The South Korean and Australian defense chiefs said Wednesday that Seoul was in talks to participate in the defense technology pillar of the AUKUS security pact — just weeks after Japan also said it was in discussions to join.
"During today's meeting, we discussed the possibility of partnering with AUKUS Pillar II," South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said via an interpreter when asked about the pact at a live-streamed joint news conference following a meeting between South Korean and Australian defense and foreign ministers in Melbourne. "We do welcome that the members are considering Korea as a Pillar II partner.”
The AUKUS pact, announced in 2021, involves Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Widely seen as a means of countering China’s growing military clout in the Indo-Pacific region, the grouping’s primary goal, known as Pillar I, is to provide Australia with its own fleet of nuclear-powered attack submarines.
But the pact’s second program, known as Pillar II, is centered around developing and sharing advanced capabilities across a broad swath of area including hypersonics, anti-submarine warfare and cyberweapons, as well as quantum computing and artificial intelligence.
South Korea’s growing defense, science and technological capabilities could help contribute to that program and to regional peace and stability, Shin said.
Australian defense chief Richard Marles echoed this view.
“Korea is obviously a country with deeply impressive technology," he said. "So as AUKUS Pillar II develops, I think there will be opportunities in the future, and we're seeing that play out in relation to Japan, too."
Although South Korea will not be partaking in the nuclear submarine pillar of AUKUS, the pact — and now the talks on joining Pillar II — have raised questions about the possibility of Seoul joining Pillar I at some point.
Seoul has long advocated for being able to acquire nuclear-powered submarine technology, but this has repeatedly been shot down by the United States, which has concerns about proliferation and instability on the Korean Peninsula.
As far as Pillar II goes though, formal consultations with South Korea, Japan and other countries as potential collaborators are expected to begin later this year.
Japan was the first country to be formally considered for Pillar II, ahead of other U.S. allies, including Canada and New Zealand, the two other members of the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance that also groups the U.S., U.K. and Australia.
Tokyo’s participation is expected to not only enhance Japanese capabilities, but also provide a new set of opportunities to boost the country's defense industry.
But Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been quick to note that adding new collaborators to Pillar II of the pact would not mean expanding its formal membership.
AUKUS is one of the crown jewels of a U.S.-led push to create a number of “minilateral” groupings — many intended to push back against what partner nations say is rising Chinese assertiveness. Others include “the Quad,” which includes the U.S., Australia, India and Japan, as well as more informal trilateral and quadrilateral groupings that bring South Korea and the Philippines into the mix.
China has been critical of these groupings, especially the AUKUS pact, frequently referring to it as the start of an “Asian NATO” and raising the specter of regional destabilization.
"We firmly oppose relevant countries cobbling together exclusive groupings, building bilateral or multilateral military alliances targeting China, creating division and confrontation and stoking bloc confrontation,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian told a news conference last week. “The Asia-Pacific is a big stage for peace and development, not a wrestling ground for geopolitical competition.”
In a statement released earlier this month, the defense chiefs of the three AUKUS partners said that their respective countries had “been clear” in their intent to engage “like-minded partners” in Pillar II projects since the pact’s formation.
“AUKUS partners have developed principles and models for additional partner engagement in individual Pillar II projects and will undertake consultations in 2024 with prospective partners regarding areas where they can contribute to, and benefit from, this historic work,” they said.
“In identifying collaboration opportunities, we will take into account factors such as technological innovation, financing, industrial strengths, ability to adequately protect sensitive data and information, and impact on promoting peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” they added.
However, opening the pact’s second pillar up to more countries will face a challenge from tough U.S. restrictions on technology-sharing.
The U.S. State Department only Tuesday unveiled its proposal to reduce licensing requirements for transferring military equipment and sensitive technology to AUKUS partners Australia and the U.K.
Those requirements, which govern the sharing of closely guarded technology and are known as International Traffic in Arms Regulations, could also present an obstacle for South Korea. Japan, meanwhile, is still grappling with reforming its own internal systems for protecting both national security and economic secrets.
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