USFK commander stresses importance of 'east-up' perspective in Indo-Pacific

U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson has highlighted the importance of an “east-up” perspective in the Indo-Pacific theater, stressing a “coherent strategic geometry” of South Korea, Japan and the Philippines, according to the USFK website on Thursday.

Brunson's remarks come as Washington has sought to “modernize” its alliance with South Korea to expand the role of the 28,500-strong USFK forces beyond the defense of the Korean Peninsula while calling on Seoul to take on a greater burden regarding its own security.

In a speech during a symposium at the U.S. Army War College on Tuesday, the USFK commander raised the need to set aside the conventional “north-up” view of the world and consider an east-up perspective.

“In [South] Korea, we have that presence. We aren't projecting power. Our alliance is our power,” Brunson was quoted as saying.

He unveiled the concept of east-up mapping for the first time in an article carried by USFK in November last year.

Unlike conventional mapping, which places North Korea and Russia north of South Korea, east-up mapping tends to visually emphasize areas south of the Korean Peninsula, including Taiwan and the Philippines.

At this week's forum, Brunson argued that rotating the map reveals the Pacific not as an empty void to be crossed but as a “coherent strategic geometry” anchored by the United States and allied positions in South Korea, Japan and the Philippines, according to the website.

He also underscored the importance of land power for its “precision and persistence” as opposed to air power, which can devastate targets across vast distances but cannot occupy ground or hold partnerships.

“The soldier always stays,” he said.

Yonhap