Easing security concerns amid multifront wars

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week visited Seoul for the first time since President Yoon Suk Yeol took office in May last year. Although brief, the two-day trip by the U.S. secretary is meaningful given the latest geopolitical developments around the globe. Currently, the United States is directly or indirectly preoccupied with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war in Europe and the escalating conflict in the Gaza strip after Palestinian militant group Hamas’ attack on Israel last month.

Despite his busy schedule in the Middle East, Blinken made a trip to Seoul before flying to India after attending the Group of 7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Japan. He met with President Yoon, his national security adviser Cho Tae-yong, and others during his stay in Seoul.

The U.S. Secretary of State shared information and his views on the latest geopolitical developments with Korea’s top policymakers. Blinken emphasized Washington’s close attention on North Korea, with the possibility of its illicit supply of weapons to Russia and Hamas, according to a senior government official. Seoul is also closely monitoring what military technology Moscow can transfer to Pyongyang after the summit talks in the spaceport in Russia’s Far East.

Seoul and Washington have never been so close to one another since the summit meeting in April between President Yoon and U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House to mark the 70th anniversary of the alliance, and the following trilateral summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in August at Camp David. But the alliance has faced a new challenge now that Washington’s attention is diverted to the two ongoing wars. Many fear weakened U.S. support in case of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait or the Korean Peninsula.

The two allies must upgrade their security and alliance strategy under the scenario that they may have to deal with three to four wars at the same time. The U.S. Defense Secretary is to arrive in Seoul Monday for the regular Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), where the two defense ministers seek concrete measures to defend against North Korea. At the SCM, the two sides will detail the enhanced deterrence policy, including the operation of the Nuclear Consultative Group, which was agreed to at the April summit.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been keeping a low profile since his visit to Russia. But intelligence authorities predict that Pyongyang could attempt its third launch of a spy satellite that had been originally scheduled for October. The two allies cannot afford any loopholes on the security front amid the global instability due to the armed conflicts in both Ukraine and the Middle East. We hope that the back-to-back meetings of foreign and defense ministers help to ease the deepening security woes in South Korea.