The Talisman saber war games considered
a key symbol of the country's alliance
will take place in july, but will be
roughly half the usual size due to the
covid 19 pandemic. It is the largest bilateral training
activity between the US and Australia
and happens every two years.
"About 17,000 personnel will take part in
the exercise with two thousand foreign
forces entering australia and undergoing
a fourteen day quarantine," Australian
military authorities said.
South Korea's navy will send about two
hundred troops and a four thousand four
hundred ton class destroyer to the Talisman saber exercise.
"We will take part in the exercise this
year, for the first time in history with
a goal to improve our capabilities of
conducting combined operations," spokesman Busonchon told journalists.
Kouth korea took part as an observer in
the exercise. Personnel from New Zealand, Canada, the UK and Japan will also participate, while
france india and indonesia will serve as
observer nations.
Officially exercise talisman sabre is
not focused on any one country, but it is
viewed in the defense establishment as
sending a strong message to china.
"A South Korean defense ministry
spokesman however would not comment on
that. our position about the exercises nature
is clear. It is not aimed at a specific country
and we are taking part in the exercise
in order to bolster capabilities of
carrying out combined operations," he said.
Choi Kang, vice president of the asian
institute for policy studies said Seoul's participation in the exercise
was likely to raise some eyebrows in
beijing.
But Choi added that china's response
would probably be tame unlike when it
hit south korea with economic
retaliation and when Seoul allowed the
deployment of a highly sophisticated u.s
missile defense system seen as a direct
threat by China.
"Those measures sparked widespread
anti-china sentiment among many south
koreans. China does not want to alienate south
korea further," Choi told this week in
asia.
South Korea's participation came
after president Moon Jae-In and US President Joe Biden last month issued a
joint statement saying that the two
allies oppose all activities against the
rules-based international order and
commit to maintaining an inclusive, free
and open indo-pacific.
They also pledged to maintain freedom of
navigation and overflight in the South China Sea and beyond and emphasize the
importance of preserving peace and
stability in the taiwan strait. Taiwan was raised for the first time
during a u.s south korea summit.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lee Jin relayed his government's concern
about the joint statement, stressing
taiwan is purely an internal affair and
warning against infringement on
sovereign matters by outside forces.
Zhao also argued that every country
enjoys the freedom of navigation under
international law and thus there is no
cause for conflict regarding the issue. In response a presidential blue house
representative said soul is aware of the
special relations between china and
taiwan.
It only wanted to express its stance
that stability of the region is also
important for South Korea in general
terms, according to south korea's state
financed KBS TV.
The official also said there is no
change in the government's stance that
it aims to pursue a harmonious strategic
partnership with china, based on the
solid alliance between South Korea and
the US.
Lee Song Hyun, a former researcher at the
sijong institute said the joint
statement has prevented seoul from
rejecting u.s requests to participate in
the exercise. South Korea is facing a dilemma amid
growing rivalry between China and the US," he said.
"How should it act in case an armed
conflict occurs between the U.S and China over taiwan and the south china
sea. This is one of the most difficult
conundrums koreans have to think about, he added.
