Kim Jong-dae "Yoon's NATO Collective Security? NATO-ization of East Asia"

Former Lawmaker Kim Jong-dae, KBS Radio Interview
"Changes in International Situation... Judgment Has Become Difficult"

Military security expert and former Justice Party lawmaker Kim Jong-dae evaluated President Yoon Suk-yeol's statement on the 13th that "we must establish a strong collective security posture in solidarity with NATO" as "a very strong expression implying the NATO-ization of East Asia."

In an interview with KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strongest Current Affairs' on the same day, former lawmaker Kim analyzed, "Collective security means that if one country goes to war, the group responds collectively and jointly, but the condition is that there must be a common enemy," adding, "Ultimately, that enemy refers to China."

Earlier, on the 12th (local time), President Yoon said at the NATO Asia-Pacific Partner Countries (AP4: South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand) meeting, "AP4 must establish a strong collective security posture in solidarity with NATO," and added, "Taking this as an opportunity, we will institutionalize the framework for cooperation with NATO, and AP4 will play a leading role in regional security in our Indo-Pacific region."

President Yoon Suk-yeol is greeting attendees at the NATO summit of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allied and partner countries held on the 12th (local time) at the NATO summit venue in Vilnius, Lithuania. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding this, former lawmaker Kim viewed South Korea's judgment on NATO and the international situation as difficult. He said, "China views the current international situation as a kind of Western imperialism in the East," and explained, "It interprets it as an image of Western powers flooding in during the Opium War era, delivering a humiliating history to us, which has caused a very strong backlash."

He continued, "In Japan, right-wing political scientists interpret the current international situation as a 1905 system," explaining, "At that time, the Russo-Japanese War occurred, Korea and Japan signed the Eulsa Treaty, and the United States occupied the Philippines; during this period, the US-Japan-UK alliance was formed. Japanese right-wing scholars regard this system as the most ideal and stable."

Former lawmaker Kim said, "Regarding how we should judge NATO, there are security demands such as preparing for the imminent threat from North Korea, but there are also historical demands," and expressed concern, "(The movements of NATO and President Yoon's remarks) are signals emphasizing that the surrounding environment is fundamentally changing. We may participate in a war we do not want."

He added, "We are now seeing two completely different faces of Europe," and said, "NATO and the European Union (EU) are telling completely different stories." This implies that Europe is distinguishing between economic and military security aspects to secure practical benefits.

Former lawmaker Kim explained, "The EU, to get closer to China, saw Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, say 'This is not de-China-ization,' and 'Not decoupling but de-risking,' moving toward China," adding, "But there is another face. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg approaches China ontologically and defines it as an enemy in military security terms."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.