Strengthening S. Korea-U.S.-Japan alliance to undermine regional peace, says expert

Protesters hold placards outside the South Korean presidential office in Seoul's central district of Yongsan, South Korea, May 21, 2022. (Photo by James Lee/Xinhua)

"The United States calls it (the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework) an economic framework that is inclusive and flexible. If it is inclusive, why does it exclude a certain country? Even though China is the biggest country in the Indo-Pacific region, why is China excluded? How could it be called inclusive and flexible by excluding China?" said South Korean expert Woo Su-keun.

SEOUL, May 26 (Xinhua) -- A strengthened alliance between South Korea, the United States and Japan will undermine peace and stability in Northeast Asia and usher in a new Cold War, a South Korean expert has said.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday wrapped up his first Asia trip since he took office last year. "In international relations, an alliance necessarily requires a common enemy country... The United States sees China as its biggest rival and enemy," Woo Su-keun, director at the Institute of East Asian Studies of Korea, told Xinhua.

Woo said the strengthened South Korea-U.S.-Japan alliance will "undermine peace and stability in Northeast Asia," saying the move harked back to the Cold War, leading to a "history retrogression."

The expert noted that it isn't in South Korea's national interest to antagonize China, given the importance the latter holds for its economic security.

"With the end of the ideological era and the advent of the global society, no enemy country exists anymore in the international community," said Woo.

However, some countries continue to antagonize China in order to create opportunities for conflict and confrontation, Woo noted.

"China is not an enemy but a friendly country of (South) Korea. China is a country to which (South Korea) inevitably has to draw closer," he said.

Protesters gather at Shiba Park in Tokyo, Japan, May 22, 2022. About 750 protesters took to the streets here against the planned U.S.-Japan summit and the summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the Quad). (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)

Regarding the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, which Seoul decided to join, Woo said it is an "undesirable" framework escalating confrontation and tensions given its exclusive nature.

"The United States calls it an economic framework that is inclusive and flexible. If it is inclusive, why does it exclude a certain country? Even though China is the biggest country in the Indo-Pacific region, why is China excluded? How could it be called inclusive and flexible by excluding China?" he said.

Woo noted that South Korea should persuade the United States that the framework is "unrealistic" if it excludes the economic powerhouse in the region from the onset.

The expert recommended South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was sworn in on May 10, take a more harmonious approach to foreign policy as a "global pivotal state."

He advised the Yoon government to hire more diverse staff on foreign affairs and security by recruiting experts on China, Japan, Russia and the United States.