The United States wants to “institutionalize” the grouping of South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand — the four Indo-Pacific partners of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a senior U.S. diplomat said Wednesday, amid concerns over a deepening military alignment between North Korea and Russia, and China’s growing assertiveness.

In an exclusive interview with Yonhap News Agency, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell made the remarks, stressing Washington is “absolutely” committed to its deterrence guarantees for South Korea, while casting the allies’ security initiatives as “resolute,” “adaptive” and “determined.”

His comment came as the leaders of the transatlantic alliance’s four Indo-Pacific partners, dubbed IP4, have been invited to the ongoing NATO summit in Washington, which runs through Thursday.

“We’re also looking to find opportunities to include South Korea in other engagements as well. So, for instance, I think you’ll be hearing more in the coming days about the Indo-Pacific 4
— the grouping that is with us here in Washington,” Campbell said during the interview at the State Department.

“We want to institutionalize that. I think you’re going to see multifaceted efforts to make sure that we recognize and acknowledge that the ROK is increasingly important, not just a regional role, but a global role going forward,” he added, referring to South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea.

The U.S.’ pursuit of IP4 institutionalization falls in line with the Biden administration’s efforts to leverage alliances and partnerships in fit-for-purpose groupings under a concept of what has been dubbed as “diplomatic variable geometry.”

As part of the IP4, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is in Washington to join a set of NATO meetings, underscoring Seoul’s growing partnership with the 32-member alliance.

Seoul has been deepening cooperation with NATO at a time of burgeoning military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, a development that has raised anew questions in South
Korea over whether the country should go nuclear or continue to rely on America’s “extended deterrence” commitment to using the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear, to defend the Asian ally.

Concerns about the North Korea-Russia alignment escalated further after Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership” treaty during their summit in Pyongyang last month.

Mindful of such concerns, Campbell reiterated the U.S.’ security commitment to Seoul.

“We’re always looking at opportunities to demonstrate clearly and unmistakably our resolve in this arena and we’re going to continue to do that. We are absolutely committed to our extended deterrence guarantees to the Republic of Korea,” he said.

“We reaffirm it every chance we can, and we recognize the importance that the initiatives that we undertake are seen as resolute adaptive and determined.”

Calling the treaty from the Putin-Kim summit an “unwelcome” development, Camp
bell said that the U.S. is both “concerned and vigilant.”

“We’re determined to meet any challenge with a very robust response, and we are coordinating not only at the bilateral level, but trilaterally and increasingly with other countries in the Indo-Pacific,” he said. “I expect that will continue going forward.”

Asked to share his assessment of the treaty’s true nature, Campbell struck a cautious note, saying, “We will know it in time.”

“However, from the highly visible nature of (Putin’s) visit, what North Korea has already done in terms of supporting Russia’s defense industrial base … and other engagements that run the other direction, Russia’s support for North Korea … there’s already enough there to concern us,” he said.

“I think we’ve been working closely with South Korean partners together to evaluate every element of what has taken place between Moscow and Pyongyang.”

Adding to rising security uncertainties on the Korean Peninsula is the U.S. presidential election in November, where President
Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are set to face each other. Observers said that should Trump return to the White House, he could bring about a major policy shift.

Campbell expressed optimism that Washington’s efforts to strengthen alliances in the Indo-Pacific will continue under “whatever political circumstances.”

“I believe we have every reason to think we will continue under whatever political circumstances going forward,” he said. “I’m quite optimistic that there is a substantial bipartisan dynamic that leads to forward momentum that should be reassuring to our allies, partners and friends in the Indo-Pacific region.”

Commenting on the negotiations between Seoul and Washington over the cost sharing for stationing 28,500 U.S. troops in Korea, the deputy secretary pointed to “good progress.”

“With the negotiations under way — they are complex, they are making good progress — I don’t think I can give you any specific timeline although I will say that both countries are approaching these eng
agements with a degree of urgency,” he said.

He was responding to a question over whether the negotiations will be concluded before the U.S. presidential election.

Asked to comment on the departure of Jung Pak, the top U.S. official for North Korea policy, Campbell underlined the State Department’s “most resolute” focus on issues related to the recalcitrant regime. Her departure has cast added uncertainty over Washington’s hitherto unanswered outreach to Pyongyang.

“She did a remarkable job here at the State Department, but we have many other officials in our government that had been focused on the DPRK for decades. I would modestly include myself in among that group,” he said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“I do want to underscore that we continue the most resolute focus on these issues. We are looking at also bringing in new capacity as well. I don’t want to get into details about that. But we recognize the importance here.”

As international sup
port for Ukraine features prominently at the NATO summit, much attention has been paid to a tricky question of whether South Korea will make a decision to send lethal weapons to the war-torn country in a policy shift. After the Pyongyang summit, Seoul said it would reconsider its policy ban on the provision of lethal arms.

On this issue, Campbell said that such decisions “fundamentally are in the arena of domestic jurisdiction for South Korea.”

“We have confidence in our alliance and relationship more generally. We have to leave some of this to internal discussions and engagements between the executive branch, the leadership in Korea, with others inside the Korean government, opposition parties,” he said.

“I don’t think I could comment really directly on what South Korea should do going forward only to say that we’ve been very pleased and encouraged and grateful for what South Korea has done today.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency