[Correspondent’s column] In vying to be US’ favorite ally, S. Korea has become its subcontractor

Posted on : 2023-05-12 16:50 KST Modified on : 2023-05-12 16:50 KST
It’s become more commonplace for it not simply to help from the sidelines but to follow along
President Joe Biden of the US holds up the hand of President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea at a state banquet held at the White House in Washington on April 26. (Reuters/Yonhap)
President Joe Biden of the US holds up the hand of President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea at a state banquet held at the White House in Washington on April 26. (Reuters/Yonhap)

By Lee Bon-young, Washington correspondent

Shortly after the South Korea-US summit in May 2022, an older journalist who had been living in the US for a long time asked me a question.

“What do you think it means when someone says ‘I trust you’ in English?”

I gamely offered a few Korean translations for the word “trust.” My colleague replied, “More than that, you should interpret as meaning, ‘I’m going to wait and see whether you do what you said you would.’”

“I trust you” is what US President Joe Biden said to South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol while taking leave of their first-ever summit. Several South Korean news outlets interpreted it as an expression of profound confidence. But to me, it sounded like an awkward way of saying goodbye to the leader of an allied country.

As I read the joint statement from another South Korea-US summit a year later on April 26, I realized my colleague’s interpretation had some merit. Throughout its text, Biden used words like “welcome,” “support,” and “applaud.”

There’s nothing wrong with compliments as such. But the things that were being mentioned here included South Korea’s hosting of the third Summit for Democracy, its broader role in Asia-Pacific security, its cooperation with NATO, its Indo-Pacific strategy, and its improvement of relations and military cooperation with Japan.

All of them are areas where Washington had been pressing Seoul to take action. There were few if any areas where Yoon expressed his “appreciation” for Biden.

In the end, the statement seemed to focus on how consistent South Korea’s actions were with the US’ global strategy. Yoon certainly did respond to Biden’s expression of “trust” a year earlier. In that sense, the joint statement gave more of an impression of a teacher checking over homework. In the margins was a rubber stamp reading “Great work!”

The South Korean government has kept step with US efforts to court the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Later this month, the inaugural Korea-Pacific Islands Summit is scheduled to take place. The first summit of this kind was held last September by the US. On May 22, Biden is set to meet again in Papua New Guinea with the leaders of Pacific island countries.

South Korea’s concerted efforts toward the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity can be read along similar lines. It has been complying diligently with the US’ aims of keeping China in check and preserving its dominance. It’s become more commonplace for it not simply to help from the sidelines but to follow along.

All of this may be the price Seoul pays in return for the Washington Declaration, which the presidential office characterized as “de facto nuclear sharing.” But the prize it received lost quite a bit of its luster when the White House immediately moved to rebut that description.

Even some in the US have raised questions about the military significance of sending strategic nuclear submarines to South Korea with the capabilities of traveling thousands of kilometers underwater to launch ballistic missiles. It isn’t entirely clear what is exactly “new” about joint exercises involving US strategic bombers and South Korean fighter aircraft either. We’ve already pretty much had our fill of seeing South Korean fighters escorting US strategic bombers in the skies over the Korean Peninsula.

Not long ago, I met with a former US Defense Department official who explained, “In South Korea, conservative administrations always ask for the deployment of strategic assets, while progressive administrations do the opposite.” It was a somewhat cynical message about the way Seoul’s demands seem to fluctuate based on domestic political needs.

It certainly is good for us to cooperate with the US to solve global problems. There are many areas where we can join forces for the common good, including ones related to the climate crisis, infectious diseases, and poverty.

But when we focus our diplomacy too much on catering to Washington’s strategic aims, all that does is turn South Korea into a “subcontractor.” This is why all the rhetoric about a “global comprehensive strategic alliance” is sounding more and more like a pledge to do whatever the US says.

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

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