Gen. Xavier Brunson, the commander of the US Forces Korea, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington, DC, April 21, 2026. (via USFK)
The commander of American forces stationed in Korea said that China views Korea as “the dagger in the heart of Asia,” indicating once again that he regards Korea as a front-line counter against China.Gen. Xavier T. Brunson, commander of US Forces Korea, made the remark in the May 22 episode of a podcast produced by the China Landpower Studies Center at the US Army War College.“When [the Chinese] look out from the east coast of China, what they see is, there’s Korea, the dagger in the heart of Asia; there’s Japan again, sort of that shield that’s sort of a backstop, if you will, for [. . .] their ambitions beyond that into the South China Sea. And then down to their southeast is the Philippines [with our] Typhon missiles,” he said. Given that triangular arrangement, Brunson said, “We’re in a pretty good position right now.” He explained that those American allies presented “risks that [the Chinese] have to take on,” restricting Chinese activities in the region.“If we can sew that up into a kill web,” Brunson said, “what that’s going to provide for us is, maybe to never have to go to war, because there’s this palpable thing that exists there in alliance that they just can’t defeat.”“Now we are able to move into diplomacy. Now we’re able to have economic freedom,” he added.The USFK commander’s remarks can be taken as suggesting that Korea is the American ally positioned to be a “dagger” stabbing China.Brunson has previously expressed his position that the role of the ROK-US alliance should be expanded from countering North Korea to countering China.While discussing the strategic importance of Korea’s geographical position last May, Brunson said that Korea “looks like an island or like a fixed aircraft carrier floating in the water between Japan and mainland China.”The “kill web” concept that Brunson has elaborated on several occasions of late has been described as not only impractical but also dangerous.Integrating the US’ intelligence and command systems with those of Korea, Japan and the Philippines would require Japan to amend its pacifist constitution and Korea, Japan and the Philippines to elevate military cooperation to the level of an alliance. One potential and undesired consequence would be Korea getting entangled in China’s disputes with Japan in the East China Sea and with the Philippines in the South China Sea.The comparison of Korea to a dagger is markedly similar to the remark made in the late 19th century by Major Jakob Meckel, Prussia’s military adviser to Japan, who said that Korea was “a dagger pointed at the heart of Japan.”Meckel was suggesting that the Japanese mainland would be endangered if Korea (then known as Joseon) came under the control of continental powers such as Russia or the Qing dynasty of China, creating an incentive for Japan to make the first move. In fact, that very expression was used to justify a series of subsequent acts of aggression by Japan including the First Sino-Japanese War (1894), the Russo-Japanese War (1904) and Japan’s annexation of Korea (1910).By Kim Ji-hoon, staff reporterPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
