This is the last in the series of articles on America’s refocus on the Asia-Pacific region and the possible impact on its alliances with South Korea and Japan. ― Ed.Amid an intensifying contest for primacy between the U.S. and China, policymakers in Seoul are agonizing over what strategic choices should serve the best interests of South Korea.Washington is deepening its engagement in the strategically important and economically vibrant Asia-Pacific. Apparently seeking to keep a rising China in c

Environmental degradation, and accidents and crimes involving American troops have long been sources of friction in U.S. alliances with South Korea and Japan.Last year, allegations that U.S. soldiers dumped toxic chemicals such as Agent Orange at their bases in Korea decades ago sparked public furor and prompted calls for an environmental inspection of the installations suspected of contamination. A joint U.S.-South Korean investigation subsequently failed to find toxic substances at levels dang

China’s strategic imprint, whether direct or indirect, has been increasingly tied to the security and stability of the Korean Peninsula. With China’s ongoing military transformation and its growing capabilities, however, Beijing will have increasingly greater leverage and options to shape the direction and outcomes of potential crisis scenarios on the Korean Peninsula, on China’s terms.For over a decade, China’s geopolitical and economic rise has given its diplomacy more leverage in managing ten

American troops focus on deterring Pyongyang, countering potential threats from ChinaThis is the fourth in the series of articles on America’s refocus on the Asia-Pacific region and the possible impact on its alliances with South Korea and Japan. ― Ed.Combat-oriented Gen. James D. Thurman, commander of the U.S. Forces Korea, is striving to strengthen his troops’ war-fighting capabilities to better deal with North Korea’s continuing browbeating.The battle-experienced general has recently asked Wa

Troop number reduced amid changes in security environment, U.S. military strategyAs the cornerstone of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. Forces Korea have undergone adjustments in scale, deployment and strategies in line with changing regional and global security environment for the past 60 years.U.S. troops first entered the Korean Peninsula in September 1945, less than a month after Korea was liberated on Aug. 15 from Japan’s 36-year colonial rule. Their mission was to disa

Japan’s military buildup to play crucial role in countering ChinaThis is the third in the series of articles on America’s refocus on the Asia-Pacific region and the possible impact on its alliances with South Korea and Japan. ― Ed.Japan is more aggressively pushing to become a “normal state” with a full-fledged military as China increasingly flexes its naval might and North Korea tests its patience with missile and nuclear tests.Japan’s increasing assertiveness comes as the U.S. is deepening its

This is the second in the series of articles on America’s refocus on the Asia-Pacific region and the possible impact on its alliances with South Korea and Japan. ― Ed.Amid its strategic pivot toward the Asia-Pacific, America’s long-standing alliance with South Korea is expected to deepen to better deal with an increasingly bellicose North Korea and a rising China.Forged during the 1950-53 Korean War, the alliance, which had focused on deterring the North, has evolved into a more multi-faceted,

The U.S. is focusing on securing strategic military assets with radar-evading capability to help offset China’s anti-access/area-denial capabilities.To help neutralize China’s increasingly sophisticated missile capabilities, the U.S. is seeking to introduce stealth warships and more fifth-generation combat aircraft such as the DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer and F-35 combat aircraft.Along with its missile defense program and other advanced military assets, these high-tech weapons are to be inte

China’s ‘anti-access/ area-denial’ capabilities pose threat to U.S., itsallies in Asia-PacificThis is the first in the series of articles on America’s refocus on the Asia-Pacific region and the possible impact on its alliances with South Korea and Japan. ― Ed.After a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. is refocusing on the Asia-Pacific where it faces a rising China ― a potentially destabilizing factor in the regional order it has fostered since the end of World War II.It has mapped o

A group of South Korean women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II jointly took legal action on Wednesday, denouncing a right-wing Japanese activist’s nationalistic acts and comments regarding a local bronze statue representing Japan’s wartime crimes as defamatory.The House of Sharing, an organization working for the women, said the group of 10 victims filed a defamation complaint with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office against far-right activist No