I saw a shocking picture.
This is a photo of young Afghan youths who crashed after being attached to the wheels of a U.S. transport plane taking off from Kabul Airport, Afghanistan.
It deserves to be recorded as a tragic symbol of the atrocities faced by citizens of a nation that depends only on the strength of its allies and has fallen due to incompetence and corruption.
As civilization develops, it seems that the noble values created by humans will shine and the world will overflow with harmony and peace, but the reality is the exact opposite. Sublime values are rejected by real interests, and extreme confrontations rather than moderate agreements are cutting the world to pieces.
The United States, which was a leading country and proud of being the world's policeman, declared the abandonment of 'Pax Americana'. The withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan was carried out, saying that the national interest came first rather than the grand values of maintaining peace, respecting human rights, and expanding democracy. The result was a lightning bolt downfall of a regime marked by incompetence and corruption.
America's pursuit of practicality is the only value that Trump and Biden, who were ideologically at odds, agree with each other. This shows that no matter what kind of leader emerges in the future, putting the national interest first will be the top priority of the United States.
What is strange is the Korean camp logic that interprets this. Conservatives raised their voices, saying, "Look! If the United States gives up, that's what happens. We need to solidify our solidarity with the United States." strengthen confidence.
The interpretation of the same situation is diametrically opposite, but neither is wrong. However, it should not be overlooked that the two justifications the United States put forward in its withdrawal from Afghanistan are: The first is, "You are responsible for your country!" The second is, "You can abandon your alliance at any time for the sake of real gain!"
In this situation, we have a strange belief.
“The United States will never give up on Korea.”
In this strange belief, strangely, there is no distinction based on ideological inclinations.
Conservatives and liberals alike have the belief that the US will not strategically give up on Korea according to their own logic.
This belief lends boldness to policy decisions.
Such is the judgment of the progressives that they will not be able to deal with us no matter how much they 'fight' against the US, and the judgment of the conservatives that they should put pressure on China, Japan and North Korea through permanent solidarity with the US.
But now we have to guard against that belief.
This is because value alliances are transformed into practical alliances.
Korea's strategic value clearly exists, but the US can always abandon it for the greater good.
The same goes for relations with neighboring countries, including North Korea.
Approaching with clumsy cause and humanitarianism can be cut by the blade of Shily.
Biden's United States has also succeeded in Trump's beating Korea for economic gain.
Despite the current administration's pro-China and pro-North Korea policies, China and North Korea are still apathetic towards South Korea.
Perhaps this is because 'we value just cause, but they are looking for real interest'.
A clumsy balanced diplomacy with a cause in front of it can lead to a situation in which everyone is ignored.
So is unification.
It is not 'our wish is for unification' but 'what kind of benefits will unification bring to our people', and in the Sino-Japanese relationship, we should not only stimulate the people's emotions and use them strategically, but also what practical benefits can be exchanged with them. The sizing must be carefully scrutinized.