The U.S.-Japan security alliance will move to a new level, the four ministers said in the statement. The realignment will put the U.S. Forces Japan and Japan's Self-Defense Force effectively under the same roof, and that single body will then assume the role of a strategic command in Northeast Asia. In the event a war breaks out on the Korean Peninsula, the chances are growing that Japan would effectively be in a position to intervene via its joint command with the U.S.

That reinforcement of the U.S.-Japan security alliance is part of the ongoing transformation of U.S. forces worldwide. But there is no denying that the rapid deterioration of the Seoul-Washington alliance, once an equal pillar in the U.S.’ Northeast Asia strategy, has aggravated the trend.

The past three years have seen exactly opposite developments in the Seoul-Washington and Washington-Tokyo alliances. While America and Japan consolidate their military command, our government demands that the U.S. return wartime operational control of troops to Korea. While Tokyo supports the USFJ’s plans to positively intervene in an emergency in Northeast Asia, Seoul is unhappy with greater strategic flexibility for the USFK that would enable it to be deployed off the peninsula.

By further cementing its alliance with the U.S. and trusting in it, Japan is realizing its goal to become a "normal state," gaining a louder international voice and boosting its military strength. It is high time our government frankly revealed what vision prompted it instead to shake the framework of the Korea-U.S. alliance. Once the tripartite security system of Korea, the U.S. and Japan is replaced by a single pillar -- the Washington-Tokyo alliance -- the government should explain to the people how South Korea hopes to make its voice heard and pursue a path of prosperity in a Northeast Asia that will see far keener competition between rival powers.