hankyoreh

From left to right, South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Chung Eui-yong, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoshimasa Hayashi hold a joint press briefing after trilateral talks in Hawaii on February 12. (Yonhap News)

The South Korean government declined recent repeated proposals from the US and Japanese governments to hold trilateral military exercises in the waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula, it has been learned.

Various high-ranking foreign affairs sources who are acquainted with the three sides’ discussions told the Hankyoreh that the US and Japan proposed the drills during senior-level trilateral discussions in February and March, but that the Moon Jae-in administration would not agree to them.

According to these sources, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi proposed the exercises to South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Chung Eui-yong during a trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting in Honolulu on Feb. 12. Chung balked at the time, citing various reasons, the sources said.

During another discussion by telephone on March 11, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Japanese Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeo Mori made another proposal to hold trilateral military exercises, which South Korean 1st Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choi Jong-kun also declined.

Senior-level foreign affairs sources predicted the US and Japan might make another military exercise proposal during a Trilateral Chiefs of Defense (Tri-CHOD) meeting to be held in Hawaii on Thursday morning.

In their repeated recent proposals to hold trilateral military drills, the US and Japanese governments have reportedly cited the need for the three sides to show their commitment to responding firmly to provocative military activities, including North Korea’s tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles.

But high-ranking foreign affairs sources said that while North Korea may have been cited as a rationale for the recent proposals from the US and Japan, their real intentions have more to do with containing China and Russia.

In that sense, the 2022 National Defense Strategy report submitted to US Congress by the Pentagon on Tuesday holds major implications. That report listed China as the US’ “most consequential strategic competitor” and top priority as a threat, with Russia also listed as posing “acute threats” and ranking as the US’ second-largest priority.

To date, South Korea has never conducted trilateral military exercises with the US and Japan in Korean Peninsula waters. Not only are such drills recognized as a “major change” that would qualitatively alter the geopolitical terrain in Northeast Asia, but the South Korean public remains strongly opposed to any Japan Self-Defense Forces presence on the peninsula after Korea’s 36-year experience of being occupied by Japan.

Senior-level foreign affairs sources said that while there was no chance of the Moon administration agreeing to trilateral military exercises with the US and Japan, it remains uncertain how President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s administration will respond after he takes office on May 10, especially in light of Yoon’s declarations about “increasing trilateral security coordination with the US and Japan.”

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer

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