Japan and South Korea must put 'Asia First'

 

 Japan and South Korea must put 'Asia First' 

 

WASHINGTON - Japan and South Korea have been two of Ukraine's most generous supporters, echoing the U.S. view that security threats in Europe and Asia are interconnected.
 
But the path to preventing conflict in East Asia does not run through Ukraine, writes Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis at the foreign policy think tank Defense Priorities.
 
"There is no indication that a Russian triumph in Ukraine would accelerate a Chinese invasion of Taiwan or encourage North Korea to try its luck against Seoul," she writes, "or that a Russian defeat fueled by donations from South Korea and Japan would dissuade either adversary from using military aggression."
 
Instead, she argues, the best way to avert war over Taiwan, on the Korean Peninsula or in the South China Sea is for Japan and South Korea to invest heavily and quickly in their own defenses and those of their neighbors, making much of Asia hard for any aggressor to conquer.
 
With threats in East Asia multiplying, now is the time for Tokyo and Seoul to adopt a policy of "Asia first," she said.