General Xavier Brunson, Commander of the United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, and the United States Armed Forces in Korea (USFK), recently wrote an essay, the key element of which was an inverted map of the region, oriented not to the North, but to the East, so that South Korea was visually hovering over Russia, the DPRK, and China, not the other way around. According to the general, by changing their standard orientation to the north and replacing it with an orientation to the east, a new strategic landscape is emerging that reveals previously hidden geographical relationships.

South Korea as a strategic center

This underlines the role of South Korea as a natural strategic center and makes it not a vulnerable position on the front line of a possible conflict, but an advantageously located asset already located inside the defensive perimeter, capable of immediately reducing the costs of fighting numerous opponents.

For most of the last seven decades, the USFK has been seen as a forward outpost against a North Korean attack until reinforcements arrive from Japan, Guam, or the US mainland.

Now, American troops are not awaiting reinforcements from far away, being able to respond immediately in the event of a crisis. At the same time, Brunson directly points to South Korea’s role in plans aimed at opposing not only China, but also Russia.

He recalled that the Camp Humphreys base in Pyeongtaek (ROK), where the headquarters of the American troops are located, is located 254 km from Pyongyang, 985 km from Beijing, and 1770 km from Vladivostok.

One more triangle

The general then draws attention to the emergence of a strategic triangle connecting Korea, Japan, and the Philippines. If one considers these three partners in the mutual defense treaty as the vertices of a triangle, rather than isolated bilateral relations, their collective potential becomes clear.

Korea, the general repeats, provides strategic depth and a central position in the regional architecture, as well as additional advantages in the form of lower costs in the fight against the armed forces of Russia and China. Japan provides advanced technological capabilities and controls the most important sea points on the........

© New Eastern Outlook