Voice of America (VOA) Interview with Col. David Maxwell, Ret. discusses U.S.-Republic of Korea Alliance after coup attempt

Full interview here: https://www.voakorea.com/a/7901133.html

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short lived declaration of martial law sparked widespread protests in South Korea. The United States emphasizes the need for close cooperation with the Republic of Korea (R.O.K.), while stressing the importance of the rule of law and democracy.

In this Voice of Korea interview, Our Editor-at-Large, Col. David Maxwell (Ret.), Vice President at the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy, and Mr. Henry Haggard, retired Senior Foreign Service Officer (Counselor) and Senior Advisor at WestExec Advisors, discuss how the recent political turmoil affects the U.S.-R.O.K. Alliance. The interview reveals a critical inflection point where democratic resilience meets geopolitical brinkmanship.

Some Key Revelations:

• We have the strongest bilateral military alliance with a strong Chain of Command between U.S. and R.O.K. so even though there is domestic political turmoil, we are still engaged with the counterparts at the Minister of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Senior U.S. Military Officers
• Emerging “Axis of Upheaval”: China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia are coordinating to destabilize democratic frameworks
• South Korean political turmoil threatens strategic regional stability
• Impeachment attempts potentially undermine critical security partnerships
• Military readiness in the combined forces command remains at a high state, prepared to defend South Korea against internal and external threats

The interview exposes a dangerous game of political chess, where North Korea and its allies actively exploit internal Korean political divisions.

Colonel Maxwell gives a stark warning within the interview: the “axis of upheaval” states are deliberately attempting to fracture the U.S.-R.O.K. alliance through sophisticated political warfare strategies.

Some Critical Implications:

• Potential weakening of Indo-Pacific deterrence
• Increased vulnerability to coordinated adversarial actions
• Increased propaganda, information warfare, and political warfare
• Democracy’s resilience tested under extreme geopolitical pressure

Some recommendations moving forward:

• Diplomatically
  • reinforce value-based diplomacy frameworks
  • develop more robust communication protocols during political transitions
  • create effective counters to information and narrative warfare, including crafting the narrative ourselves before the deployment of narrative warfare tactics
• Militarily
  • maintain high readiness of Combined Forces Command
  • enhance trilateral cooperation with Japan
  • develop more adaptive response mechanisms to regional provocation
• Politically
  • establish bi-partisian working groups to insulate core alliance interests
  • create mechanisms to prevent foreign interference in domestic political processes
  • develop comprehensive “alliance resilience” training for political leadership

“When their strategies are exposed, the U.S. and R.O.K. can inoculate their citizens and prevent deliberate subversion.” – Colonel Maxwell