Seoul, Feb 18 (IANS) Chung Mong-Joon, founder and honorary chair of the Asian Institute for Policy Studies and former politician in South Korea, has advocated for an Asian NATO, also suggesting redeploying tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea to enhance regional peace and security.
“The United States and its allies and partners also need to show credible resolve to deter North Korean, Chinese and Russian military adventurism. We need an Asian version of NATO. We may call it the Indo-Pacific Treaty Organisation (IPTO),” leading South Korean daily ‘The Korean Herald’ quoted Chung Mong-Joon as saying at an event at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington.
Chung further suggested that the US and its allies South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Thailand along with partners like India and Indonesia should strengthen security cooperation, and ensure the sovereignty of all countries in the Indo-Pacific, the report detailed.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol had joined the NATO summit in Washington for the third time in July 2024 along with other allies of the Indo-Pacific region. While welcoming the Korean President to the summit, then NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called South Korea a valued partner for their alliance and emphasised on deepening cooperation with the country.
“North Korea is delivering a significant amount of ammunition and military support to enable Russia to conduct its war of aggression against Ukraine. And we are deeply concerned about the possibility of Russia, in return, delivering support to North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes,” said Stoltenberg.
“The missile and nuclear programmes of North Korea are a threat to the region and also to global security. So this demonstrates how security in the Indo-Pacific is closely intertwined with security in Europe,” he added.
Chung served seven terms in the National Assembly of South Korea. He was chairman of the Grand National Party (ruling party) from 2009-2010, and was a Presidential candidate in 2002. He also served as Vice President of FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association), and as co-chairman of the Korean Organising Committee for the 2002 Korea-Japan FIFA World Cup.
–IANS
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