00:00The commander of U.S. forces in South Korea has laid out a plan to coordinate strategy with allies in
00:06the region, a so-called KILLWEB.
00:08General Xavier Bronson outlined the concept in a recent interview with the Japan Times.
00:13If carried out, it would see the U.S. and its allies South Korea, Philippines and Japan combine conventional and
00:20cyber forces in the Asia-Pacific.
00:22The plan signals a shift in U.S. approach to challenges in the region, including North Korea and tensions with
00:28China over Taiwan.
00:31For more on this KILLWEB strategy and what it could mean for regional security, our reporter Larry Isiano spoke to
00:38defense analyst Bryce Barrows from the Institute for National Defense and Security Research.
00:44Can you elaborate a little bit more on what this KILLWEB would mean and what type of capabilities it would
00:50be able to bring together?
00:51I think at the tactical and operational level, it makes a lot of sense, which is why General Bronson said
00:58that, right? He made those remarks.
01:00But if you also look at what was included in the Japan Times article, it also talks about a lot
01:05of apprehension from the Koreans as well.
01:07There's a duality there of General Bronson expressing the importance of working as allies to coordinate against primarily China, but
01:18also threats that are provided by Russia and North Korea versus rhetoric that you've gotten from this administration,
01:27You know, confronting U.S. allies in a way that might not be helpful.
01:31So obviously coordination across U.S. forces won't be an issue.
01:35The real sort of like meat and potatoes of what he's talking about is allied and host country forces.
01:42So making sure that Japan is better integrated with the Philippines and South Korea, South Korea is better integrated with
01:48the Philippines and Japan, Philippines vice versa with the other two countries.
01:52And then also the U.S. being able to integrate at sort of the information sharing level better with Taiwan.
01:59I think that that's key.
02:00Do you have any concerns with what U.S. allies might be thinking about this plan and if they are
02:05interested in participating in this?
02:06I do worry that the U.S. government is getting ahead of itself on how much the South Koreans want
02:14to be included in a broader sort of way of looking at U.S.-China competition.
02:19I do think that this administration is pushing a little bit too hard on the South Koreans and it might
02:27end up potentially backfiring.
02:29If you're trying to work on a regional kill web for the Indo-Pacific, encouraging or getting the South Koreans
02:36to join Bakalatan would be a huge part of that.
02:39But the bigger issue is making sure that the South Koreans are willing to want to play in some of
02:43these like multilateral sort of exercises.
02:46And I'm not as confident that that's something that President Lee, at least openly, publicly would want to do.
02:52Taiwan is not a treaty ally of the U.S. like South Korea, the Philippines and Japan.
02:57So what would its role or what would the role of the Taiwan Strait be in this strategy?
03:00Taiwan's broader role is obviously being able to defend itself or hold out as much as it can to defend
03:08itself,
03:10as well as be able to do whatever it can to prevent a Chinese blockade or quarantine of Taiwan itself.
03:18And if you take into account how critical the East China Sea and the South China Sea,
03:24so both of those seas are to global commerce, sea lines of communication, Taiwan has a very critical role,
03:34which is why you saw in the national security strategy a huge emphasis on Taiwan's positionality in broader U.S.
03:43strategy across the region.
03:45That was Bright Barrels from INDSR.
03:48Manchester University
03:48State University
03:48V.C.히
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