Home to 28,000 U.S. troops, South Korea unlikely to avoid a Taiwan conflict
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Loading... - Pavel Petrov
- 26 Sep 2022
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Tensions over Taiwan have raised the thorny issue of whether U.S. troops based in South Korea would be involved in any conflict, with American and South Korean officials acknowledging that the peninsula could easily be dragged into a crisis.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol told CNN in an interview aired on Sunday that his country was keen to work with the United States to “expand freedom”, but that in a conflict over Taiwan, North Korea would be more likely to stage a provocation and that the alliance should focus on that first.
North Korea has a mutual defence treaty with China and military analysts suggest it could coordinate with Beijing or take advantage of a crisis to pursue its own military goals.
Last week U.S. President Joe Biden said U.S forces would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, drawing an angry response from China and raising the stakes for U.S. allies that host American troops in the region.
China is South Korea's largest economic partner, and Seoul could find itself on the literal front lines of any regional military conflict.
North Korea has backed China's claims over Taiwan, and accused Washington of trying to build an "Asian NATO" that would import crises like the one in Ukraine to Asia. Read More...
