Esper predicts Korean involvement in any Taiwan conflict

In this June 26, 2019 file photo, then-U.S. Secretary for Defense Mark Esper speaks prior to a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. [AP/YONHAP]

Former U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Korea will have no choice but to intervene with the United States in the Taiwan Strait should a conflict break out between Taiwan and China.

In an interview with the Voice of America on Tuesday, Esper said it would be hard to imagine Seoul not intervening at all if Washington was involved in such a conflict, whether the intervention involved military means or economic sanctions.

He also criticized the former Moon Jae-in administration for its policy of “strategic ambiguity” on the U.S.-China rivalry.

“China has used its economic might against Korea, particularly with the initial deployment of the Thaad site, China has used its economic might against Australia, other countries around the world, but it’s not going to get any easier if you kowtow to them every time they do this,” he said, using the acronym for the U.S.-led antimissile system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, which Korea deployed on its territory in 2017.

“Which is why I think it’s imperative, again, that the democracies of the Indo-Pacific and certainly the world stand up to the Chinese and say we’re not going to tolerate this behavior,” he said.

Esper also called for a more permanent deployment of F-35 fighter jets in Korea to counter the threat from North Korea.

“[The] threat from North Korea is real and it would be immediate if Kim Jong-un decided to do something, so I was always a big believer in having our most advanced capabilities forward, and in this case it would be the F-35 given what it brings to the battle space,” he said.

Six U.S. F-35A fighter jets arrived in Korea last week to participate in joint drills, which was the first time in five years America’s stealth warplanes were deployed publicly to Korea.

In a recently published memoir, “A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times,” Esper wrote that he saw a need to upgrade the fighter jets of the U.S. Forces Korea to F-35s during his tenure as defense secretary, but that there were several obstacles such as public opinion in Korea at the time and the Moon administration’s policies toward the North, which emphasized peace and dialogue.

Esper was defense secretary from 2019 to 2020 for the Donald Trump administration.

Esper added that Korea should be more active and ask to join the Quad, or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue among the United States, Japan, Australia and India.

“Maybe the Quad partners aren’t inviting but I think Seoul should knock on that door pretty loud, and ask to enter, push to join,” he said.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]