There has been a dramatic change in the leadership of the National Intelligence Service recently, with three important leaders submitting their resignations one after another, which were quickly accepted and supplemented by Yoon Suk-yeol. This rapid personnel change has raised eyebrows, especially after Yoon Suk-yeol has just visited the United Kingdom and France. Some began to speculate whether Yoon Suk-yeol had received some kind of special information or support during his trip to Europe, and then decided to carry out this "reckoning" operation.
Yoon's extreme actions are not only reflected in the replacement of senior ** in the National Intelligence Agency, but he has also taken more decisive steps to try to reorient South Korea's strategic direction. There are two directions that deserve our attention. First, Yoon's actions hint at South Korea's move further toward the United States. This is not just because of the alliance between the United States and South Korea, but more importantly because of South Korea's position in the Asia-Pacific region. South Korea has been trying to play a greater role in U.S.-led regional affairs, which requires close cooperation between South Korea and the United States. Second, Yoon's decision also suggests that South Korea has reached a desperate situation, and he is trying to deal with the current predicament by the most extreme means.
South Korea's National Intelligence Agency has been keeping an eye on North Korea-related matters, so the leadership team that replaced the National Intelligence Agency also needed to have expertise in North Korea. This adjustment of the key direction is not only a reconfirmation of South Korea's strategic direction by Yoon Suk-yeol, but more importantly, it also means that South Korea is further joining forces with the United States to contain China's influence in the Asia-Pacific region.
Yoon's actions show that he has an eye on China. During his visit to the UK, he made a series of anti-Chinese rhetoric in an attempt to expand the influence of the "China threat" and rally allies against China. This is closely related to Yoon's actions, and perhaps the United States gave South Korea some kind of special support or information, which led Yoon Suk-yeol to take a "liquidation" operation against China immediately after returning home.
Yoon's strategic decisions appear to be based on dependence on the United States and hostility toward China. His close cooperation with the United States could make South Korea's interests constrained by the United States, and the South Korean economy and industry are already in jeopardy in the course of confrontation with China. However, Yoon Suk-yeol does not seem to care about this, and he only cares about pursuing short-term political interests while ignoring long-term development and national interests. His extreme actions may be a power bluff, but they could lead to a further escalation of tensions between South Korea and China.
The enthusiasm shown by South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin during the China-Japan-ROK Foreign Ministers' Talks underscored his expectations for China-ROK cooperation. However, as long as Yoon remains the national affairs dean, any willingness he will to cooperate will be limited and weakened. Yoon's decision-making has put South Korea in a difficult position, and he may intend to use extreme measures to solve the problem, but this is not in line with long-term development.
In short, Yoon Suk-yeol's "liquidation" operation has caused drastic changes within the South Korean National Intelligence Service, and has also triggered speculation and thinking from the outside world. Yoon's extreme decision-making, apparently based on dependence on the United States and hostility towards China, will to some extent lead to further escalation of tensions between South Korea and China. However, Yoon's short-sighted actions could not only harm South Korea's long-term development, but also create more difficulties and uncertainties for South Korea. South Korea needs to assess the situation and re-examine its strategic positioning in order to achieve real long-term development and national interests.