During Kishida's visit to the United States, there were constant rumors that Japan was also going to join Aukus, and the United States also wanted to pull South Korea into the group, but there was not much time left for Yoon Suk-yeol.
In the past two days, on the occasion of Fumio Kishida's visit to the United States, the United States has also begun to further woo its allies in the Asia-Pacific region. The main purpose of Kishida's visit to the United States is to strengthen the military alliance between the United States and Japan, and the development of more military defense cooperation is the focus of the U.S. and Japanese leaders.
Two hours after Biden and Fumio Kishida's meeting, the United States and Japan also issued a joint statement on the content of their conversation, which mentioned that the U.S.-Japan strategic cooperation will enter a "new era" and that their goal is to build a global security partnership that is "fit for purpose."
Biden even described it as the "most important upgrade" of the U.S.-Japan alliance since its inception. Not only that, the United States and Japan have also finalized nearly 70 defense cooperation agreements this time, including a project to develop a new air defense and missile defense network with Australia. Judging from these aspects, the United States and Japan are bound to make more moves in the Asia-Pacific region in the future.
Of course, this time, in addition to Fumio Kishida, the United States also invited Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. It is not difficult to see that at present, the United States is mainly focused on winning over its allies in the Asia-Pacific region in an attempt to build an Asia-Pacific version of "NATO." After all, during this time, the voice of Japan joining AUKUS was also getting louder.
AUKUS is originally a military alliance, and once more Asia-Pacific countries join it, it will not only intensify the regional arms race, but also undermine peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. It is already Sima Zhao's heart that the United States wants to pull Japan in, and everyone knows it, but the Australian side does not want to make a big deal out of it.
Australian Prime Minister Albanese and Australian Defense Minister Marles have also stated in the past two days that Japan will only participate in technical cooperation on some of the AUKUS projects, but will not join the agreement. Before the heat of the matter subsided, there was news that the United States wanted South Korea to join AUKUS.
It is reported that in the past two days, a senior official of the US government revealed that the United States is currently considering making South Korea a partner of the "second pillar" of AUKUS, and in addition, Canada and New Zealand and other countries are also target countries of the United States. This is enough to show that it wants to build AUKUS into an Asia-Pacific version of "NATO".
South Korea also responded to the fact that the United States was designated as a potential partner of Aukus. A South Korean Foreign Ministry official said the South Korean government was open to the U.S. proposal and that South Korea was in "close communication" with relevant parties on the matter.
It can be seen from South Korea's statement that they want to join Aukus. After all, since Yoon Suk-yeol came to power, South Korea has been trying its best to curry favor with the United States, Japan and other countries, and it naturally does not want to let go of this opportunity to strengthen cooperation with the United States and its allies. But if the Yoon Suk-yeol government really wants to join AUKUS, it can only say that it has not yet realized the seriousness of the problem.
In the past two days, the South Korean parliamentary election has come to an end, and Yoon Suk-yeol's ruling party, the National Power Party, has suffered a crushing defeat in this election. The results show that the Democratic Party of Korea, the largest opposition party, won more than half of the 175 seats in the National Assembly, while the People's Power Party held only 108 seats.
This result is undoubtedly a big blow to the Yoon Suk-yeol government, and the defeat in this parliamentary election also means that the KMT's advantage in the next presidential election will also be weakened. It is worth mentioning that after the election results came out, a large number of high-ranking officials in the Yoon Suk-yeol government resigned one after another, including South Korean Prime Minister Han Deok-so, head of the presidential secretariat of the South Korean presidential office and many other important officials.
Of course, the successive changes in South Korean politics are not accidental, but there are indeed many problems during Yoon Suk-yeol's administration, which makes him unpopular, and if this trend continues, Yoon Suk-yeol's regime is likely to be unsafe.
Therefore, there is not much time left for Yoon Suk-yeol at present, and if Yoon Suk-yeol does not adjust his policies, it will be difficult to protect himself.