米韓首脳会談 対中傾斜で同盟を揺るがすな

The Yomiuri Shimbun
South Korea should not shake alliance with U.S. by favoring China too much
米韓首脳会談　対中傾斜で同盟を揺るがすな

It is vital that the United States and South Korea maintain their solid alliance, for the deterrence of North Korea’s military provocations and the regional stability of Asia. South Korea should not weaken these ties by getting too close to China.
　米国と韓国が強固な同盟を維持することは、北朝鮮の軍事挑発に対する抑止とアジア地域の安定に不可欠である。韓国は過度に中国に接近し、同盟を弱体化させてはなるまい。

U.S. President Barack Obama held talks with his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye in Washington and they adopted a joint statement focusing on their cooperation to get Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear and missile programs.
　オバマ米大統領がワシントンで朴槿恵韓国大統領と会談し、北朝鮮の核放棄に向けた協力などを柱とする共同声明を発表した。

The statement warns that additional sanctions will be imposed on Pyongyang should the country push through with launching a ballistic missile or conducting a nuclear test in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
　北朝鮮が国連安全保障理事会決議を破って弾道ミサイル発射や核実験を強行した場合は、追加制裁に踏み切ると警告している。

Since this summer, North Korea has heightened military tensions between South and North Korea, while also hinting at the possibility of its conducting nuclear tests.
　北朝鮮は今夏以降、南北間の軍事的緊張を高め、核実験実施なども示唆した。

It is significant that Obama confirmed the need to strengthen the U.S.-South Korea alliance during a joint press conference, saying, “The commitment of the United States to the defense and security of the Republic of Korea will never waver.”
オバマ氏が共同記者会見で、「韓国防衛への米国の責任は揺るぎない」と述べ、同盟強化を確認した意義は大きい。

Yet it cannot be denied that the “close alliance” between the United States and South Korea has been in large part choreographed, because the heightened distrust within the United States regarding South Korea’s inclination toward China needed to be denied.
　ただ、米韓の「緊密な同盟」は多分に、演出されたものであることは否めない。米国内で強まっていた韓国の対中傾斜への不信感を打ち消す必要があったからだ。

Park decided on South Korea’s participation in the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and attended the military parade China held to mark the anniversary of its “victory over Japan” in World War II.
　朴氏は、中国主導のアジアインフラ投資銀行（ＡＩＩＢ）への参加を決め、中国の「抗日戦勝」記念軍事パレードにも出席した。

‘Natural partner’

“I believe that we [South Korea and the United States] make natural partners,” Park said at the press conference regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations, in which member countries such as Japan and the United States recently reached a broad agreement. This statement indicated Seoul’s intention to join the TPP, and was probably aimed at mitigating U.S. concern.
　記者会見で朴氏は、日米などが大筋合意した環太平洋経済連携協定（ＴＰＰ）について、「米韓は自然なパートナーになれる」と語り、参加の意欲を示した。米側の懸念を緩和する狙いだろう。

Obama said at the press conference that if China fails to abide by international rules, “We expect the Republic of Korea to speak out on that,” driving home the point.
　オバマ氏は記者会見で、中国が国際ルールを守らない場合には、「韓国も声を上げてほしい」と朴氏にクギを刺した。

Obama’s remark was apparently made in consideration of China’s self-serving maritime advances in the East and South China seas. But Park made no reference to this.
中国による東・南シナ海での独善的な海洋進出を念頭に置いたものだ。だが、朴氏はこの点に言及しなかった。

It remains unclear whether South Korea will modify its diplomatic stance toward China.
　韓国が今後、対中姿勢を修正するかどうかは不透明だ。

The amount of bilateral trade between China and South Korea exceeds the sum of its trade with the United States and Japan. We can understand Seoul attaching importance to China in the economic field, but shifting its priorities from Washington to Beijing in the realm of security could destabilize the region.
　中韓の貿易額は米韓、日韓の合計を上回る。韓国が経済面で中国を重視するのは理解できるが、安全保障面で米国から中国に軸足を移すことは、地域を不安定化させる危険をはらんでいる。

During a speech made earlier in Washington, Park said she intends to hold her first full-fledged talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the occasion of the trilateral summit among Japan, China and South Korea in early November.
　朴氏はワシントンで行った講演で、１１月初めの日中韓首脳会談の際、安倍首相と初めて本格的に会談する意向も表明した。

Since she took office, Park made it a condition that she would hold summit talks with Japan if progress was made on the issue of so-called comfort women.
　就任以来、慰安婦問題の進展を日韓首脳会談を行う条件としてきた。

Park appears to have agreed at last to Washington’s repeated urging to improve the bilateral relations between Japan and South Korea.
日韓関係の改善を求める米国の再三の働きかけに、ようやく応じた格好である。

However, Park emphasized, “The summit can have substantial meaning if we see some progress on the issue of comfort women.”
　一方で、朴氏は、「慰安婦問題で進展があれば、意味ある首脳会談になる」とも強調した。

Unless Park changes her diplomatic posture of giving too much weight to issues related to historical perception, it will be difficult for Japan and South Korea to effectively deal with the mountain of pending issues. It will be impossible to realize the close trilateral cooperation among Japan, the United States and South Korea that Washington hopes to see.
　朴氏が歴史問題に偏った外交姿勢を改めなければ、日韓が山積する懸案に効果的に対処することは難しい。米国が望む日米韓の緊密な連携も実現できないだろう。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Oct. 18, 2015)