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Kim Tae-hyo, the principal deputy national security adviser, gives a briefing on outcomes in cooperation among South Korea, the US and Japan on Aug. 18, 2023, to mark the one-year anniversary of the Camp David summit. (Yonhap)

By commenting on the “hearts of the Japanese people,” Kim Tae-hyo, the principal deputy director of the National Security Office, caused a public outcry. In an attempt at damage control, the presidential office then said that the Japanese government is “tired of apologizing,” a sort of Freudian slip that revealed the administration’s true intentions: Do whatever is necessary to improve South Korea-Japan relations while accelerating the trilateral military alliance between South Korea, Japan and the US. 

From its approval of the UNESCO registration of the Sado gold mines to the appointment of a pro-Japanese head of the Independence Hall, the message of the Yoon administration has been clear and consistent: Calls for Japan to engage in historical reflection and take responsibility for its past wrongdoings are nothing but an obstacle to the pursuit of national interests. Based on the president’s remarks on Monday, those who want accountability from Japan could be accused of expelling “anti-state rhetoric” that “poses a threat to a free democratic society.” 

Not long after Kim’s comments, the leaders of South Korea, US and Japan issued statements celebrating the one-year anniversary of the trilateral Camp David summit. 

In the summit’s joint statement, the three countries declared, “We announce our governments’ commitment to consult with each other in an expeditious manner to coordinate our responses to regional challenges, provocations, and threats that affect our collective interests and security. Through these consultations we intend to share information, align our messaging, and coordinate response actions.”

This was basically an announcement that the three countries were taking steps to form a formal military alliance.

On July 28, the three countries’ defense chiefs signed a memorandum of cooperation on the Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework, which outlined specific measures for making the trilateral alliance a reality. Such agreements and frameworks were put into motion after Yoon consented to an arrangement where a third party, not the Japanese government, would compensate victims of forced mobilization during the Japanese occupation. 

Paradoxically, a joint statement pledging security cooperation reflects the shaky and vulnerable nature of the partnership. Both US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are on their way out. If Donald Trump is reelected this November, everything could be shaken up again. 

The intentions of Yoon and Kim in their rally to accelerate the finalization of the trilateral military alliance are even more concerning. To achieve their “alliance of free and democratic countries,” both Yoon and Kim have fallen into a neoconservative worldview that ignores principles and reality. They are willing to lead South Korea into an alliance framework where the terms are unilaterally dictated by the US and Japan. 

Even if the security situation on the Korean Peninsula has deteriorated, necessitating a rebalancing of military might through increased cooperation with the US and Japan, the breadth and speed of the alliance should be adjusted according to South Korea’s situation and security needs. This is what common sense and the public demand. Yet Yoon and Kim have ignored the public, choosing to ridicule demands for Japan to take responsibility for past wrongdoings. 

During an exclusive interview with the Chosun Ilbo published on Monday, Kim said, “The people accusing the Yoon administration of being a ‘collaborationist traitor government’ do not say a single word about the security and economic benefits that South Korea enjoys as a result of trilateral cooperation with the US and Japan.” 

Yet authorities have yet to publish the text of the memorandum of cooperation on the Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework signed by the three country’s defense chiefs last month. The presidential office claims that the South Korea-US Nuclear Consultative Group established the grounds for a nuclear-based alliance, but it’s unclear whether the US has made an actual commitment to a nuclear retaliation against North Korea in the event of a nuclear attack by Pyongyang. The details of the South Korea-US-Japan alliance remain in the dark, while the administration arrogantly downplays their opponents’ concerns as “anti-Japanese sentiment” that “ignores basic realities.”

By Park Min-hee, senior staff writer

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