By Li Wei and Dong Xiaochao

李伟、董小超

The US Navy's nuclear submarine USS Annapolis (SSN 760) visits Australia in March 2024. 

上图：今年3月，美海军“安纳波利斯”号核潜艇停靠澳大利亚。

Following New Zealand and Japan, the ROK is also seeking to join the AUKUS security alliance. Early this month, the ROK and Australia held the sixth foreign and defense ministers' meeting in Melbourne, Australia, to discuss the possibility of the ROK joining AUKUS. At a joint press conference, ROK Defense Minister Shin Wonsik said that the ROK welcomes AUKUS members to consider it a Pillar 2 partner and that the ROK's defense science and technology capabilities will contribute to the development of AUKUS Pillar 2.

继新西兰和日本之后，韩国也谋求加入美国、英国和澳大利亚组成的“奥库斯”联盟。5月上旬，韩国和澳大利亚在澳大利亚墨尔本举行第六次外长防长（2+2）会议，共同探讨韩国加入“奥库斯”联盟的可能性。韩国国防部长官申源湜在联合记者会上称，韩方欢迎“奥库斯”成员国考虑将韩国列为第二支柱合作伙伴，韩国的国防科技力量将为“奥库斯”第二支柱发展做出贡献。

Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles appreciatedthe ROK's positive attitude. He called AUKUS Pillar 2 a technology-sharing agreement rather than a security alliance. He said that the ROK has impressive technological prowess and is a strategic partner that shares value with Australia, and the two sides should maintain close cooperation in the field of technology.

澳大利亚副总理兼国防部长马尔斯对韩国的积极态度表示欢迎。他表示，“奥库斯”第二支柱是技术共享协定而非安全同盟。韩国具有令人印象深刻的技术实力，是与澳大利亚共享价值的战略合作国家，双方在技术领域保持密切合作。

The US, the UK and Australia signed an agreement to form AUKUS alliance in September 2021. The agreement consists of two pillars. Pillar 1 is the to deployment of US conventionally-armed nuclear submarines in the non-nuclear state Australia, which is a non-nuclear state, and then the to make joint development of next-generation nuclear submarines by the UK and Australia; Pillar 2 is to accelerate the coordinated development of key technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, hypersonic weapons and electronic warfare and apply them to the military field to increase interoperability between the armed forces of AUKUS members.

美英澳三国于2021年9月签署“奥库斯”协议。该协议由两个支柱组成，第一支柱是在非拥核国家澳大利亚部署搭载常规武器的美国核潜艇，并由英澳建造下一代核潜艇；第二支柱是加快成员国人工智能、量子计算、高超音速武器、电子战等关键技术的协同发展，并将其应用于军事领域，增加成员国武装部队之间的互操作性。

Since early this year, under the leadership of the US, AUKUS has repeatedly discussed the expansion of its membership, seeking to bring the key allies of the US into Pillar 2, and enable the US and its allies to achieve in-depth technical cooperation and capability integration, and enhance their integrated deterrence and joint offensive and defensive capabilities in high-tech warfare.

今年以来，在美国的主导下，“奥库斯”联盟多次讨论扩员事宜，谋求将美国的关键盟友拉进第二支柱，帮助美国及其盟友实现深度技术合作与能力融合，提升高科技战争条件下的一体化威慑和联合攻防能力。

AUKUS is considering listing the ROK as a Pillar 2 partner mainly because of the latter's technology R&D capabilities. In recent years, the ROK's military industry has developed rapidly, and its advantages in cyberspace security and other aspects are relatively prominent. In addition, as the leader of AUKUS, the US wants to bring countries like Japan and the ROK into the alliance, in an attempt to maintain its hegemony in military science and technology by increasing the technological barriers. The accession of Japan and the ROK will facilitate the US' efforts to obtain technology from those countries and transfer industrial chains to its allies to meet the interests of the US military-industrial complex.

“奥库斯”联盟考虑将韩国列为第二支柱合作伙伴，主要是看中了韩国的技术研发能力。近年来，韩国军工产业发展迅速，在网络安全等方面的优势比较突出。另外，作为该联盟的主导国，美国拉日韩等国入伙，也是想通过建立更高的技术壁垒，维护自身军事科技霸权。日韩等国加入后，有助于美国向盟友索取技术和转移产业链，满足美国军工复合体的利益要求。

The ROK also has its own considerations in seeking to join AUKUS. Since taking office, ROK President Yoon Suk Yeol  has abandoned the country's previous relatively balanced diplomatic policy. Instead, the ROK began to follow the steps of the US, seek a closer US-ROK alliance and US-Japan-ROK trilateral military and security cooperation, and intimately interact with NATO. It continues to strengthen its ties with the West in the field of military security, for the purpose of securing a place in the process of geopolitical landscape reshaping, and enhancing its status as a big power and a proxy of the West in the Asia-Pacific region. At the same time, the ROK has practical considerations for dealing with the so-called "DPRK nuclear threat".

韩国谋求加入“奥库斯”联盟，也有自身利益考量。韩国总统尹锡悦上任以来，抛弃了韩国此前相对平衡的外交路线，对美亦步亦趋，重新拉紧美韩同盟和美日韩三边军事安全合作，并与北约展开密切互动。韩国不断在军事安全领域与西方加强捆绑，主要目的是希望在地缘格局重塑过程中牟取一席之地，提升在亚太地区的大国地位，充当西方在亚太地区的代理人。同时，韩国也有应对所谓朝鲜核威胁的现实考量。

As an exclusive military security cooperation mechanism, AUKUS follows a Cold War mentality featuring zero-sum games and bloc confrontation. Turning a blind eye to the common concerns of countries in the Asia-Pacific region and the international community, the US the UK, and Australia continue to send signals of expanding AUKUS, and deliberately create divergences, which will place the Asia-Pacific region under the shadow of a "new Cold War". This will not only increase the risks of arms races in the Asia-Pacific region, but is also likely to push the region into a dangerous bloc confrontation, which is not conducive to regional peace and stability.

作为一个排他性的军事安全合作机制，“奥库斯”联盟奉行的是零和博弈和阵营对抗的冷战思维。美英澳不顾地区国家和国际社会普遍担忧，不断释放扩员信号，制造分裂，将给亚太地区蒙上“新冷战”阴影。这不仅会增加亚太地区军备竞赛风险，更可能将亚太地区推向危险的阵营对抗，不利于地区和平稳定。