HANKYOREH

APLN member Cheong Wook-sik argued that South Korea should pursue a bigger role by fostering regional dialogue based on shared fears to reduce hostility and promote peace, rather than simply aligning with US military strategies that escalate tensions around the Taiwan Strait.

If a cross-strait conflict breaks out for whatever reason and the US gets involved, that scenario has the potential to spread throughout East Asia through different parties bound by a chain of alliances, much like in the case of World War I. It would raise the possibility of intervention and involvement by US allies such as South Korea, Japan, Australia and the Philippines on the one side, and Chinese allies — North Korea and its ally Russia — on the other.

This terrible scenario tells us that we need to rewrite the equation of fear. Such implications were found during the Cold War as well. The US and the Soviet Union were drunk on competition and caught up in an arms race. The two nations were able to reach various arms control and reduction agreements and ultimately end the Cold War because they shared an understanding that nuclear war would lead to everyone’s destruction.

It’s not enough to simply think that South Korea is a third party in cross-strait relations and therefore shouldn’t get involved. The idea that South Korea is a US ally and therefore should help the US is incredibly dangerous. This is why we need to speak up to change the hostile and unstable status quo into a peaceful and stable status quo.

We need to propose finding measures to lead to military and strategic peace through arms controls and trust-building. Becoming aware of our fears and sharing them could be the starting point.

Read the article here.

Image: Wikimedia Commons