Despite these setbacks, President Moon continues to prioritize reviving diplomacy with North Korea—most recently signaled with his new Cabinet appointments and his U. The U. At the end of the Korean War, the Republic of Korea ROK was one of the poorest countries in the world, and the alliance served to defend it against potential North Korean attacks.
When it comes to North Korea, opinions within the U. While U. Some U. Others believe that North Korea must take the first steps to show that it is serious about denuclearization before a genuine step-by-step diplomatic process can begin. These balancing interests and perspectives among progressives in the United States often result in a complicated and nuanced approach to the question of how best to conduct diplomacy with North Korea. Beyond North Korea, many U. South Korea is one of the few countries that went from being a recipient of development assistance to a donor of its own.
It has transitioned from an autocracy to a flourishing democracy. It has made great strides in education and economic development and set an example for the world with its COVID response. South Korean conservatives are more likely to welcome the idea of becoming a well-established middle power, while South Korean progressives believe the North Korean security challenge must take priority.
As part of U. The two countries are both economic powerhouses that face similar security concerns and are close allies of the United States. China has perpetrated a vast incarceration of Uighur Muslims, cracked down violently on pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong, and militarized outposts in the South China Sea, among a variety of other concerning actions.
With its destabilizing behavior, many policymakers across the political spectrum in the United States increasingly view China as a top challenge. Trump has pursued an erratic China policy that has veered wildly between courting President Xi Jinping and confronting China with pressure. They are willing to actively pursue steps such as joint economic projects and humanitarian assistance as confidence-building measures, while simultaneously addressing threat reduction and denuclearization.
Nevertheless, most South Korean progressives contend that Kim Jong Un was serious about reducing tensions and improving relations in the most recent round of diplomacy. Others predict that Kim may have been motivated to pursue stronger relations with the United States and South Korea to balance against Chinese geopolitical influence.
Instead, South Korean progressives increasingly view the United States as the obstacle to advancing inter-Korean relations. Some even advocate for a rebalancing of the U. While South Korean progressives perceive U. South Korean progressives assert that the United States often sets the bar for diplomacy too high. They contend that denuclearization should be a long-term goal and that tangible progress toward denuclearization cannot happen without painstaking efforts to relieve the 70 years of hostility and tension between the United States and the DPRK.
But as U. As a bipartisan consensus emerges from Washington that a tougher approach to China is necessary, many South Korean progressives are concerned that denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula will become less of a priority. The Center for American Progress noted in its report the importance of this issue in shaping perspectives in South Korea, and it remains even more relevant today. In , after continual missile testing from the North, U.
But in the eyes of some South Korean progressive policymakers, the United States had failed to do enough to support its ally in its time of need. While concerned about China, Americans and South Koreans consider domestic issues more pressing. But in both countries, issues involving China were the least likely to be viewed as critical threats among those included in the survey. One area of continued tension between the United States and South Korea will be the use of Chinese technology in building communications networks.
Thus far, South Korea has not joined the US-led Clean Network Initiative—established under Trump and set to continue under Biden—which seeks to eliminate Chinese tech companies from either building or supplying components for communications networks around the world. The South Korean public is split on prohibiting Chinese tech companies from building communications networks in South Korea, with 50 percent in support and 42 percent opposed. Meanwhile in the United States, 66 percent support such a prohibition versus 29 percent opposed.
While just 49 percent in South Korea say competition between the United States and China is a critical threat facing South Korea, there is concern in Seoul that South Korea may eventually be forced to choose between the United States and China. While such a theoretical choice would come with consequences, the South Korean public is clear in its preference.
In the United States, views are similar. Among Americans, 74 percent prefer to build up relations with traditional allies like Korea and Japan even if it might diminish relations with China.
While the question proposes a binary choice, reality is unlikely to be so clearly defined. Instead, both Seoul and Washington are likely to pursue strengthening alliances and building a new partnership with China whenever possible.
Indeed, when respondents are given this third option—to build strong relations with allies and to pursue a new partnership with China—72 percent in South Korea and 63 percent in the United States prefer this option.
Such a reset may not be forthcoming. Statements from the summit on how the United States and South Korea plan to deal with North Korea will be closely watched. Moreover, 50 percent in the United States say denuclearizing North Korea is a top priority for the United States in Asia, and 60 percent in South Korea say it is a top priority for the alliance with the United States.
This was the first time a ROK-U. The message was not lost on Beijing. Notwithstanding this new tone, it is unlikely that South Korea will embrace an overtly competitive approach to China in the near term. There is also a salient intellectual current that calls for South Korea to assert its autonomy and defend its sovereignty from the United States.
Nevertheless, it is possible that the summit could foretell a greater willingness by South Korean officials to side with the United States and other democracies against China. In addition, a survey conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in March showed that the majority of South Koreans surveyed view China as an economic and military threat, although a lower priority threat than falling birth rates, climate change, and North Korea.
In his summit with Biden, Moon effectively signed up as a partner for the new U. As a vibrant, prosperous democracy with a strong industrial base, South Korea has a critical role to play in realizing this vision in Asia. Though the war ended in a stalemate, and though the peninsula did not reunite as one unified country, South Korea emerged with its own democratic government and an alliance with the United States.
That alliance only became stronger over the years and endures to this day. Together, they suffered , casualties. The American military found new respect for their fellow South Korean soldiers, who made up over 70 percent of the front line units in the UN command. Veterans Bruce Ackerman and Kenneth Dillard recall how that relationship strengthened over time. And for their part, Americans began to view the young Republic of Korea as an important new ally.
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