‘Unnecessary’: military alliance with US and Japan will deepen regional tensions, South Korea opposition chief says

Growing geopolitical risks in the region are taking a toll on South Korea’s export-driven economy, said top opposition leader Lee Jae-myung

Lee called for Seoul to be ‘pragmatic’ and show that an alliance with the US and strategic cooperative partnership with China are ‘not incompatible’

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Vessels from South Korea, Japan and the US sail during a joint missile defence drill off the east coast of the Korean peninsula last month. Photo: South Korea Defence Ministry/AFP

Published: 11:00am, 12 Apr 2023

South Korea’s top opposition leader has said a three-way military alliance with the United States and Japan is “unnecessary” as it would only deepen the mounting rivalry between two opposing power blocs.

Lee Jae-myung also called for “pragmatic diplomacy” by Seoul, asserting that its alliance with Washington and its “strategic cooperative partnership” with Beijing were “not incompatible” given their mutual interests and robust trade ties.

South Korea has the world’s sixth-largest conventional military force and the US is firmly committed to offering an “extended nuclear deterrence” to cope with nuclear-armed North Korea, he said.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party, speaks at the Seoul Foreign Correspondents’ Club on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

“Under these circumstances, a new war on the Korean peninsula would mean the extermination of all lives,” Lee said. “A trilateral military alliance that goes beyond the current military cooperation with the US and Japan is not necessary as it would only spark an equivalent alliance including the North, China and Russia.”

The leader of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea, who narrowly lost to Yoon Suk-yeol from the conservative People Power Party in last year’s presidential election, has consistently been polling as the presidential favourite for the 2027 race.

Lee’s popularity has not suffered even though pro-Yoon prosecutors have accused him of corruption and abuse of power during his tenure as a provincial administrator.

The remarks by Lee come ahead of Yoon’s visit to Washington later this month for a summit with US President Joe Biden. They are expected to discuss cooperation in defence and extended deterrence, challenges in technology and trade, and international issues, according to Yoon’s presidential office.

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