Global Times
May 5, 2022

NATO pulling Seoul closer shadows stability in NE Asia, even Indo-Pacific

South Korea’s state intelligence agency, the National Intelligence Service, said on Thursday that it has joined the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence as the first Asian member….

Cyber defense has been part of the military alliance’s core task of collective defense. By cooperating with South Korea’s spy agency, the US-led NATO is attempting to turn the Northeast Asian country into a chess piece to contain China and Russia in the realm of cyber defense. It has extended its cyber defense to the Korean Peninsula, Northeast Asia and even the Indo-Pacific region, paving the way for the interference of Western forces in regional geopolitical affairs.

Da Zhigang, director of the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies at Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that South Korea joining NATO’s cyber defense cooperation offers room for the country to join other US-led intelligence mechanisms….

“If the US is to contain China or Russia and wins in actual military conflict, it must gain an upper hand in intelligence-gathering. The rearrangement of the US-led cyber and intelligence groups aims to create a global network,” said Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and commentator.

South Korea…will welcome US President Joe Biden later this month, his first trip to Asia since coming into office. South Korea is also considering attending the NATO summit slated for late June. Yoon has said he will “positively review” South Korea’s joining of Quad if invited.

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NATO is a defensive organization in rhetoric only, while its actions can amount to the definition of an “aggressor.” The US knows clearly what consequences Ukraine would face by inciting it to join NATO, but it still led Ukraine to embark on a path of no return.

While Ukraine’s joining NATO could provoke Russia’s sense of insecurity, what South Korea does might trigger more confrontation with its neighbors, including China, Russia and North Korea, which may cause turbulence in the region, warned Song.

NATO is trying to expand to China’s periphery. By trying to create an Asian version of NATO, the US will seriously undermine economic cooperation and prosperity in Asia, and bring about new divisions to the regional geopolitical and geo-economic landscape….