|
|
U.S., Republic of Korea beefing up strategic alliance |
 |
+ |
- |
15:15, June 24, 2009 |
At a recent summit meeting in Washington D.C., the United States reaffirmed its commitment to the defense of Republic of Korea (ROK) and pledged for the first time to provide it with the “extension of the U.S. nuclear umbrella”. This has stirred wide security concern. So, the proclamation is of great significance against the backdrop of the tense situation on the Korean Peninsula and a louder voice inside the ROK for developing and possessing its own nuclear weapons.
During the summit, ROK President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President Barack Obama adopted a “joint future vision” that centers on expanding their two nations’ military alliance to an all-round bilateral relationship.
In strict compliance with the "joint future vision declaration" signed during the recent summit, both sides decided to build a three-layer, comprehensive alliance on the Korean Peninsula, in the Asia-Pacific region and around the globe, including deepening economic and trade ties; both sides urge the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to abandon all nuclear weapons and missile items, and both sides support security cooperation in the region and work to cope with such global challenges as the response to terrorism, the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), climate change and energy security.
Since his government coming to power, President Lee Myung-bak has striven to mend the ROK-U.S. ties that were impaired by his predecessors, President Kim Dae-jung and President Roh Moo-hyun, and propose to set up bilateral relationship to strategic alliance in the 21st century.
On policies towards the DPRK, President Lee Myung-bak attaches great importance to its coordinative efforts with the U.S., which has reached an agreement with the ROK on a halt to U.S. troop withdrawals and elevated the “Concept Plan (CONPLAN) 5029” to the status of the "operational plan (OPLAN) 5029".
Meanwhile, Lee Myung-bak’s government has launched global diplomacy, and taken an active part in international cooperative moves, which include going in for peacekeeping and rescue operations and post-war reconstruction.
Meanwhile, Obama administration has, after assuming presidency, worked to extend the U.S.-South Korean strategic alliance ties. At present, the administration has taken as priority topics the issues relating to the global financial crisis, climate change, the nuclear non-proliferation and counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. For all these issues, the U.S. places high hopes on the ROK. During her trip to the country in February, Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton said that her country would move toward a more comprehensive strategic relationship with the ROK.
Owing to volatile situation on the Korean Peninsula, however, the gravity or priority objective of the U.S.-ROK ties will still direct against threats from the DPRK in a period of time to come. Since early this year, the United States has been in close consultations with the ROK on affairs concerning DPRK in the political realm. On the aspect of military cooperation, the two nations have repeatedly dispatched warships for gathering intelligence about activities of North Korea.
ROK declared to fully join the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) from May 26, only a day after DPRK conducted its second nuclear test. And U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates reaffirmed the protection of the American nuclear umbrella to U.S. allies and that the U.S. had insisted it would not accept the DPRK as a nuclear-armed country. “We will not accept North Korea as a nuclear state,” he said.
For the United States, it is a matter of urgency to stabilize the situation with the war on terrorism in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. So, Obama administration very much wants its allies including the ROK to raise money and help it get out of difficulties.
About 20 South Koreans were kidnapped near the Afghan capital of Kabul in late July 2007. In view of perilous situation inside Afghanistan, the ROK has been and remains cautious on its troop dispatch to Afghanistan nevertheless, and this has put to the test the issue concerning the construction of the comprehensive U.S.-ROK strategic alliance.
By People’s Daily Online and contributed by Sun Ru, an associate research fellow at the Institute of American Studies under the Chinese Institute of Contemporary International Relations
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2009-06/24/content_281438.htm
|
|
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article