ED USFK commander's controversial remark

U.S. Army Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of the United States Forces Korea, speaks during a farewell/incoming ceremony of the post at U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Decmember 2024. Courtesy of Newsis

South Korea's security implications have been more or less put on the back burner, overshadowed by the imminent pressing tariff negotiations pushed by U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration amid the growing U.S.-China rivalry. But the new commander of the United States Forces Korea (USFK), Gen. Xavier Brunson, reawakened the need to keep Korea's security commitments as well as security itself intact. Speaking at a recent forum, Brunson in stressing the need for troops on South Korea and the strategic importance of South Korea's geographical location described the country as an island or fixed aircraft carrier, floating between Japan and mainland China.

"What immediately stood out to me as I looked at the map was the position of the Korean Peninsula, and the fact that it's on the Asian continent, has a sizable U.S. force posture, is inside the first island chain and is the closet allied presence to Beijing," he said. "At night from a satellite image, the Republic of Korea looks like an island or like a fixed aircraft carrier floating in the water between Japan and mainland China. The Indo-Pacific region represents many challenges ... largely defined by the tyranny of distance, especially when it comes to sustainment."

To date, the aircraft carrier comment by the U.S. has been in reference to Taiwan or Japan. While Brunson's comment made at the Land Forces Pacific Symposium in Hawaii was to reiterate the importance of USFK, it strongly suggests that under "strategic flexibility" the U.S. forces can be expanded to challenge China or Russia as well as North Korea. The Trump administration in crafting its new defense posture has floated adopting a strategic flexibility for USFK.

Brunson spoke further along this vein. "Our presence in the region gives our adversaries pause," he said at the symposium. At the April hearing before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Brunson, when asked if the reduction of U.S. forces on the Korean Peninsula would pose a problem, said USFK's presence changes the calculus of Russian and Chinese leadership. If some changes are to be made to the role of USFK, Seoul should be fully notified and part of the decision. There was a consensus in 2006 under the Roh Moo-hyun administration that the two nations in principle would respect the strategic flexibility of USFK. But the presence of the 28,500 U.S. troops here is primarily to keep South Korea secure from North Korea, not to raise additional security uncertainties for South Korea by antagonizing China and Russia.

The looming June 3 snap presidential election gives the political parties a solid platform to express where they stand on security issues.

To date, none of the top three presidential candidates — Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) and Lee Jun-seok of the Reform Party — have put forth a detailed security plan toward North Korea and the Northeast Asia region. Lee of the DPK finally went slightly beyond his earlier comment, "Why does it matter (to us) if China and Taiwan engage in conflict," saying that he would act with South Korea's national interest as his foremost priority. Kim vowed to strengthen nuclear deterrence including fortifying South Korea's potential nuclear capacity but has not fleshed out the details as to how to achieve that. Lee of the Reform Party said he would uphold the principle of reciprocity between the two Koreas and pursue a "pragmatic and flexible approach to achieving sustainable peace and stability."

The candidates must produce feasible and concrete plans for maintaining peace and security for the nation. While many express concern over the pending changes and general uncertainty, Korea should also realize that taking a preemptive stance on issues that concern our economy and security can also be effective, if done with public consensus.