hankyoreh

President Yoon Suk-yeol leaves after a ceremony at the presidential office in Yongsan on Sept. 13. (Yonhap)

President Yoon Suk-yeol is about to embark on two weeks of back-to-back diplomatic engagements, starting with his meeting with Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, and including trips to the UK, the US and Canada. Whether he will be able to showcase his diplomatic ability by solving conundrums facing South Korea — strengthening the South Korea-US alliance into a mutually beneficial one in addition to improving South Korea’s worsened relations with China and Japan — is drawing interest.

Yoon’s meeting with Li Zhanshu scheduled for Friday can be considered a “warm-up” for his diplomatic schedule for September. The third-most powerful member of the Chinese Communist Party after Premier Li Keqiang and President Xi Jinping, Li Zhanshu is visiting South Korea and meeting with Yoon at the invitation of National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, which was sent to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between South Korea and China.

Since taking office, the Yoon administration has focused on US-centered diplomacy by participating in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, which the US created to exclude China, and attending a preliminary Chip 4 meeting. For this reason, how blunt Li Zhanshu’s message to Yoon will be is drawing interest. The South Korean government is at a point where it needs to manage its conflict with China, as it has been taking measures to normalize the THAAD base in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province.

During his trip to the UK, the US and Canada, which he leaves for on Sunday to return Sept. 24, Yoon will focus on emphasizing “liberal democratic alliances.” The presidential office plans to highlight “values-based alliances” as the significance of Yoon’s attendance at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, to be held in London on Monday.

Yoon’s trip will culminate on Tuesday, when he will deliver a keynote address before the UN General Assembly in New York.

Yoon plans to introduce the international community to the “audacious initiative,” according to which South Korea would offer bold economic assistance to North Korea early into negotiations if the latter comes to the negotiating table for denuclearization. However, North Korea codified a nuclear power policy on Thursday, while the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, pronounced repeatedly that the country will never abandon nuclear weapons. With the situation worsening, Yoon’s diplomatic ability to persuade the international community will be put to the test.

Economic diplomacy is another subject of interest. Yoon’s current task is to overcome the US’ “America First” policy and make sure South Korea is reaping practical benefits from being a US ally. If a South Korea-US summit is successfully arranged, as has often been the case during UN General Assembly meetings, main topics of discussion are likely to include the Inflation Reduction Act, which grants tax credits exclusively to North American-assembled electric vehicles, and President Joe Biden’s Executive Order on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation, which favors domestic US companies.

Having focused heavily on strengthening the South Korea-US alliance ever since beginning his term, Yoon desperately needs to score practical benefits amidst the “Buy American” message firmly promoted by the US ahead of November’s midterm elections. If Yoon comes out of a summit empty-handed, he may face public backlash for giving to but not receiving from the US.

Whether the presidential office will successfully arrange a summit between Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, along with whether such a summit will lead to outcomes, is also of note. If the Japanese government doesn’t change its attitude regarding compensation for victims of forced labor during the Japanese colonial period, the situation may pose a burden for the Yoon administration even if a summit is ultimately arranged. On Sept. 29, immediately after his return to South Korea, Yoon will be meeting with US Vice President Kamala Harris.

Dongguk University North Korean studies professor Kim Yong-hyun told the Hankyoreh, “[South Korea] is at a juncture in which it needs a strategy of approaching the two wings of South Korea-US alliance and South Korea-China cooperation with as much caution and sense of balance as possible.”

He added, “In terms of [South Korea’s] roadmap regarding North Korea, it’s difficult to figure out a point of contact with North Korea other than roundabout and abstract statements like ‘We will proactively work towards the resolution of the denuclearization issue amidst cooperation from the international community,’ so it’s not an easy situation to bring about an outcome.”

By Kim Mi-na, staff reporter

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