Alliance Commander Gen. JB Wentworth delivers a keynote address at the '2nd ROK-US Combined Policy Forum' held at the War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the 29th. 2025.12.29 [Provided by the ROK-US Combined Forces Command] 

North Korea has spewed sophistry regarding Alliance Commander Gen. JB Wentworth's remark about "South Korea being a dagger from China's perspective," claiming it reflects the US administration's strategic view aimed at deterring China.

According to Yonhap News, Korean Central News Agency reported on an article published on the 3rd by international affairs commentator Kim Myong-chol titled '

Kim Myong-chol, referring to the repercussions and subsequent clarification of Commander Wentworth's remarks, commented, "This is not an individual's impromptu assertion, but rather a direct reflection of the strategic vision of successive US administrations that seek to utilize South Korea as a crucial geopolitical tool in realizing regional strategies aimed at deterring China."

He asserted, "Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has presented its Asia-Pacific rebalancing strategy aimed at deterring China, and the Indo-Pacific strategy that concretized and expanded it, focusing on preempting military superiority in the region."

Listing a series of ROK-US military cooperation examples, including the deployment of THAAD, joint exercises, procurement of drones and fighter jets, and cooperation on nuclear submarines, as well as the integration of nuclear and conventional forces, he pointed out that this is "directly linked to the intention of leveraging South Korea usefully for deterring China while ensuring the US military's 'strategic flexibility' in the region."

He further stated, "This remark directly illustrates the true nature of America, the chief perpetrator of peace destruction and the world's worst war empire, which has consistently treated the Korean Peninsula and surrounding regions as the primary battleground for bloc confrontation and a new Cold War."

He warned, "America's intention to strengthen collective deterrence against anti-hegemonic and independent forces in the Asia-Pacific region will inevitably provoke security concerns from neighboring major powers, and will drive enhanced cooperation to offset it."

Recently, Commander Wentworth appeared on a podcast hosted by the US Army War College and said, "When they (China) look across the East China Sea, what they see is South Korea, a dagger in the heart of Asia, and Japan, which is a shield of sorts, a defensive wall when they have ambitions to move beyond the South China Sea."

These remarks led to interpretations that they signaled a willingness for strategic flexibility to utilize the US Forces Korea not only for deterring North Korea but also for checking China in other regional areas. The Chinese Embassy in Seoul strongly protested, stating, "Your remarks have clearly crossed the line."

North Korea's commentary appears to have calibrated its tone by adopting the format of a personal contribution rather than an official statement or declaration. It was not published in the Rodong Sinmun, which is read by North Korean citizens.

Meanwhile, North Korea also criticized the Japanese government for lifting its export regulations on lethal weapons.

International security affairs commentator Kim Ryeo-won, in an article published through Central News Agency on the same day titled 'Japan's Mammoth Arms Export Expansion is a Dangerous Act Revealing the True Nature of a War Merchant,' criticized Japan's actions, stating that it aims to "expand its defense industry through extensive sales of lethal weapons and ultimately realize its ambition of becoming a military power."

He added, "We must thoroughly thwart and shatter the increasingly reckless militarization efforts of Japan, a war-criminal nation that has completely shed the guise of a 'peaceful nation' in its obsession with realizing its ambitions of re-invasion, and gravely threatens world peace and security."