The two navies of South Korea and the United States have just finished a four-day joint maritime exercise, and together with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force , they conduct a joint anti-submarine military exercise in related waters of the Sea of Japan.
This is also after more than 5 years, the three parties have once again held an exercise with the theme of anti-submarine .
Each of the three parties has their own plans
South Korean military announced on September 30 that the South Korean Navy and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force carried out anti-submarine exercises on the high seas of the Sea of Japan 150 kilometers away from Dokdo (called " Takeshima ") that day.
The three countries' maritime equipment participating in this joint exercise includes the Korean military "Guanwu King" destroyer, the aircraft carrier battle group led by the US Navy "Reagan" nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force "Asakusa" destroyer.
US Navy nuclear submarine "Annapolis" will play the imaginary enemy submarine equipped with submarine in the joint exercise. The three participating parties will detect and pursue it, complete the simulated confrontation of "anti-submarine, search, and attack the submarine", and exchange relevant intelligence and confirm interoperability.
Military commentator Chen Haoyang said that in anti-submarine or air defense operations, the most sensitive intelligence is the submarine's sonar signal, the anti-submarine sonar performance of helicopters and surface combat submarines, as well as submarine search and attack capabilities, etc. These information is the most core secret of the armies of various countries. Therefore, holding such joint exercises can best reflect the closeness of military cooperation. Under the leadership of the United States, Japan and South Korea jointly completed joint anti-submarine exercises, which also reflects the United States' attempt to build a Northeast Asian military alliance, including Japan and South Korea.
Researcher at China Institute of International Studies also agreed with this. He pointed out that since the Biden administration came to power, it has always wanted to match Japan and South Korea to reconcile and promote the trilateral military security alliance between the United States, Japan and South Korea. On the basis of existing small circles such as bilateral alliances, "trilateral security partnership", and "quad-lateral mechanism", the net to encircle and contain China is weaved more closely.
. For this joint performance, South Korea and Japan also have their own plans. Yang Xiyu believes that South Korea's drill focus is to strengthen anti-submarine capabilities to deal with North Korea's submarines and submarine-launched missiles , and to use military exercises to deter North Korea. Japan's "will not be drunk", and its real goal is actually the entire Indo-Pacific, which wants to use this to enhance its strategic position in the region.
The "South Korea-Japan Military Intelligence Protection Agreement" will resume negotiations?
In addition to frequent exercises, Yonhap News Agency pointed out that South Korea and Japan's negotiations on the restoration of the "South Korea-Japan Military Intelligence Protection Regulations" may also speed up after this joint exercise.
In November 2016, South Korea and Japan signed the "South Korea-Japan Military Intelligence Protection Agreement". According to the agreement, the two countries can directly share military intelligence including North Korean nuclear facilities, missiles, and other types without passing through the United States. However, due to the escalating trade friction between the two countries, in July 2019, the South Korean government notified Japan to terminate the Agreement. Under the pressure of the United States, the Agreement was ultimately not abolished, but it was basically in name only.
In June this year, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said after talks with US Secretary of State Blinken that he hopes the South Korea-Japan Military Intelligence Protection Agreement can restore normalcy as soon as possible. Since then, the South Korean Ministry of Defense also stated that it will comprehensively consider multiple factors and make a choice between resuming normal implementation as soon as possible or recovering in a timely manner based on the progress of the restoration of South Korea-Japan relations.
So, is it possible for relevant negotiations to resume in the short term? In Chen Haoyang's view, the biggest resistance comes from South Korea. "Due to historical grievances and other reasons, anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea is still high, and he is unwilling to deepen military cooperation with Japan. In addition, the recent diplomatic performance of Yoon Seok-yeol is worrying. Park Jin, who had previously advocated promoting the resumption of the Agreement negotiations, was removed from parliament. Yoon Seok-yeol is also facing the dilemma of a sluggish support rate. Therefore, the prospects for successfully resuming the negotiations are not optimistic." Chen Haoyang said.
Tensions on the peninsula escalated one after another
In fact, there were already voices of opposition in South Korea before the exercise began.The Korean National Daily reported on the 28th that a South Korean joint Democratic MP posted on social media that day that the location of the joint military exercise was only more than 150 kilometers away from Dokdo (called "Storishima" in Japan), and Japan is a country that advocates "sovereignty" over the region, but the South Korean military is happy to conduct military exercises with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. "Is this a sign of justice?"
Yang Xiyu said that South Korea's public opinion shows that although high-level communication between South Korea and Japan has increased recently, due to the superposition of historical and realistic contradictions, Japan still insists on a stubborn position on issues of concern to South Korea. The cooperation between the two sides faces great resistance to deepening, and the relationship between the two countries may not have a substantial breakthrough in the short term.
"For the entire region, what is more worrying is that the acceleration of military cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan may lead to a more intense response from North Korea." Yang Xiyu added. At present, the scale of joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea is getting bigger and bigger. In response, North Korea has also shown a tough attitude towards the Yoon Seo-yue government. In the past six days, South Korea has reported three times that North Korea launched missiles, and all parties competed to show strength, which will lead to the escalation of tension on the peninsula.
(Look at the news, Knews editor Song Yi)
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