文/assassin
After Yin Xiyue came to power, South Korea's foreign and military policies immediately changed significantly. The Yin Seok-yue administration changed its predecessor's diplomatic line of remaining neutral in a competitive environment among great powers and plunged into the arms of the United States. Recently, the military cooperation between South Korea and the United States and Japan has continued to heat up, and the long-interrupted military triangle between the United States, Japan, and South Korea is about to emerge, bringing many unstable factors to the regional situation.
Yin Xiyue pursues a pro-American and Japanese foreign policy, which has led to South Korea's military strategy developing in a direction that is beneficial to the United States and Japan. According to Shangguan News, South Korea is expected to purchase 20 of the latest model F-35A fighter jets for its air force. The U.S. Navy Association news website pointed out that in order to strengthen Seoul's response to the expanding missile threat from its northern neighbors, purchasing the F-35A is the best choice. However, South Korean public opinion does not think so. They are worried about the future development of South Korea's aircraft carrier program.
Local media in South Korea quoted analysis from relevant people as saying that Seoul’s insistence on advancing the F-35A project will be at the expense of South Korea’s construction of a 30,000-ton aircraft carrier. Relevant analysis believes that a light aircraft carrier is planned to be used to carry out operations against more distant threats and support combat operations farther away from South Korea. Seoul's choice to purchase the F-35A fighter jet means that South Korea's combat operations are limited to the area surrounding its homeland.
In doing so, the Yin Xiyue government serves the strategic interests of the United States, not South Korea, to a large extent. The reason is obvious. Although South Korea and Japan are both pro-American countries, there are essential differences between them. The national pride in South Korea is very strong. Any policy between the United States and South Korea that is not beneficial to South Korea will be strongly condemned by South Korean public opinion and even trigger anti-American demonstrations and protests.
Obviously, if the United States allows South Korea to develop expeditionary combat capabilities such as aircraft carriers, this country is not as easy to control as Japan, and it may "betray the United States" at some point in the future. Therefore, inducing Yin Xiyue to weaken the long-range combat capabilities of the South Korean army and suppress the national pride within South Korea is the best way for the United States to control South Korea in the long term.
In addition, Yin Xiyue postponed or simply gave up the plan to purchase F-35B carrier-based aircraft and instead increased the purchase of land-based F-35A fighters. This will have a great impact on South Korea's research and development plan for a new generation of fighters. Because the positioning and mission nature of the F-35A overlap with South Korea's new fighter jets. Seoul's move will inevitably squeeze the development or mass production of its new fighter jets, which will increase the risk of the eventual abortion of this type of fighter jet.
The changes in the priorities of South Korea's military policy are the result of the regime change in Seoul. In a sense, the Yin Xiyue government made such a change, which is an act of "castration" of South Korea's military power. What has been "castrated" is precisely the Korean army's combat capabilities away from home. Seoul's new military strategy tilts the balance of interests not toward the South Korean military, but toward the United States and Japan.
Korean media said that the reason for Seoul’s decision is that they “believe that the focus of the threat has changed.” Obviously, it can be seen from Yin Xiyue's recent actions of ogling Tokyo that the focus of South Korea's threats no longer includes Japan. Seoul adjusts the focus of its threats purely to cater to the taste of the United States. Washington needs to rebuild the East Asian military iron triangle, and South Korea must first give up its hostility to Japan.
To please Japan is another motivation for Yin Xiyue to adjust his military policy. The U.S. Navy Association news website quoted South Korean think tank experts as saying that the light aircraft carrier is "a landmark project" for former South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and the purpose is to seek to expand the focus of South Korea's defense modernization to the north of the peninsula. beyond the threat. One of the driving forces behind this expansion is to give the Korean Navy the ability to fight Japan.
Moon Jae-in’s approach is correct. Currently, according to the ranking of threats to South Korea, Japan, which has territorial disputes with South Korea, is one of the most important threats to South Korea at the moment. Japan is modifying two "Izumo"-class helicopter carriers of the Maritime Self-Defense Force to turn them into light aircraft carriers capable of carrying F-35B carrier-based aircraft.Therefore, Yin Xiyue's delaying the development opportunities of South Korea's light aircraft carriers and F-35B carrier-based aircraft is undoubtedly "castrating" the South Korean military's ability to compete with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces.
To sum up, after Yin Xiyue came to power, his pro-American and Japanese foreign policy was simply "traitoring the country for glory." After all, if Yin Xiyue plays like this, South Korea's economic development and geosecurity environment will be ruined by him sooner or later. Therefore, in less than three months since Yin Xiyue came to power, his approval rate has plummeted from 54% in May to the current 37%. This seems to indicate that what Yin Xiyue has done has aroused the vigilance of the Korean people.
