유엔사, 유사시 전력 받을 국가에 일본 포함 추진 UNC seeks to include Japan as official member

UNC seeks to include Japan as official member

Lim Chang-won Reporter(cwlim34@ajunews.com) 

SEOUL -- The U.S.-led U.N. Command (UNC) is seeking to include Japan as an official member, sources said Thursday, a move likely to inflame public sentiment in South Korea amid renewed historical tensions with Tokyo.

유엔사, 유사시 전력 받을 국가에 일본 포함 추진 한반도 군사력 일본이 주도?     1일 복수의 정부 소식통에 따르면 유엔군사령부가 한반도 유사시 전력을 받을 국가에 일본 등을 포함하는 방안을 추진하는 것으로 알려졌다. 유엔사를 대표하는 미국이 7개의 유엔사 후방기지가 있는 일본과 실제 합의한다면, 일본 자위대는 유사시 한반도에 유엔기를 들고 투입될 수 있는 길이 열린다. (서울=연합뉴스) 장예진 기자 jin34@yna.co.kr 관련기사 "도하장비 우리가 최고"...현대로템. 한화디펜스 대형 군납 놓고 자웅 https://conpaper.tistory.com/79077

edited by kcontents

Should Japan participate as part of the UNC's "sending states," its membership would pave the way for its military involvement in the event of an armed conflict on the peninsula -- a scenario unthinkable for most Koreans harboring grievances stemming from Japan's 1910~45 colonial rule.

Except for South Korea and the United States, the UNC currently has 16 sending states that are to provide combat troops, equipment and other forms of support in case of a contingency on the peninsula.

The sending states include Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy and New Zealand. They have posted their contingents at the UNC to support its operations centering on the observance and enforcement of the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War.

The pursuit of Japan's entry into the UNC comes amid heightened tensions between South Korea and Japan, which were caused by Tokyo's recent export control measure seen as a retaliatory move for last year's Supreme Court rulings here against Japanese firms over wartime forced labor.

As part of its "revitalization" efforts, the UNC has been seeking to beef up its operational structure with more contributions from its 16 sending states and efforts to include more outside participation.

"I know that the UNC is working at seeing if other nations are interested in joining, but it is also in the works. Nothing has been confirmed," a UNC official told Yonhap News Agency over the phone.

It remains unclear whether Japan would accede to a call to join the UNC, as any possibility of Tokyo's military involvement on the peninsula could further exacerbate strained relations with Seoul. Japan is already home to a number of UNC rear bases that would be mobilized in the event of a crisis in Korea.

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force/youtube

edited by kcontents

Since 2014, the UNC has been pushing for the revitalization campaign to ostensibly deepen its commitment to "maintaining stability and peace in Korea by employing multinational forces of the sending states," it has said. As part of the campaign, the UNC has strengthened its staff by securing more contributions from member states and having senior officials exclusively dedicated to their UNC roles rather than taking other responsibilities.

        

The campaign has been picking up pace amid the intensifying Sino-U.S. rivalry, talks for Washington's envisioned transfer of wartime operational control to Seoul and efforts for a lasting peace regime on the peninsula that could render the UNC obsolete.

Analysts said that the initiative appears aimed at ensuring the UNC's readiness for military contingencies, enhancing America's influence over the peninsula or preserving the U.S-led regional security order challenged by an assertive China.

(Yonhap)

http://world.kbs.co.kr/service/news_view.htm?lang=e&Seq_Code=146573

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