Seoul courts in danger after ‘binding the chains’ of arms deal | Weapons Issues

Seoul, South Korea – South Korea now has the right to make any decisions that it chooses after last month’s agreement between US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

But the move, which was announced after a two-member summit at the White House on May 21, posed new threats to South Korea’s weapons security and some investigators are concerned about what could happen across the region.

South Korean troops already have expertise in firearms, even though they were less than 800 miles (497 miles) away, Daniel Bong’s fellow researchers, the Yonsei Institute for North Korea Study, told Al Jazeera. The question is whether the South Korean government wants to join the only group with long arrows.

“It’s one thing to be without chains in the production of weapons, but it’s one thing to do everything at risk of getting in the wrong direction with China,” Bong said.

South Korea has gone wrong with China on the arrows before it arrived agreed to send Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), US security systems in 2017.

In response, Beijing imposed sanctions.

South Korean government-affiliated analysts, as well as Moon observers, say China understands South Korea’s views on the release of missiles, which Seoul is known for “regaining military power”.

But US weapons could still pose a threat to South Korea.

In August 2019, US he left from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia. Later, former US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said the US was looking to send central weapons, IRBs, to the Asia Pacific region.

“South Korea could be a place, which could be a disaster in terms of our relations with our neighbors and, China,” Senior Research Fellow Sung Sung-young, of the Institute for National Security Strategy, told Al Jazeera.

The secret is that South Korea decides where to go with its weapons.

“With the use of long-range weapons that can reach major cities within China, South Korea will reduce its resistance to U.S. nuclear weapons,” said Bong Yonsei before “talking about nuclear weapons.”

Two dimensions

Some worry that arms embargoes will bring China and North Korea closer.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with the North Korean ambassador to Beijing after the Biden-Moon summit.

“They showed their relationship … The relationship between US-South Korea is strong, relations between North Korea and China will be strengthened,” Seoul’s Peace Network chief Cheong Wook-sik told Al Jazeera.

The arms deal also accused the US of fraud, and continued to support United Nations Security Council sanctions in North Korea.

“The US has strongly condemned, criticized, and imposed the sole responsibility for the production of North Korean weapons, which is why the production of South Korean weapons represents two types,” Cheong said.

Cheong believes it is a fantasy genre, combined with major US-South Korean military tests that could make security worse.

“If the alliance between South Korea and the US takes place in the summer, North Korea will be able to respond by re-testing medium and long-range weapons,” Cheong said.

‘Stop playing with fire’

The break for technical advice was one of several issues that Biden and Moon’s executives completed in May.

South Korean military during the security year 2020. While weapons are in place, South Korea has developed advanced weapons [File: Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo]

The U.S. is also vaccinating 550,000 South Korean soldiers, mainly to protect 28,500 U.S. military personnel working, while Biden helped President Moon make peace with North Korea, even though there is only nine months left in office.

Similarly, Moon was closer to the US compared to China: the linked terms “emphasize (d) the importance of maintaining order and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”

But some have argued that what appeared to be a similar advertisement gave the US a political advantage.

“The Moon Jae-in government was overseen by Biden’s supervisors, who were experts in the negotiations, because the Moon Jae-in government seems to be keen on it,” Yonsei’s Bong said.

President Moon is South Korea’s third leading leader seeking peace and unity on the Korean Peninsula, following the Nobel Peace Prize winner Kim Dae-jung, and President Roh Moo-hyun, of which President Moon was president.

Recently, South Korea tried to reconcile between Beijing and Washington.

Economically, Beijing is in control. In 2003, it surpassed the US as South Korea’s largest ally and now has more than a quarter of its foreign exchange earnings, more than $ 125bn a year.

In the meantime, it is the US, with its military and so-called “nuclear umbrella”, which guarantees South Korea’s security as China embarks on a mission, with frequent visits to South Korea’s Economic Zones, Taiwan and countries around the South China Sea.

Commenting on developments in the Taiwan Strait in a joint Biden-Moon report, Beijing did not respond immediately, a spokesman for his foreign ministry Zhao Lijian later stated succinctly, “the right countries… should stop playing with fire.”

‘One little reason’

In the aftermath of the war, Beijing has now melted away, and North Korea has only responded a little: a government report said the move is a “sure reminder of US atrocities in the DPRK and two disgraceful things. ”

But analysts have also speculated about what could happen at the Biden-Moon summit, revisiting the military action that North Korea sees as a means to an end.

South Korean human rights activists have blamed the war on climate change, and Moon’s observers want to suspend communications – or reduce them – to form alliances with Pyongyang.

But in his call for him to become US Army Chief of Staff, General Paul LeCamera said the US-South Korean intervention program was “very important to be ready” and to provide vaccinations to South Korean and US troops, “Jae’s government has one reason left. one of the best ways to keep up with the annual military action by the US military in South Korea, “said Bong of Yonsei.

Despite the difficulties, some of the Moon’s observers expect the Biden summit to promote peace in North Korea despite South Korea’s president being paralyzed.

At the G7 summit in Cornwall, President Moon was warmly received by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson but the summit revealed the continuation of Japan’s ongoing conflict. [File: Stefan Rousseau/Pool via Reuters]

During their meeting at the end of the White House visit, Biden mentioned North Korea by name, DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), and most importantly, Biden brought a special envoy to North Korea, a former US ambassador and negotiator, Sung Kim.

Moon also said the election signaled US willingness to join North Korea, and then told lawmakers, “the appointment of a US special envoy to the DPRK is tantamount to asking the North Korean public to negotiate.”

Sung Kim is now planning his first trip to Seoul.

During the five-day visit, which begins on Saturday, Kim is expected to meet with his South Korean counterparts and meet three times with representatives from Japan. This could be difficult because Tokyo rejected a meeting with South Korean officials at a recent Group Seven (G7) summit in Cornwall and the three countries have different views on how to deal with North Korea.

The South Korean president has always been fond of taking illegal action, while the US and Japan have strongly advocated hawkish methods dependence on continuity.

Rivalry between the US-China intensifies, with South Korea’s efforts to do what it wants to do with North Korea to become more dangerous.