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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sits in on a virtual meeting between US President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on March 1. (AP/Yonhap News)

A little over 50 days since its inauguration, the administration of US President Joe Biden has put the finishing touches on its broader foreign policy framework and embarked on diplomatic campaigns in earnest.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin are scheduled to announce the beginning of Biden’s diplomatic efforts to work with allies on reining in China when they visit Indo-Pacific allies South Korea and Japan from Tuesday to Thursday.

But from Seoul’s perspective, the push is eliciting mixed feelings.

In his inaugural address on Jan. 20, Biden declared that he was parting ways with the “America first” approach under predecessor Donald Trump and planned to “repair our alliances and engage with the world once again.”

During a speech delivered via remote at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 19, he stressed that the US and its allies needed to “prepare together for a long-term strategic competition with China,” explaining that humankind was in the midst of a fundamental debate between the two choices of autocracy and democracy.

Biden’s consideration of the issues was fully reflected in the White House’s “Interim National Security Strategic Guidance,” published on March 3. In it, China was characterized as “the only competitor potentially capable of [. . .] mount[ing] a sustained challenge to a stable and open international system,” while the administration stressed its willingness to “reinvigorate and modernize our alliances and partnerships” in response.

After Biden’s participation Friday in a virtual meeting of the Quad — a security framework consisting of the US, Japan, Australia and India, with the aim of containing China — he picked South Korea and Japan as the first overseas stops for Blinken and Austin.

During their visit, they’re expected to revive the “two-plus-two” framework of joint meetings of foreign and defense ministers — which had been held during the Trump administration — to exchange views on a broad range of issues including China, the North Korean nuclear issue and the COVID-19 crisis.

Prior to their departure, Blinken and Austin jointly published a guest opinion piece Sunday titled “America’s partnerships are ‘force multipliers’ in the world” in the Washington Post. In it, they explained the significance of their visits.

“Our work with Japan and South Korea covers a vast range of issues that are critical to our security and prosperity — and to the world’s,” they stressed, citing examples such as the North Korean nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, climate change, cybersecurity and the COVID-19 pandemic.

They also described it as being a US interest and a shared aim of South Korea, the US and Japan “for the Indo-Pacific region to be free and open, anchored by respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law,” while singling out China as a country that does not share the same vision.

“As countries in the region and beyond know, China in particular is all too willing to use coercion to get its way,” they wrote.

“Our combined power makes us stronger when we must push back against China’s aggression and threats,” they added.

In the piece, they signaled their aim of pushing back against China’s “aggression and threats” by joining forces with South Korea and Japan, which they described as key US allies.

Blinken and Austin also said, “Together, we will hold China accountable when it abuses human rights in Xinjiang and Tibet, systematically erodes autonomy in Hong Kong, undercuts democracy in Taiwan or asserts maritime claims in the South China Sea that violate international law.”

In some ways, Washington’s approach is forcing Seoul to make an awkward choice.

To date, the South Korean government has remained noncommittal in its responses to the US’ declaration of Indo-Pacific strategies strongly oriented toward “containing” China. It has routinely said only that it plans to “pursue harmonious cooperation between South Korea’s New Southern Policy and the US Indo-Pacific policies based on principles of openness, inclusiveness and transparency.”

Commenting Wednesday about the question of South Korea’s participation in the Quad framework, a Blue House official reiterated the position that it “may take part in any regional cooperation body or conception as long as it adheres to international norms and the principles of transparency, openness and inclusiveness.”

The North Korean nuclear program is another vexing issue.

The US has said it plans to finish its current reexamination of North Korea policy within the next few weeks. But it remains unclear to what extent its conclusions will reflect the position of the Moon Jae-in administration, which is looking to use the joint statement from the June 2018 US-North Korean summit in Singapore as a starting point for swiftly resuming the Korean Peninsula peace process.

By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]