Royal Navy's HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier, is docked at a naval base in Busan, Aug. 12. The submarine entered the country ahead of a port call by the 64,000-ton aircraft carrier, reportedly set for the end of the month. Yonhap
During the ASEAN Regional Forum on Aug. 6, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said it would be “unconstructive” if the U.S. and South Korea go ahead with the combined military exercises.
China has been pursuing the so-called “freeze-for-freeze” plan, in which South Korea and the U.S. stop their combined military training and the North discontinue its missile and nuclear weapon programs, reflecting Beijing's perspective that the Seoul-Washington drills may target China.
Though China has been pursuing this strategy for years, South Korean government officials said Wang's remark was “unusual” this time because the forum is the only regional multilateral security forum that North Korea attends. This year, North Korean Ambassador to Indonesia An Kwang-il participated.
The remark showcased that China is recognizing the “strategic value” of North Korea in its competition with the U.S., thus stepping up efforts to form a trilateral bloc consisting of China, Russia and North Korea to contain the U.S. and its allies.
“China cannot ignore the strategic value of North Korea, which is locking horns with the U.S., thus it will accept North Korea's claims if possible,” Lee Su-seok, principal research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy, wrote in an Aug. 13 report. “Consequently, the U.S. will consider North Korea and China as a package, and address Pyongyang issues in the perspective of the world order.“
Against this backdrop, the U.S. and its allies are showcasing their armed forces, escalating tensions surrounding the Korean Peninsula.
According to South Korea's Ministry of National Defense, the British nuclear-powered submarine HMS Artful docked at the port of the Naval Operations Command in Busan on Aug. 12, for the purpose of examining its equipment and loading munitions.
Following the submarine, the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier and its strike group are expected to arrive in Busan later this month, after the conclusion of the U.S. Navy Large-Scale Exercise (LSE) 2021, the largest U.S. Navy exercise since 1981 which spans multiple oceans.
“LSE 2021 covers East China Sea, and so it is assumed to be targeting Beijing,” said Shin In-kyun, a defense analyst and an affiliated professor at Kyonggi University Graduate School of North Korean Studies. “This shows the Korean Peninsula is now at the forefront of the so-called Second Cold War.”