Partner countries again lobbied for Esper, excluding Korea, “Do not travel free for safety.”

While US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper mentioned 10 Asian countries with ‘QUAD’ as a partner country to work on US public policy, Korea was not mentioned. . There is an observation that this is a diversion of pressure on Korea, which does not show a clear position between the United States and China.

In a videoconference held by the Atlantic Council, the Washington think tank on the 20th (local time), Minister Esper was asked about the ‘quadrilateral’ and said: “We discussed the challenges facing four very important and competent democratic countries of the region. “There is.” According to the Voice of the United States (VOA), when asked if the Quad will become a group security tool similar to that of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the future, it said: “First of all We will continue to build ties as we enhance our ability to uphold common values. We need to improve it. ”The need to strengthen military cooperation with India and Japan was also mentioned.

In addition to the quadruple countries, 10 countries, including New Zealand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Mongolia, Taiwan, Palau, East Timor and Malta, were named key partners to deal with the threat from China. “The United States needs to engage with all the countries in the region, regardless of the size of the country, to face the era of competition with China and Russia.”

However, Minister Esper did not mention anything about South Korea, which has been identified as a key ally in Northeast Asia. It seems to have taken into account the situation in which South Korea is aware of its relationship with China and the US is reluctant to join the anti-China front, but some analyze that Korea is not the only one excluded from the composition of the Asian countries uniting with the US as the center. On the 19th, Undersecretary of State Stephen Biegan said: “It is premature to expand the Quad” and indicated that he would not immediately pursue a plan to expand it to “Quad Plus”, including Korea. In addition, Minister Esper again pushed for an increase in the allies’ share of defense costs. “I hope all alliances invest more in defense,” he said, suggesting that 2% of GDP is the minimum standard. He then emphasized: “There is no free ride in our common security to overcome increasingly complex threats and uphold our common values.” Washington = Correspondent Lee Jung-eun [email protected] Go to reporter’s page>