Rep. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, speaks during a meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday. Newsis

Joint drills in East Sea crucial against nuclear-armed Pyongyang with SLBM capability: expert

By Jung Min-ho

Rep. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, renewed his criticism of the government's decision to join trilateral military drills with Japan, Wednesday, saying that South Korea should not work with its former colonial ruler as it could be "a stepping stone to a Korea-U.S.-Japan military alliance," which could "stimulate the military unity of North Korea, China and Russia."

During a meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Lee, the former presidential candidate, who lost the March election to Yoon Suk-yeol by a razor-thin margin, said the government should apologize for taking part in the joint naval exercises in the East Sea with Japan and the United States in response to North Korea's series of weapons tests in recent weeks.

"Five years before North Korea invaded the South, Japan was the country that invaded and ruled Korea for decades," Lee said. "Japan has not apologized for its past atrocities, including wartime sexual slavery and forced labor, and still claims Dokdo as its territory."

His remarks come several hours after he posted the message, "A nation that forgets its past has no future," on social media.

Over the past week since the beginning of the National Assembly Defense Committee audit, Lee and other liberal members have said little about North Korea's intensifying nuclear and missile threats. Instead, their main focus of criticism has been the current administration's participation in the trilateral naval drills ― as part of an agreement signed on Oct. 23, 2017, during the previous liberal President Moon Jae-in administration.

Lee used strong words, calling the Yoon Suk-yeol government's defense policy "extremely pro-Japanese" and saying that the rising sun flag ― regarded as a symbol of Japan's wartime aggression ― may be "raised again" on the Korean Peninsula as a result of Yoon's leadership failure.

An undated photo released on Oct. 10 by the official North Korean Central News Agency shows the Korean People's Army staging a military drill in an unidentified location. Yonhap

According to Cho Jin-man, an associate professor of politics and international relations at Duksung Women's University, anti-Japanese sentiment has been one of the issues that could galvanize support in South Korea, especially among liberal voters.

Such criticism is excessive at best and complete nonsense at worst, Cho said, but Lee and his party do it because they do not have a politically popular alternative.

"But unlike the last time anti-Japanese sentiment was very high [in 2019], this time Japan is not the one making problems; it is North Korea," Cho said. "South Korea, the U.S. and Japan were forced to do whatever necessary to protect their countries and citizens … If past is any guide, the liberal camp will lose support as it refuses to help the government without giving any better alternatives. I think its strategy won't work."

Some lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party, such as Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon and Rep. Sung Il-joing, say Lee is just trying to create a distraction amid the corruption investigations targeting him and his family.

During the ongoing parliamentary inspection, Lee criticized the Yoon administration mainly on one point: the joint drills were conducted in the East Sea near Dokdo, the easternmost islets of South Korea, instead of in its southern waters.

This photo, released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 20, 2021, shows a submarine-launched ballistic missile being fired in waters off North Korea's east coast the previous day. Yonhap

Given North Korea's submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) capabilities, the location of the combined exercises is not only sensible but also essential, according to Shin Jong-woo, a senior researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum.

"Having submarines capable of firing a ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead somewhere under the water means that North Korea can make destructive counterattacks against South Korea, the U.S. or Japan even if all of its nuclear delivery systems on the land are suddenly destroyed," he said. "Recent weapons tests show its mini-SLBM can fly 600 kilometers. The East Sea is where North Korea's submarines are most active and serious threats may be hidden … The East Sea also has the environment where submarines are difficult to detect, which makes it a suitable location for joint exercises, which I believe are necessary given the size and types of threats North Korea possesses."