With American and South Korean officials conceding that the peninsula might easily be drawn into a crisis, tensions over Taiwan have highlighted the complex question of whether U.S. forces stationed in South Korea would be involved in any battle.
In an interview with CNN that was broadcast on Sunday, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol stated that his nation was eager to collaborate with the United States to ‘expand freedom,’ but that the alliance should first concentrate on North Korea because it was more likely to stage a provocation in the event of a conflict over Taiwan.
Due to their mutual defence agreement, China and North Korea might work together or take advantage of an emergency to further their own military objectives, according to military analysts.
President Joe Biden of the United States declared last week that American soldiers would defend Taiwan in the case of a Chinese invasion, eliciting a rebuke from China and upping the stakes for allies of the United States that house American troops in the area.
Since China is South Korea’s biggest trading partner, Seoul might find itself on the front lines of any military conflict in the region.
Asserting that Washington is attempting to create a ‘Asian NATO’ that would bring conflicts like the one in Ukraine to Asia, North Korea has backed China’s claims over Taiwan.
Yoon has vowed to strengthen ties with the US, which has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea as part of a mutual defence treaty dating back to the 1950–1953 Korean War.
Yoon did not explicitly respond to the question of whether South Korea will support the United States if China attacked Taiwan.
Planning for every scenario is wise, according to General Paul LaCamera, commander of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), who made this statement last week.
The Institute for Corean-American Studies (ICAS) sponsored a session on Tuesday where LaCamera said, ‘What begins in one place travels very quickly within the region and around the world.’
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