谢瑞强
By Xie Ruiqiang
目前，美国主导的史上最大规模“环太平洋-2022”军演正在夏威夷群岛和加利福尼亚州南部周边海域举行，日韩皆派出高规格阵容参演。对于近来美日韩加速军事靠近，朝鲜外务省发言人2日指出，此次北约峰会更加明确了一个事实：美国通过实现欧洲的“军事化”和亚太地区的“北约化”，追求同时遏制、包围中俄的目的，并把美日韩三角军事同盟当作重要手段。
The largest-ever Rim of the Pacific 2022 (RIMPAC 2022) military exercise led by the US is ongoing in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. Both Japan and ROK assigned large-scale fleets to participate in the exercise. Considering the accelerated military collaboration among the three countries, the spokesperson of the DPRK Foreign Ministry said on July 2 that the latest NATO Summit has made one thing clear: by militarizing Europe and expanding NATO to the Asian-Pacific doorstep, the US is aiming at curbing and containing China and Russia at the same time, with the US-Japan-ROK military alliance as a critical tool.
美日韩正加强军事合作
The US, Japan and ROK are strengthening military cooperation.
尹锡悦政府上台后，美日韩军事合作快速升温，多次举行三边或有三边参加的军演。美国空军6月10日开始在美国阿拉斯加州实施“红旗-阿拉斯加”演习中，有日本航空自卫队和韩国空军共约300人参加。这是美国拜登政府上台后首次仅有美日韩三国参加的训练。
After Yoon Suk-yeol came into office, the military cooperation among the three countries quickly heated up. They have organized several trilateral military exercises or exercises involving the three. The US Air Force kicked off the Red Flag-Alaska exercise in Alaska on June 10, which included about 300 participants from the Japan Air Self-defense Force (JASDF) and ROK Air Force. It was the first training session during Biden’s term that involved only the three countries.
韩联社报道称，在“环太军演”期间，韩国、美国、日本、澳大利亚四国将于8月初在美国夏威夷海域实施弹道导弹探测、追踪的“太平洋龙”联合演习。
Yonhap News reported that during RIMPAC 2022, ROK, the US, Japan and Australia will carry out the Pacific Dragon exercise, which included the detection and tracking of ballistic missiles, near Hawaiian waters in early August.
美日韩“太平洋龙”反导联演从2016年开始，旨在提高美日韩三国之间的情报共享合作，加强相关情报共享网络的联动，并检测应对朝鲜导弹反导体系的相互兼容性和互操作性。
The US-Japan-ROK Pacific Dragon anti-missile exercise that was initiated in 2016 is aimed at enhancing intelligence sharing among the three countries, strengthening their interaction in terms of intelligence networks, and testing the compatibility and interoperability of their anti-missile systems against DPRK.
除了举行联合军演，韩日正推动恢复《韩日军事情报保护协定》(GSOMIA)。2016年11月，韩国和日本签署《韩日军事情报保护协定》，其目的是两国分享有关朝鲜核导等军事信息。但后来由于历史问题、半导体出口等问题，该协定该协定基本处于名存实亡的状态。
In addition to joint military exercises, Japan and ROK are considering resuming the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), which was originally signed in November 2016 to facilitate their sharing of military information on DPRK’s nuclear missiles. However, the agreement has been all but non-existent owing to historical issues, the export of semiconductors, and other spats between the two countries.
美日韩走向结盟之路？
Are the US, Japan and ROK on the way to an alliance?
政治层面的互动增加也助推着美日韩加强军事合作。
Political interaction among US, Japan and ROK has promoted their military collaboration.
当地时间6月29日至30日，北约领导人峰会在西班牙首都马德里举行，韩国和日本领导人首次参加峰会并举行会晤。29日下午，美日韩三国领导人拜登、岸田文雄、尹锡悦举行了三方会晤，这是三国时隔近5年之后再度举行三边会谈，受到外界关注。
On June 29 and 30, local time, the NATO Summit was held in Madrid, the capital of Spain. Leaders of the ROK and Japan participated in the summit for the first time and they held a meeting between themselves. On the afternoon of June 29, US President Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and ROK Prime Minister Yoon Suk-yeol held a trilateral meeting, capturing close attention as the previous such meeting was almost five years ago.
南开大学亚洲研究中心副主任李春福指出，25分钟时间对于三方会晤来说非常短，基本不会谈具体对策层面的事情，更多是政治象征性的动作，表明三国将加强合作。
According to Li Chunfu, vice director of the Center for Asia Research at Nankai University, the twenty-five-minute meeting was very short for a trilateral event – too short to talk about anything concrete. It was more of a political symbol indicating that the three countries would work more closely together.
但韩日关系改善以及美日韩加强军事合作存在不少障碍，历史问题、领土纠纷和双方民间态度等都是制约因素。
However, the improvement of the ROK-Japan relationship and the tightening of military cooperation among the US, Japan and ROK won’t be plain sailing. Historical issues, territorial disputes, and public mood in each country are all obstacles.
今年5月底，韩国海洋调查船在“独岛”（日本称“竹岛”）附近海域进行海洋调查活动，日方向韩方表示抗议。
At the end of May, ROK’s oceanographic research ship conducted research activities near the disputed islets lying halfway between the two countries, called Dokdo by ROK and Takeshima by Japan, incurring a protest from the Japanese side.
对于美日韩加强军事合作，韩国国内反对和担忧的声音也不少。韩国《朝鲜日报》刊文指出，不少人担心，以安全合作为前提的关系改善会给日本扩张军事力量提供动力。
There is also no small objection from within ROK against enhanced trilateral military cooperation. ROK’s Chosun Ilbo published an article saying that many people are worried about the improvement of relations on the premise of security cooperation will motivate Japan to further expand its military capacities.
尹锡悦在候选人时期在被问及有关参与韩美日军事同盟和日本介入韩半岛的问题时，他回答，有事时日本也可以进入韩国，但并不一定以这个为前提，这引发了较大争议。
When Yoon Suk-yeol was still running for the office, he was asked about the ROK-US-Japan military alliance and Japan’s involvement in the Korean Peninsula, to which he answered that Japan could enter ROK in emergency period, but (the alliance) may not necessarily be based on that precondition. That response caused quite an uproar.
Editor's note: This article is originally published on thepaper.cn, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
