Vol. 76/No. 2      January 16, 2012

In a joint statement Stephen Smith and Gen. Kim Kwan-Jin, the defense ministers of Australia and South Korea, declared that the two countries “shared strategic interests” and would “continue to look for new opportunities to deepen our defense cooperation.” The agreement includes staging regular naval exercises starting in 2012.

The meeting and agreement follow the April announcement by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak that their respective military representatives would hold annual talks to discuss information sharing, defense industry cooperation and “regional security.”

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two capitalist governments. “Australia’s collaboration with the Republic of Korea on defense and security extends back to the Korean War and has taken on renewed strength in recent years,” Smith stated in Singapore last June.

From 1950 to 1953 Australia’s imperialist rulers sent 17,000 troops to back the U.S.-led invasion of Korea, which ended in the forced division of the peninsula into north and south. Washington still has 28,500 troops in South Korea and officially would command the South Korean army in time of war.

The Australian rulers’ agreement with Seoul complements their deepening military ties with Washington and the U.S. rulers’ efforts to extend the naval dominance of the Pacific they conquered with U.S. imperialism’s bloody triumph in World War II.

For the first time since then, significant U.S. Armed Forces will be stationed at Australian military bases in the north and west of the country. This is part of a recent agreement between the two imperialist powers aimed at countering the growing economic and military power of China and mounting pressure on the North Korean government.

In response to the Dec. 19 announcement of the death of North Korean president Kim Jong-il, Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd arrogantly suggested that the North Korean government “engage with the international community on how to feed its people, open its economy and deal with its nuclear weapons program.”  
 
 
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