Analysis: Seoul leaving U.S.-led alliance?


By Jong-Heon Lee
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL

Seoul, South Korea, Mar. 23 (UPI) -- Is South Korea distancing itself from
the U.S.-led alliance that has dominated Northeast Asia, counterbalancing
the communist bloc led by China?

This is the question of the moment as President Roh Moo-hyun has vowed to
seek a new role for the country on the balance of power among Pacific
powers, saying it will no longer be heavily dependent on the United States.

South Korea has largely relied on U.S protection for its national security
for more than half a century since the 1950-53 Korean War under the
trilateral alliance with Washington and Japan. The three-way democratic
partnership had played a key role in protecting the region from contagious
communist politics promoted by China, Russia and North Korea.

But Seoul officials said South Korea would no longer be locked in what they
called the Cold War security framework, vowing to seek a new role as a
"balancing power" in Northeast Asia. Roh has already pledged to help develop
his country's defenses independent of the United States within 10 years.

But critics say the maneuver is very risky to the country's 48 million
inhabitants. They also expressed alarm over the growing perception that
Tokyo has replaced Seoul as the top U.S. security ally in Northeast Asia.

In a speech at the Korea Third Military Academy on Tuesday, Roh said his
country will play a "balancing" role in maintaining peace and prosperity in
Northeast Asia.

South Korea's new role will dominate the security framework in Northeast
Asia where political orders "are still unclear," he said. "The power
structure in Northeast Asia will shift depending on what choices South Korea
makes," Roh said.

Roh said his government will both shoulder its responsibilities and assume
its authorized power as a sovereign state in discussing security issues with
its neighbors and allies.

South Korea's top security policymaker, Unification Minister Chung
Dong-young, defended Roh's remarks as part of efforts to turn the country's
fixed regional role into a more active one under changed situations.

"It is high time for South Korea to adopt new ways of thinking concerning
its foreign policy," he said in an interview with a local newspaper.

A senior government official said South Korea would extract itself from a
standoff centered on the Korean peninsula between a "southern alliance" of
South Korea, the United States and Japan and a "northern alliance" of North
Korea, China and Russia. Since 2003 those six nations are participating in
multilateral talks, now stalled, aimed at curbing North Korea's nuclear
weapons programs.

"South Korea should not involved in the war structure in the region," he
said. "We will seek to set up a regional security structure through close
cooperation with the United States."

Seoul's move toward a new regional security role comes in the wake of
worsening ties with Japan over its attempts to glorify past wrongdoings and
territorial claims to a South Korean island.

To cope with Japan's territorial claims, South Korea declared it would
discard a long-standing "policy of neglect." South Korea has maintained a
low-key stance to prevent the issue from escalating into a full-scale
territorial dispute.

President Roh has led the campaign against Japan. On Wednesday, Roh pledged
to take "stern responses" against Japan's territorial claims and attempts to
distort history.

"We will now have no choice but to deal sternly with Japan's attempt to
justify its history of aggression and colonialism and revive regional
hegemony," Roh said in a message posted on the presidential office's Web
site.

The Seoul government also reaffirmed its opposition to the Japanese effort
to win a permanent seat on the United Nation's Security Council. "It is a
prerequisite for Japan to win the trust of its neighbors to become a global
leader," said Chung, who chairs the presidential National Security Council.

But critics raise concerns that South Korea may be diplomatically isolated
in the region as the strained ties with Japan come at a time when Seoul's
ties with Washington were also frayed over how to deal with North Korea.

The concerns were boosted by suspicions that Japan's renewed claims to the
South Korean island were largely motivated by its stronger alliance with the
United States.

"Japan's territorial disputes with neighbors are backed by the United States
as part of strategic efforts to ward off China, which is raising tensions
across the Taiwan Strait," a Seoul-based diplomat said.

The United States officially stays away from the Seoul-Japan territorial
dispute, but its silence is widely considered as a sign that it backs
Japan's position.

During her visit over the weekend, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
avoided direct responses to the questions of South Korean journalists,
saying only that the United States maintains good relations with both Seoul
and Tokyo.

President Roh explained the flareup with Japan to Rice, asking that
Washington to side with Seoul, but she said nothing about the dispute. In
Tokyo, however, Rice praised Japan's role in international affairs, pledging
to support Tokyo's bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.

Seoul officials had hoped that the United States would play a role in
persuading Japan to withdraw its territorial claims to Dokdo Island.

Opposition leader Park Geun-hye blamed Roh's move for fueling security
concerns in South Korea. "We feel worried about President Roh's move to
weaken the alliance with the United States," she said.

"Close coordination among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo is vital to end North
Korea's nuclear weapons ambitions," said Kim Tae-hyun, a professor at
Chung-Ang University in Seoul. "Stronger ties between Seoul and Washington
are also necessary to defuse the territorial dispute with Japan," he said.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050323-054006-1584r.htm