3 Reasons Why Korea is the Key to Asia's Security

the korean peninsula is the keystone to northeast asia's security architecture located between china and japan korea sits in the center of the region and plays a critical role in the security strategies of both its power neighbors the country has been defined as a dagger pointed at japan's heart however it can also be said that it's like a katana pointed at china's throat in either case the korean peninsula can easily become a shield or a sword protecting or menacing its two neighbors china and japan in beijing's eyes the peninsula allows complete command of the yellow and east china seas both of which make up the two main martian gateways into china for japan korea has historically represented a corridor with mainland asia through which cultural exchanges can be fostered and invasions mounted more recently korea has started playing an essential role in china-u.s competition in this first part of our series on korean geo strategy we will focus on analyzing korea's strategic martin value in three key areas first the yellow sea second the tsushima strait and third the first island chain in each of these three areas korea plays a critical role that significantly influences the strategic posturing of the region's key political actors china japan russia and the us many compare the back and forth of international politics to a game of chess but in the korean peninsula it's like a game of go unlike chess in go one wins by surrounding the adversary and like a go board korea is the setting where two global players america and china balance each other out constantly wrestling to surround the other don't make a hasty movement be like a mountain move silently and cautiously the peninsula is surrounded by global heavyweights the north borders the prc and russia meanwhile in the south only the 65 kilometer wide tsushima strait separates south korea from japan while geographically around the same size the korean peninsula is home to 15 million more people than the uk and unlike the hilly english countryside around 70 of korea is mountainous these mountains play an important role in the region's politics the tebec mountain range is an important geographical divide of the korean peninsula in the east the rugged mountainous terrain only allows small pockets of urban settlement this confines arable land to the western plains which expands along a north-south corridor and enables the land for farming industry and the establishment of cities from the yalo river down to the southern coast the two korean capitals seoul and pyongyang both sit along these western plains the milder climate in the southern part of the corridor allows for abundant crops which historically supported the creation of merchant and literate classes many korean scholars went on to study and take the imperial exam in china the north instead saw frequent invasions by chinese dynasties and barbarians such as the mongols and the churchians its cold climate and rough mountains hindered the production of large amounts of crops the same mountains which now host productive uranium coal and tungsten mines historically were only sparsely used for their mineral resources south of the imjin river sits korea's economic and cultural center since the 6th century over time the corridor between the imjin and yala rivers became korea's buffer zone with asia it was also colder less hospitable to farming and sparsely populated it is this distinct geography of korean peninsula that has fostered the real economic and cultural division between the north and the south and the imjin river was the line dividing the two it is over these western plains that the majority of korean history takes place from the three kingdoms to gorio from joseon to the two koreas josian literally meaning the clear morning kingdom is the bedrock of korea's national identity from 1392 to 1897 joseon enjoyed almost 400 centuries of national unity despite many challenges if south korea had chosen the moniker the country of hans north korea is still referred to as northern chosian historically the flat lands in the west acted as a corridor between mainland asia and japan in the 8th century chinese and korean cultural influences blossomed in the island nation during japan's high-end period resulting in a culture rooted in the seeking of sacred simplicity which evolved into the aesthetic of the imperial court nara and then kyoto this in turn led to murakami kishibu's masterpiece ikaru genji's monogatari however culture was not the only thing to traverse through this corridor the peninsula was also the main path for invasions to and from japan throughout the region's history highlighted in 1274 and 1281 with the invasion of the mongols and then in 1592 and 1598 toyota's invasions and lastly imperial japan's invasion of manchuria and china from 1894 onwards this last invasion which lasted until the end of the second world war drastically influenced china's foreign and security policies the unequal treaties that resulted from the conflict coupled with imperial japan's violent rule still resonate in china's modern strategic posture in the korean region if in the past the korean peninsula was the springboard for japan's invasion of mainland china now the same peninsula is crucial for china's greater security in fact as analyzed in a previous video which you can check out here china greatly suffers from insecure martin borders from china's perspective it is imperative that the nation secure its trade waterways throughout the region similar to how the us invaded panama in 1989 or the uk and france invaded suez in 1956 because of this more assertive stance in the south china sea the taiwan strait and the east china sea have all become news headlines in recent years however the media seems to have pretty much forgotten arguably the most important sea in the region the yellow sea this sea is not only the martin entrance to beijing and china's north but it is also the main center of china and korea's trade networks in 2012 it was estimated that nearly 57 of china and over 70 percent of south korea's total trade volume originated from the yellow sea the majority of this trade leverages the yellow sea's main ports such as shanghai tinjin qingdao busan and inchin all of these are in the top 25 ports per teu throughput capacity and shanghai is the largest commercial port in the world supply chain disruptions dwindling economy and inflation have turned not only on asia but the whole world during these uncertain times it is essential to secure one's investments and gain exposure to uncorrelated assets now there are finally solid alternatives to more traditional financial products like today's sponsor masterworks masterworks enables investors to gain access to the high-end art market from bansky to monet masterworks offers the possibility to invest in sec qualified shares of these paintings masterworks also offers a liquidity option through their secondary market in 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of one aircraft carrier four nuclear attack submarines 32 diesel attack submarines two cruisers 24 destroyers 35 frigates and a few dozen various amphibious ships china can also leverage the two peninsula of shandong and liaoning where it has supposedly installed various sensors that constantly monitor the region interestingly these are also the names given to china's two first aircraft carriers both koreas maintain the yellow sea as the heart of their strategic postures two main reasons explain its centrality as previously mentioned the typic mountains make an amphibious landing in the east very difficult also the lack of major urban centers and large logistical hubs in the east pushes korea's center of gravity towards the west along the west plains corridor