On the 4th, 14 days after President Joe Biden took office, a call was made between the ROK and the US leaders.
Contents of press releases related to China and North Korea’s nuclear weapons are different
Immediately after talking on the phone for 32 minutes from 8:25 am to 57 am on that day, President Moon Jae-in immediately tweeted. President Moon said, “I and President Biden promised to upgrade the ROK-US alliance to the next level based on common values.” Blue House spokesman Kang Min-seok said at a briefing, “The two leaders decided to continue to develop the ROK-US alliance into a comprehensive strategic alliance that contributes to the promotion of democracy and human rights beyond cooperation in the Korean Peninsula and the Indo-Pacific region.”
President Moon’s direct emphasis on the value alliance and the expression of “upgrade” is read as an intent to respond to the Biden administration’s policy of pressure on China. This is because President Biden has expressed his intention to contain China by alliance with allies and allies who share the core values of democracy such as freedom and human rights. Kim Han-kwon, a professor at the National Institute of Foreign Affairs, said, “The expression’upgrade’ can be seen as an expression of the will to solve inter-Korean relations and policy toward China, centering on the ROK-US alliance.” Regarding the North Korean nuclear issue, spokesman Kang emphasized that “President Biden appreciated the efforts of South Korea, the main party to resolve the Korean Peninsula problem.”
The Blue House “to prepare a strategy for North Korea as soon as the ROK-US summit”… The White House announcement was different
He said, “The two leaders shared the recognition of the need to prepare a comprehensive strategy toward North Korea as soon as possible.” Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha also stressed in the parliamentary questionnaire on the day that “President Biden’s message to prepare a strategy to lead North Korea to the table of dialogue as soon as possible was delivered through a call between the leaders.”
The expression’Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation’, which provoked controversy after entering the US press release after a call from the US-Korea foreign ministers on the 27th of last month, was also included in the Blue House announcement. Spokesman Kang introduced, “The two leaders agreed that improving relations between Korea and Japan and cooperation between the United States and Korea are important to peace and prosperity in the region.”
However, the White House’s announcement after the call revealed the temperature difference between the two countries. Most of the concepts or expressions with public restraints in mind are missing. A representative example is’India-Pacific’. The White House said in a press release that day, President Biden expressed the ROK-US alliance as a “linchpin of Northeast Asia” rather than the Indo-Pacific.
This is compared with the announcement after a call between President Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on the 27th of last month. At the time, the White House said, “The two leaders emphasized the importance of the US-Japan alliance as a cornerstone for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.” President Biden also spoke with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on the same day, and the White House said, “President Biden valued the US-Australian alliance as an anchor to protect the stability of the Indo-Pacific and the world.”
In summary, the ROK-US alliance was expressed as’the core axis of Northeast Asia’, the US-Japan alliance was expressed as’the cornerstone of the India-Pacific,’ and the US-Australian alliance was expressed as’anchor of the India-Pacific and the world’. It was implicitly revealed which alliance would be more important.
Ewha Womans University’s Faculty of International Studies Professor Park In-hui said, “The Biden administration, which is trying to solve global difficulties by consolidating its diplomatic capabilities, will not discriminate against the alliance.” However, if it enters into the Indo-Pacific strategy, Japan actively participates, unlike Korea, whose attitude is unclear. “It is natural to consider Australia and Australia as the most important partners.” Shin Beom-cheol, director of the Center for Foreign Affairs and Security at the Economic and Social Research Institute, also called the Korea-US alliance as the core axis of the Indo-Pacific because Korea does not have much participation in the Indo-Pacific strategy, such as the’Quad (US, Japan, Australia, India) Security Council’. The long difficult is reality.”
Regarding the establishment of a strategy toward North Korea as soon as possible, the White House briefly stated, unlike the Blue House explanation, “the two leaders decided to closely coordinate with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”
Regarding this difference, a key member of the Blue House said, “After the call, the two sides each announced without coordination. I think the context of the White House data is the same.”
Seoul = Reporter Jihye Yoo and Taehwa Kang, Washington = Correspondent Park Hyun-young [email protected]