The top U.S. military commander in South Korea is urging a rethink of how the Asian country’s strategic position is viewed, arguing that a shift in perspective reveals the crucial role it could play alongside Japan and the Philippines in a regional crisis.
The move is the latest step by the United States to make clear that it views its forces as having “strategic flexibility” in countering not just North Korea but also China and Russia.
By simply flipping the usual map of the area around the Korean Peninsula, “the strategic picture transforms dramatically” as it shows how geography gives South Korea “a unique ability to influence multiple axes of competition,” U.S. Army Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), wrote in an opinion piece released Sunday and in subsequent written responses to South Korean media.
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