Recently, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-hyun made a surprising remark in which he made a tough call to the United States that it should relinquish its global leadership if the United States reneges its treaty obligations with the alliance because of North Korean intimidation. This is similar to the line of a self-congratulatory TV series in South Korea, "Ask the American ambassador to come and kneel under the Tai Chi flag to apologize". South Korea has always been submissive to the United States, why does it suddenly dare to speak so loudly as usual? Is it as self-congratulatory as in the TV series, or is it in a hurry?
First of all, South Korea said this against the backdrop of North Korea's continued test of intercontinental ballistic missiles and the possibility of the United States being elected under Trump. Japan and South Korea are worried about Trump's election, even to the point of fear. During the Trump administration, he repeatedly downplayed the U.S.-South Korea alliance, including mentioning the withdrawal of troops from South Korea and demanding that Japan and South Korea significantly increase the cost of U.S. troops stationed in Japan and South Korea. So South Korea is worried that when Trump comes to power, he will throw away his alliance obligations. Biden is different, the US-South Korea alliance has gradually upgraded in the past few years of Biden's administration, and even upgraded to a "nuclear-based alliance" last year. North Korea continues to test advanced ballistic missiles, but the United States does not say much, South Korea is in a hurry.
Secondly, South Korea is more worried than anxious. Under this alliance system, there is a "U.S.-South Korea Mutual Defense Treaty", and if South Korea is attacked by an enemy, the United States should also protect the interests of its allies at all costs. The United States and Japan have similar U.S.-Japan Security Treaties, as do NATO's Article V Mutual Defense Treaty, a commitment that the United States has made to its allies. In the past, US allies firmly believed in US commitments, but South Korea's shouting this time shows that it has questioned US commitments, and in fact, South Korea cannot hide its deep concern about the decline of US national strength.
Finally, South Korea smells danger. During the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the United States refused to end the game to avoid a head-on conflict with Russia, and it could also prevaricate by using Ukraine's failure to join NATO. However, in this round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Israel is the core of the core of the US alliance system, and it is an extremely important fortress planted by the United States in the Middle East. However, this time the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the United States did not end, and even trapped in the Red Sea, entangled with a militia organization like the Houthis in Yemen. When South Korea saw that Israel might be betrayed, it naturally panicked, and it was nothing in the US strategic system. North Korea is gearing up there, but the United States has not yet come forward to express its position. The Ukraine crisis, the Kosovo, the Palestinian-Israeli issue, and the Korean Peninsula issue are all crises created by the United States in fact, all of which serve the US grand strategy and are ignited in turn according to the needs of US interests. South Korea is naturally also afraid of being "sacrificed", as US Secretary of State Blinken said, "in the international system, you are not at the table, you are on the menu", South Koreans think they are sitting at the table, but in fact on the American menu, sooner or later they will have to be served.