South Korea and US hand in hand for 'political show' (2)

Show alliance

This year is the 60th anniversary of the alliance between the Republic of Korea and the United States of America. Over a period of time, with the deteriorating situation in the peninsula, the ROK-US alliance has been mentioned from time to time. Not long ago, South Korea and the U.S. issued a joint communiqué. The two sides also vowed that they "will respond firmly to any provocation by North Korea (DPRK), in accordance with the Republic of Korea-United States Bilateral Counter-Provocation Plan."

The US Government attaches great importance to Park Geun-hye's visit. According to the schedule, in addition to meeting with Obama, Park Geun-hye will also address a joint meeting of Congress. Yonhap News reported that Park Geun-hye's visit to the United States is a "official visit", rather than a state visit. It is quite unusual for the United States to arrange her speech in Congress. Bloomberg quoted experts, pointing out that the purpose of this arrangement is to demonstrate to North Korea and other countries just how seriously the United States value its relations with South Korea, and to show how mature and stable US-ROK alliance is.

South Korean officials said, Joint Declaration in Commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the Alliance between the Republic of Korea and the United States of America will be issued after Park Geun-hye's meeting with Obama. It is expected that the two sides will reiterate that they will not accept a nuclear-armed North Korea, and will not "reward" North Korea for its wrong behavior.

In addition, with leaders of ROK and US are having a meeting, at the same time, the military exercises of the two countries is also being staged. According to reports, from May 6, ROK and the U.S. will hold anti-submarine exercises in the Yellow Sea. After the anti-submarine exercises, on May 10, ROK and the U.S. will hold large-scale military exercises in the southern waters and eastern waters, and the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Nimitz is likely to participate in it.

In South Korea, people have great expectations for Park Geun-hye's visit to the United States. Chosun Ilbo published an editorial on May 6, saying Park Geun-hye's visit should be the opportunity to change the security crisis of the Korean Peninsula. However, a series of military exercises make people think that they cannot be too optimistic.