hankyoreh

Kyung Hee University professor Choo Jae-woo (provided by Choo)

Since South Korean President-Elect Yoon Suk-yeol launched his transition committee on Friday, concerns are being raised that Yoon’s approach to foreign policy and national security might turn out to contain China in a way that doesn’t serve Korean interests.

Choo Jae-woo, professor at Kyung Hee University, told the Hankyoreh over the phone that there’s “a good chance” Yoon will take a hard line in foreign policy and national security, so “someone needs to hit the brakes.” Choo is the foreign policy and national security mentor of Ahn Cheol-soo, who is chairing Yoon’s presidential transition committee.

Yoon’s push to strengthen Korea’s alliance with the US and to counter China is also reflected in the people he’s appointed to his transition committee’s foreign policy and national security subcommittee.

Kim Sung-han, former second vice foreign minister, believes in the primacy of the Korea-US alliance, and Kim Tae-hyo pushed for trilateral military cooperation with the US and Japan while serving as an influential foreign policy and national security advisor during Lee Myung-bak’s presidency. Lee Jong-seop, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was also involved in Korea-US alliance policy while serving as deputy director of policy planning in the Ministry of National Defense, also under Lee.

Choo’s interview with the Hankyoreh appears below.

Choo Jae-woo (Choo): It has been widely observed that there are experts on the US but no experts on Chinese foreign policy at a time of strategic competition between the two countries. Especially since Korea’s foreign policy appears to be at a watershed moment amid that strategic competition, we need a strategy that accounts for the circumstances in both of those countries, and we need to be flexible in how we manage relations with them. I’m worried that if we lean too hard [on our alliance with the US], we may neglect other angles.

Choo: There’s a good chance he’ll move in that direction, so he needs to be guided. Someone needs to hit the brakes.

Choo: We currently have a surplus in our trade with China, but that surplus is shrinking. The surplus last year was only half of what it was in 2019. For that reason, we need to adjust our industrial policy and our trade policy vis-a-vis China. Some people are saying that China will be forced to reinstate sanctions against Korea if it joins the Quad [the quadrilateral security arrangement among the US, Japan, Australia and India]. We need to have a strategy for bringing China around to our point of view even if it makes public threats.

Choo: More THAAD batteries have already been deployed, and we shouldn’t provoke [China] with silly remarks. We ought to set relations, not make enemies. There’s no need to put all our cards on the table. When it comes to the issue of sending special envoys, we’ve been doing that since the Roh Moo-hyun presidency. Typically, China would send an envoy, and the president-elect would then invite them to the inauguration ceremony. I don’t know why Yoon is actively putting us at a disadvantage by saying he’ll only send envoys to the US and the EU. I’m frustrated by his ignorance about these relationships and their significance.

Choo: There’s no need to bring about [conflict with China]. [If we keep moving in that direction], Korea will face tremendous damage, and not the kind of damage that can be offset by our alliance with the US. The US has said it won’t let allies come to harm on its behalf. But you can’t keep running to your parents when you get in a scrape, and they can’t keep bailing you out forever.

Choo: I’ve told Ahn that tech diplomacy is important for the global value chain. Industrial skills and development are important in the area of science and technology, but given our dependence on the global value chain, we also need to be good at diplomacy. We need to rework our approach to tech diplomacy — we don’t even have an agency in charge of that. For example, we ought to have protective measures in place so we can keep our exports going even if the US imposes sanctions [on China].

Choo: I haven’t seen him since he announced he was dropping out and endorsing Yoon.

By Seo Young-ji, staff reporter

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