[사설] The government should clarify’Korea-US alliance comes first’

US President Joe Biden was officially inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States on the 21st (Korean time). I hope that the United States, which had been struggling so severely that former President Donald Trump’s strong supporters would occupy the Washington Capitol, would unite the divided nations and rebuild the global leadership that fell on the ground with the inauguration of President Biden.

President Biden, as if responding to expectations, declared in his inaugural address, “All my soul is in unity.” In addition, he emphasized that he will “restore the alliance and once again be involved in the world”, abolishing Trump’s “American unilateralism” and clarifying his intention to return to a pro-alliance and multilateral route.

The inauguration of the Biden administration, pledged to “return the United States,” predicts a major shift in policy on the Korean Peninsula. Right now, the nominee of Secretary of State Tony Blincoln emphasized at a personnel hearing on the 19th that “the overall policy toward North Korea should be reviewed.” The Trump administration made clear its intention to shift to a more prudent policy toward North Korea, such as a’bottom-up’ approach instead of a’top-down’ approach. With regard to China, he was also in a position to succeed the Trump administration’s hard line.

From the position of the Moon Jae-in administration, the worries are bound to deepen. President Moon’s sudden replacement of Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha will not be irrelevant to this sudden change in US stance toward North Korea. However, by appointing former head of the National Security Office, Eui-yong Eui-yong as the successor foreign minister, I am worried that he will adhere to the existing policy. President Biden cited the Singapore talks as one of the Trump administration’s major failures, and the Moon Jae-in administration’s policy toward North Korea over the past four years has raised concerns.

Therefore, the government authorities should put all efforts into resolving Washington’s mistrust of Seoul and narrowing the goal of the conflict with Biden’s inauguration. Above all, we must not unilaterally impose our thoughts on the Biden administration, which has strong distrust in North Korea. The Blue House will feel like a chimney to open the Korea-US summit early. But what matters is the message, not the timing of the talks. In the Republic of Korea, the alliance between Korea and the United States is the top priority, and the talks can only succeed if the biden administration believes that North Korea is a subordinate variable. Biden is an ally. President Moon should keep in mind that he is a person who does not do business with a country that does not prioritize alliances.

Along with this, the government should show its willingness to actively participate in the US Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPSR). The top priority diplomatic agenda of the Biden administration is China, not North Korea. All the focus of the policy will be on China, but Seoul is bound to get a wrong beat if it only talks about North Korea to Washington. Therefore, the government needs to proactively examine the issue of participation in the collective security consultative body’Quad’ in which the United States, Japan, Australia and India participate. In addition, improving Korea-Japan relations is an important task. This is because it is a well-known story that Biden’s most important diplomatic axis in Northeast Asia is Korea-US-Japan cooperation.

In a celebration of inauguration sent to President Biden on the 21st, President Moon said, “Korea will always be part of the biden administration’s journey as a strong alliance of the United States.” As the first message, I set the direction well. The only thing that matters is action. I hope you show the wisdom of maximizing national interests by actively coping with the changes in the United States, symbolized by’Biden’.