By Feng Yasong

冯亚松

The ROK's Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently said that it would strengthen "substantive cooperation" with NATO. In recent years, the ROK has actively moved closer to NATO, signed agreements, and cooperated with NATO, and the ROK's leaders have participated in NATO summits for two consecutive years. However, as a tool for the US to incite group confrontation and maintain hegemonic interests, NATO will not bring ROK the security it wants, but will only push the ROK in the opposite direction, bringing turmoil and unrest to the Asia-Pacific region.

韩国外交部近日声称，要强化与北约的“实质性合作”。近年来，韩国积极向北约靠拢，与北约签署协议、展开合作，其领导人连续两年参加北约峰会。然而，作为美国煽动集团对抗、维护霸权利益的工具，北约不会给韩国带来想要的安全，只会将其推向相反的方向，给亚太地区带来动荡和不安。

In recent years, NATO has frequently extended its tentacles to the Asia-Pacific, wooing the ROK, Japan, and other Asia-Pacific countries by selling security anxiety and other means, and continuously increasing its power projection in the Asia-Pacific. After President Yoon Suk-yeol of the ROK took office, the relationship between the ROK and NATO has made significant progress, and the ROK has become one of the important focuses of NATO's "Asia-Pacificization".

近年来，北约将触手频频伸向亚太，通过贩卖安全焦虑等手段拉拢韩日等亚太国家，并不断加大在亚太地区的力量投射。尹锡悦政府上台后，韩国与北约的关系大幅迈进，成为北约“亚太化”的重要着力点之一。

In June 2022, as the first president of the ROK to participate in the NATO summit, President Yoon Suk-yeol proposed a plan to set up representative offices in each other's country with NATO. During the NATO summit in July 2023, the two sides signed the Individual Partnership and Cooperation Program (IPCP) covering multiple fields. The ROK has announced its plan to join NATO's Battlefield Information Collection and Exploitation Systems (BICES) and exchange military intelligence with NATO member states. Not long ago, the ROK participated in NATO's Cyber Coalition 2023 for the first time as a "NATO partner". The ROK government always follows the US-led NATO's "Asia-Pacificization".

2022年6月，作为首位参加北约峰会的韩国总统，尹锡悦提出与北约互设代表处的计划；2023年7月的北约峰会期间，双方签订了涵盖多领域的“个别针对性伙伴关系计划”，韩国表示计划加入北约的战地信息收集和开发系统，同北约成员国交换军事机密；不久前，韩国首次以“北约伙伴国”身份参加了北约“网络联盟2023”演习……对于美国主导的北约“亚太化”，韩国政府可以说言听计从。

The turmoil NATO creates around the world is well known. The ROK government's claim to safeguard its security interests by strengthening "close cooperation" with NATO may be counterproductive. As a product of the Cold War, NATO still adheres to the zero-sum game and confrontational mentality. Under the leadership of the US, it constantly seeks to expand its geographical boundaries and scope of activities and has repeatedly provoked wars and conflicts. Since the end of the Cold War, NATO has created division and chaos wherever it goes. NATO bombed Yugoslavia, launched a war in Afghanistan in the name of "anti-terrorism", invaded Iraq, launched air strikes in Libya, and escalated the crisis in Ukraine, bringing huge disasters to the local people. Moon Chung-in, a professor at Yonsei University, pointed out in a Hankyoreh newspaper column that instead of preventing war through diplomatic efforts, the ROK government has been stepping up trilateral military coordination with the US and Japan along with cooperation with NATO, which has increased the ROK people's security concerns. The Northeast Asia region may return to the precarious security environment of the Cold War period, wrote Moon.

北约在全球制造的动荡，众所周知。韩国政府声称要通过加强与北约的“紧密合作”维护本国安全利益，可能会适得其反。作为冷战产物的北约，至今依旧抱持零和博弈、对抗思维，在美国主导下不断寻求扩张地理边界和活动范围，一再挑起战争冲突。冷战结束至今，北约的手伸向哪里，就会在哪里制造分裂和混乱：轰炸南联盟，以“反恐”名义发动阿富汗战争，入侵伊拉克，空袭利比亚，推动乌克兰危机升级……都给当地人民带来了沉重灾难。韩国延世大学名誉教授文正仁在《韩民族日报》上刊文指出，比起通过外交努力预防战争，韩国政府近年来持续加强韩美日三国军事合作以及与北约的合作，加重了韩国民众对安全的不安，东北亚地区“可能会回到过去冷战时期岌岌可危的安全环境”。

As the world's largest military organization, NATO is essentially a tool for the US to maintain its hegemony. Against the background of the current turbulent international security situation, NATO continues to meddle in extraterritorial affairs and create confrontations. Its expansion ambitions and hegemony plots are clearly exposed. NATO's continued offensive posture of expansion into the Asia-Pacific region is an attempt to copy the tactics of provoking and even creating confrontation in Europe to the Asia-Pacific and it is harmful to the regional situation. The ROK government should realize that continuously strengthening cooperation with NATO is tantamount to setting a fox to keep one's geese.

北约作为全球最大的军事组织，其本质是美国维护其霸权的工具。在当前国际安全局势动荡不安背景下，北约仍不断染指域外事务，制造对抗，其扩张野心和霸权图谋昭然若揭。北约保持向亚太地区扩张的进攻态势，是试图把在欧洲挑动甚至制造对抗的套路复制到亚太地区，对地区局势有百害而无一利。韩国政府应当认识到，不断强化与北约的合作无异于“引狼入室”。

NATO's eastward expansion into the Asia-Pacific will only stir up regional tensions, trigger confrontation between different camps and even a "new cold war" or "new hot war". It goes against the trend and reverses the course of history, so it will find no support. Asia-Pacific countries do not welcome it, and many NATO countries do not support "NATO's Asia-Pacificization". The Asia-Pacific region does not need an "Asia-Pacific version of NATO". This region is a highland for development and cooperation, not a geopolitical arena. Pursuing peace, seeking cooperation and promoting development are the general trend of the Asia-Pacific region and the aspirations of the people.

北约东进亚太只会搅动地区紧张局势，引发阵营对抗甚至“新冷战”“新热战”，是逆潮流而动，开历史倒车，不得人心。亚太国家不欢迎、很多北约国家不赞成“北约亚太化”，亚太地区也不需要“亚太版北约”。亚太是发展的高地、合作的热土，不是地缘政治的角斗场。求和平、谋合作、促发展才是亚太地区的大势，是民心所向。

If the ROK continues to follow the US Indo-Pacific Strategy and cooperate with NATO war chariots to drive into the Asia-Pacific, it will ultimately damage its own interests and worsen regional situation. The ROK should stand with the vast majority of countries in the Asia-Pacific region and stand on the right side of history, instead of being an accomplice that endangers regional peace and stability and the interests of the people of all countries.

继续追随美国“印太战略”，配合北约战车驶进亚太，最终只会导致自身利益受损、地区局势恶化。韩国应该与亚太地区绝大多数国家站在一边，站在历史正确的一边，而不是做危害地区和平稳定和各国民众利益的帮凶。