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President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea (second from left) encourages Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to speak ahead of him following a summit of NATO’s four partners in the Asia-Pacific. On the left is Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and on the right is New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Lithuania on July 12. (Yoon Woon-sik/The Hankyoreh)

President Yoon Suk-yeol announced plans Wednesday for increasing South Korea’s cooperation with NATO, including expanded military information sharing, while attending a summit of NATO allies and partners in Lithuania.

The situation suggests an intensifying approach of curbs against China and Russia as Seoul expands its foreign affairs and national security partners to include European countries as well as the US.

Analysts said cooperation with NATO stands to do little to positively impact South Korea’s security situation — including the North Korean nuclear issue — while increasing the burden of responsibilities in exchange.

In remarks made at a summit of NATO allies and partners in the Lithuanian capital, Yoon announced plans to expand the sharing of military information with NATO. The presidential office explained that he was referring to South Korea’s participation in the Battlefield Information Collection and Exploitation System (BICES) used by NATO for military information sharing.

The proposal for South Korea to join BICES — a network in which NATO allies and partner countries share military information — was reportedly presented by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a visit in January. If military intelligence officials submit a request to join, South Korea can become a member following approval by the BICES and NATO boards of directors.

Meeting with reporters the evening before, a senior official with the presidential office said, “Once NATO and South Korea have opened the BICES network and started sharing [information], we believe it can serve as a reference on how to share nuclear information with the US and set up a related system when we are creating and operating the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) with the US.”

But joining BICES does not mean that South Korea will immediately be sharing NATO’s nuclear information.

The same official explained, “You can understand BICES as something where we’re mainly sharing and cooperating on the information needed for illegal activities, hacking, and criminal activity online.”

“The term ‘battlefield’ isn’t limited to any particular territory or geographical scope. A great many illegal activities and acts of violence, psychological warfare, and opinion warfare are happening online, and since the seizure of advanced technology and related acts of espionage fall into the national security category, it’s important for us to step up our cooperation on information and cyber-related areas,” they added.

The push falls along the same lines as detailed aspects of the Individually Tailored Partnership Program (ITPP) that South Korea agreed upon with NATO on Tuesday. That program established a framework for cooperation in 11 areas, including counterterrorism and cyber defense.

In a meeting Monday with Stoltenberg and in his meeting remarks on Wednesday, Yoon proposed fleshing out the plans that the South Korean government is currently pursuing the establishment of an international cyber training center and increased cooperation with NATO’s Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE).

At a summit of NATO’s Asia-Pacific partners (South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand) the same day, Yoon said, “The security of the Atlantic and Pacific cannot be separated. Our four countries must join with NATO in establishing a strong collective security posture.”

The increased military cooperation with NATO is being seen as a continuation of Yoon’s more aggressive stance of beefing up cooperation with the West — including the US and its allies — against China and Russia since becoming the first South Korean president to attend a NATO summit in June 2022.

With Finland and Sweden joining NATO, a framework of increasingly clear antagonism with Russia has been taking shape as Europe has stepped up the US focus of its security activities. The latest NATO summit also had the US allies South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand taking part as partner countries.

On Wednesday, Yoon himself presided over a meeting of the Asia-Pacific partner countries. Emphasizing the increased unity going forward, a South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said, “There is a strong likelihood these meetings will be taking place on a regular basis in the future.”

But observers said that it was unclear exactly what South Korea stands to gain from Yoon’s concept of stronger cooperation with NATO — and that it appears likely to create a heavy practical burden. They also commented that it was unclear what Yoon was referring to with his message emphasizing the importance of cooperation and describing the security situations of the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions as “inseparable.”

“There’s no easy way of connecting the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic regions,” argued Lee Hea-jeong, a professor of political science and international relations at Chung-Ang University.

“Right now, we’re seeing issues with China and Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific region, and with Europe relying on the US for its security, it’s not clear how they would go about a practical military linkage with the Indo-Pacific region,” he explained.

“I’m not sure how NATO can help with the immediate issue of the North Korean nuclear program,” he added.

Analysts also predicted increased pressure on South Korea to provide support for the war in Ukraine.

Park Byung-hwan, director of the Eurasia Strategy Research Institute, predicted, “In the end, we won’t gain very much, and there will be stronger pressure on us to send shells to Ukraine.”

Former South Korean Ambassador to Russia Wi Sung-lac said, “Because South Korea and the US are in an alliance relationship, we need to acknowledge the reality of cooperation with the US.”

At the same time, he advised, “Since the war in Ukraine has further intensified confrontation between the US and China, we shouldn’t simply increase our coordination with the US without establishing an integrated policy course on the US, China, and Russia.”

By Kim Mi-na, staff reporter; Jang Ye-ji, staff reporter

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