{"id":2200483,"date":"2023-03-23T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-23T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2200483"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:07:51","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:07:51","slug":"why-chinese-spy-balloons-could-be-harbingers-for-us-rok-alliance-tensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/03\/why-chinese-spy-balloons-could-be-harbingers-for-us-rok-alliance-tensions\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Chinese spy balloons could be harbingers for US-ROK alliance tensions"},"content":{"rendered":"
The U.S.-ROK alliance has <\/span>rebounded<\/span><\/a> under presidents Joe Biden and Yoon Suk-yeol. But China\u2019s recent flying of a <\/span>surveillance balloon<\/span><\/a> into U.S. airspace could be the starting point of a divergence between Seoul and Washington. While the Biden administration will be under more pressure to display it is prepared for a possible armed conflict with China, South Korea is unlikely to overtly support the U.S.-ROK Combined Forces Command (CFC) being included in military plans beyond the peninsula.<\/span><\/p>\n For most of its existence, the CFC has focused on one mission: the defense of South Korea from the North. Thus, South Korea is unlikely to support what Seoul will see as a dwindling focus on the North Korean threat even as the North continues to fire off missiles and apparently prepares for its seventh nuclear test.<\/span><\/p>\n But amid these continued provocations, China\u2019s surveillance balloon <\/span>drove home<\/span><\/a> the point among average Americans that China represents a formidable national security challenge. As such, with the 2024 U.S. presidential election around the corner, the Biden administration will be under pressure to show voters that it can respond to concurrent conflicts with China and North Korea should hostilities break out in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n As U.S. military planners must further consider scenarios that include the defense of Taiwan from a possible Chinese invasion \u2014 which would most likely necessitate USFK\u2019s participation \u2014 Seoul\u2019s concerns about being abandoned by its U.S. ally will likely grow. Yoon Suk-yeol <\/span>expressed<\/span><\/a> concern last year that a potential military conflict between China and Taiwan could raise the likelihood of North Korea\u2019s provocations, as the two countries could coordinate their plans to divert U.S. forces as much as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n As the U.S. threat perception of the region grows beyond the Korean Peninsula, Washington might be unable to address Seoul\u2019s concerns to ensure the latter\u2019s participation within Washington\u2019s preferred time frame.<\/span><\/p>\n