Revisiting US-Japan-Korea Trilateral Security Cooperation in America's Military Transformation

초록

Korea and Japan, both major U.S. allies in the region, have benefited from each other, without fully grasping each other’s contributions. Had it not been for South Korea standing in the frontline of the Cold War, Japan could not have enjoyed its minimal spending on defense. Japan came to the aid of South Korea with rear area logistical support when the Communists nearly overran the entire peninsula. Moreover, Japan continued to provide large amounts of economic assistance to South Korea, which helped its immediate neighbor now stand proud as the third largest economy in Asia. Most importantly, their alliance relations with the United States are the most visible evidence of their same fate. Every security specialist in Seoul concurs that as long as Japan remains as America’s ally, Japan will not pose a security threat to South Korea. The two alliance relations are a dependable anchor to retain one another as friends. As discussed in previous sections, the two neighbors and the United States are charged with growing security challenges in the age of spreading terrorism and proliferation. America’s military transformation and global repositioning of its forces add more tasks of doing more with less number of fixed U.S. forces in the region. The changing regional environment demands restructuring of the alliance relations of the three, which here means that the trilateral security cooperation should be taken seriously again. Provided the three stand united in peacetime and act together in crisis situations, Northeast Asia will be blessed to maintain the regional order and peace with less sweat and hopefully without shedding a drop of blood.