#SOUTH KOREA SERIES#

The South Korean left understands the late 19th and 20th centuries as a period of deep humiliation, as the country underwent a series of subjugations-first by imperial JapanвЂ™s colonial rule and then by the division overseen by the United States and Soviet Union. Yet in foreign-policy circles outside South Korea, confusion persists as to why a supposedly dovish Moon is engaged in a furious arms race-in part because right-wing narratives crafted in Seoul are often picked up in Washington.ДЄn important strain in South KoreaвЂ™s liberal politics is an emphasis on national autonomy. Peace through strength and autonomous self-defense have been consistent themes in South Korean liberalsвЂ™ defense policy, despite the caricatures painted by conservatives. It shouldnвЂ™t be surprising that all this is happening during a liberal South Korean presidency. ItвЂ™s not unimaginable that South Korea could follow suit.

Because AIP submarines are virtually silent, the ability to fire an SLBM out of an AIP submarine is considered a вЂњ game changer.вЂќ South Korea is just the eighth country in the world to develop an SLBM the other seven-the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, India, China, and North Korea-all have nuclear weapons. South KoreaвЂ™s SLBM was fired by the ROKS Dosan Ahn Changho, a domestically produced attack submarine that became the first air independent power (AIP) submarine to fire an underwater ballistic missile. This round of testing put South Korea in a small elite group when it comes to missile technology. South Korean President Moon Jae-in was in attendance for these tests, immediately after Moon welcomed Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who was visiting Seoul. 15, just hours after North KoreaвЂ™s test of two short-range ballistic missiles, South Korea unveiled at least five different missile technologies: a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), a bunker-busting ballistic missile, a supersonic anti-ship cruise missile, a long-range air-to-surface missile, and a solid-fuel engine for space rockets. If it were happening in the other Korea, the manic pace of weapons development in South Korea would have caused global alarm.

South korea