동아시아 군사분쟁에 따른 우리의 대응방향 고찰 = South Korea's response to the East Asian military conflict

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of military conflicts in East Asia on the Korean Peninsula, to seek response directions, and to present policy developments. In developing this thesis, we analyzed the reality of the Chinese threat and the US's strategy toward China to reveal our response direction, and through analysis of the possibility of conflict in the Taiwan region, which has a relatively high possibility of conflict in East Asia, and further, the case of the South China Sea conflict, we derived our realistic security and economic orientation points. Looking at the conflict and war situations around the world that are changing rapidly day by day, it is predicted that the aftereffects of military conflict due to the sharp confrontation between the US and China will be fully transmitted to the Korean Peninsula no matter when or where it occurs. A conflict that exceeds the critical point between the US and China will be forced as our strategic choice in the future, so we must devise detailed strategic options (countermeasures) in advance. The main research contents proposed for this purpose are as follows.
First, from the perspective of ‘strategic clarity,’ we can build security infrastructure by distancing ourselves from China and Russia and leading cooperation between Korea, the US, and Japan, but we must approach this very cautiously because it is expected to have a negative impact on the economy, which is directly related to the lives of our people. Considering friction with China and Russia as a cost that must be paid anyway and focusing only on the US and Japan could be a fatal and dangerous idea.
Second, from the perspective of ‘strategic choice by issue (ambiguity),’ it is also very important to use strategic flexibility to improve the quality of life of our people and not create hostility toward countries surrounding the Korean Peninsula. In other words, it means directly contributing to the lives of our people by using a diplomatic strategy called ‘strategic choice that fits the national interest by issue.’