CDKW00091 - The Strategic Importance of South Korea

The Strategic Importance of South Korea: In contrast to Heeney’s External Affairs memo, this Chiefs of Staff Committee Paper entitled “The Strategic Importance of South Korea” makes the opposite argument that South Korea is of great strategic importance to Canada and to the Western world writ large. In it, the authors acknowledged that South Korea has not traditionally exhibited democratic characteristics and much of the population appears indifferent to the government, and that western powers have little to no economic interest in the Korean peninsula. However, Canada was nevertheless interested in South Korea, particularly due to its status as a UN-formed state, and thus argued that “Aggression against South Korea is by direct implication aggression against the United Nations.” This briefing note suggests that the main reasons for holding Korea would be military defensive ones, and an interest in denying Korea’s geographic position and manpower to other states, as its economic and infrastructure assessments for the Korean peninsula are relatively poor. Interestingly, this Committee Paper not only argues that holding South Korea would have advantages for a war against China or the USSR, but also that it would be an excellent base for a potential second war against Japan—a possibility not referenced at length in other documents of this collection.