the yellow sea is also a crucial operating ground for south korea's navy housing two of the nation's three fleets the second fleet in pyeongtaek and the third fleet in makpa additionally the country's main submarine fleet is at jinhae the north korean navy maintains numerous though obsolete vessels mainly around pyongyang the country's political heart the international institute for strategic studies estimates its navy size is around 71 submarines two frigates and around 400 smaller crafts though these crafts are mainly derived from the soviet era they are nonetheless still capable of sinking more modern ships as the sinking of aruki and chianin in 2010 reminds us as they say there is a certain quality in quantity for both china and korea the main geostrategic interest in the area is to keep the sea lanes of communication sloc and short open given their economy's reliance on trade for north korea on the other hand the main interest is to protect its western coastline and in case of conflict to disrupt any invasion supply lines and amphibious landings recently the loc has seen a resurgence of tensions such as the eez dispute over the sochter rocks a sea mountain usually several meters underwater that resurfaces during storms or low tide this feature is also called lodo in korean and is known in jejudo folklore as the main place where the souls of fishermen who died at sea rest it has become a major friction point between south korea and china in recent years with the latter covertly installing signaling buoys around the feature since 2014 another point of tension is around the northern limit line nll in short which is arguably the most serious security concern in the yellow sea the major flashpoint in the nll resides in the five west sea islands fwi these five islands have belonged to south korea since before the beginning of the korean war and have seen deadly accidents in the past two decades the most recent incident happening in 2010 when north korea carried out a covert attack that sank a south korean patrol boat gionan with a loss of 46 lives this was followed by a second incident that happened a few months later when the north launched an artillery attack against one of the islands controlled by south korea killing four presently the constant tension between the two koreas has led to deeper cooperation between the rok and the us military exercises between the two countries in the yellow sea are held periodically the last major exercise was held in march 2022 and saw the uss abraham lincoln aircraft carrier in a joint operation in south korea's navy for the u.s keeping up its military presence in the region affords two benefits first it allows for credible deterrence against a north korean invasion amidst its assertive stance in regards to territorial disputes and the frequent nuclear and missile tests second it allows the us navy to gain precious experience with operating in the yellow seas vis-a-vis an unlikely yet possible confrontation with china the second most strategic role played by korea is in the spread of k-pop oops sorry wrong script i meant in the korean strait or alternatively known as the tsushima strait this strait connects the yellow sea with the sea of japan in korea called the west and east seas respectively naturally this strait is first and foremost a strategic point for neighboring states korea and japan for both countries this is the major access point from one coast to the other for korea control of the tsushima strait is crucial in accessing cities along the eastern coast such as pohang and gangniong for japan control of the tsushima strait is crucial in protecting the slocks between honshu and kyoshu and trade routes from the seto inland sea via the nearby kanmon strait furthermore it is also a fundamental strait for a significant part of asia's trade its significance in east asia is comparable to that of the panama canal connecting the u.s east and west and how the strait of gibraltar links the european north and south in 1996 it was estimated that around 7 000 ships traversed the sushima strait a large part of korea's trade with the u.s west coast ports like seattle and san francisco passes through the tsushima strait chinese vessels also use the route when bound for northern ports along the u.s west coast at a military level the home port of russia's pacific fleet in vladivostok is shut off from access to the open sea by the tsushima and suguru straits though these are now international water passages this is the result of a unilateral decision made by south korea and japan's governments technically speaking the japanese and korean governments could extend their territorial waters to 12 nautical miles from shore as per article 3 of the unclos dramatically limiting the passage of foreign vessels in the context of a confrontation between us and china this street would certainly become a major strategic key point for two main reasons first it allows connection between chinese and russian forces russia's pacific fleet in the sea of japan can only directly meet with china's fleet via the tsushima strait second any disruption of the strait would negatively influence u.s forces in the korean peninsula in case of conflict between north and south korea the dprk's main objective would be to render incheon harbor unusable with its vast fleet of submarines u.s logical lines from the pacific and japan would then rely on mainly the tsushima strait to reach the key ports of busan and olsen a disruption of the tsushima strait would spell disaster for american and south korean forces making the fight on the korean peninsula very difficult following this logic china and russia are getting more active in this region the two have ramped up the volume of military exercises between their navies the most recent of which happened in october 2021 and saw an unprecedented amount of warships the third focus of this video is the first island chain in the west this is described as a string of islands beginning at the island of kyushu in the northeast and ending with borneo in the southwest however in chinese maps depicting the first island chain it begins with the southern tip of the korean peninsula passing through jejudo and from there continues to kyushu this allows us to better visualize china's perspective on the u.s containment strategy the japanese ryukyu archipelago and taiwan hinder china's access into the pacific ocean only four main international water passages exist from the east china sea into the pacific ocean the olsami strait the takara strait the miyako channel and the taiwan yoneguni iramote gap from china's perspective the lack of access into the open ocean prevents it from projecting its force abroad especially vis-a-vis america's ubiquitous military foothold in this context china is hell-bent to prevent encirclement by reaching full military control over the entire korean peninsula the same logic can be applied to the numerous territorial disputes in the yellow and east china sea the diyo senkaku and the socotra rocks are examples of this china's challenge to the current asian status quo is one of the main drivers of the korean peninsula's strategic centrality the region's strategic maritime value on the control of the yellow and japanese seas tracks major regional actors like china japan russia and the us for these reasons the peninsula can become either a shield or a sword for whoever can bring it under its control if you like this video please consider leaving a like sharing and subscribing otherwise everything else works fine too thanks for watching and have a good one [Music]

Channel: Kamome

Views: 107,306

Keywords: video, sharing, camera phone, video phone, free, upload

Id: 7XxzTAeYZ3A

Length: 19min 23sec (1163 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 07 2022