“Chinese pressure, North Korea’s nuclear weapons, human rights” … US security two-tops, only the weaknesses of civil and diplomatic relations have been stabbed

Since the inauguration of the US administration, Joe Biden’s first two-day visit to Korea has been completed. They showed their will to strengthen the alliance and reaffirmed that’solving the North Korean nuclear issue’ is the number one concern between the ROK and the United States in the future.

However, the inside of the Moon Jae-in administration is complicated. This is because the target of the alliance emphasized by the Biden administration was directed at China, and the temperature difference between the US and the ROK over the resumption of dialogue with North Korea has been proven to be clear. In addition, only invoices were accepted for issues that the current government could not provide clear answers to, such as improvement of North Korean human rights and Korea-Japan relations. The biden administration’s allianceism rather restricts the Moon Jae-in administration’s luck.

Unlike the restrained joint statement, the temperature difference for each case

U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blincoln and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held a meeting with U.S. and ROK Foreign Ministers (2+2) with Ministers of Foreign Affairs Eui-yong Jeong and Defense Minister Seo Wook at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. It has been about 5 years since the 4th meeting was held in 2016 during the Park Geun-hye administration.

In a joint statement after the meeting, the four ministers announced in a joint statement that they have reaffirmed their mutual commitment to strengthen the defense posture of the ROK defense and the ROK-US combined defense in accordance with the ROK-US Mutual Defense Treaty. In particular, “We emphasized that the North Korean nuclear and missile issues are a priority concern of the alliance, and reaffirmed our shared will to cope with and solve this problem.” Said. As if conscious of the observations of diplomats from both countries that the North Korean nuclear issue has been pushed out of the priority of the Biden administration’s foreign policy, the focus was on’the matter to be coordinated first.’

The two ministers visited the Blue House this afternoon to prevent President Moon Jae-in. President Moon expressed his confidence and expectation in the United States, saying, “We will continue to cooperate closely for complete denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.” In particular, he stressed, “The situation on the Korean Peninsula in 2017 was threatened with peace to the point of saying that it was full of dark clouds of war.” The US ministers replied, “I will closely communicate with Korea, an ally, in the process of reviewing North Korea policy.” In addition, he said, “We will continue to work to restore Korea-Japan relations,” as if conscious of the biden administration’s keynote to strengthen trilateral cooperation between the two countries.

In the joint statement and the presidential precautions, restrained content came and went, while the views of the two countries were diverging within and outside the talks. Minister Blincoln, who pushed North Korea and China as human rights abusers at the Korea-US diplomatic ministers meeting the day before, said in a joint press conference after the 2+2 conference, “We are clearly aware that China has consistently broken its promises, and China’s aggressive and We discussed the difficulties that authoritative actions are creating in the safety of the Indo-Pacific region.” China was not mentioned in the joint statement, but the meeting revealed the fact that it expressed opinions on the role of the ROK-US alliance in China’s check. At an interview, Secretary Austin also said, “It will take more time to meet the conditions for transitioning wartime operational control (ROK forces),” suggesting that it will be difficult to determine the specific timing as well as the transition within the Moon government’s term of office.

The U.S. demands assistance from the’quad’ through trilateral cooperation between Korea, the U.S. and Japan

One of the US-led siege to China, the Quad, a multilateral security council, was unable to make a single voice. Minister Eui-yong Eui-yong said, “There was no discussion on the quad (at the 2+2 meeting),” but Blincoln said, “The quad is an informal meeting of sympathizers and is trying to cooperate on various issues.” We are continuing to cooperate.” At the same time, he left room for revealing, “These meetings bring tremendous benefits in line with the Korea-US-Japan trilateral cooperation.”

Even if Korea does not participate in the quad right now, it is interpreted as a pressure to check China through trilateral security cooperation between Korea, the United States and Japan. In response, an official from the authorities said, “It is clear that the level of demands for China’s checks by the United States have risen. However, we are not in a situation where we will give the United States a clear answer to’We will not do it together’.”

After the talks, Minister Chung appeared on Yonhap News TV after the talks to the question that’Korea may be under pressure of choice’ in the context of the US-China conflict. “It is impossible to choose between the US and China, and such an approach. I think it is impossible.”

Disagreements on the public-to-North Korean approach stand out… Difficulties in the ROK-US summit

The two sides clearly disagreed as to whether to succeed the Singapore agreement between the 6·12 and North Korea, which is the greatest legacy of Donald Trump’s administration’s North Korea policy. Minister Chung took the position of succession, saying, “It should be fully considered at this stage,” but Blincoln avoided an immediate answer by stating that “we are reviewing a comprehensive North Korea policy.”

“We will review both pressure and diplomatic options in future North Korea policy,” said Blincoln. It mentions both the dialogue and the possibility of pressure, but the analysis prevails that the pressure is weighed down. “The unprecedented challenges of China and North Korea have made the ROK-US alliance more important than ever,” Austin said at a meeting with the defense ministers the day before. It is interpreted that the new policy toward North Korea, which the US said “will be completed within a few weeks,” is reflected in the lines of the two ministers’ remarks. In the same context, Secretary Blincoln said, “The North Koreans are making widespread and systematic human rights violations under an oppressive regime,” and attempting to make North Korean human rights a cause for pressure.

Diplomats emphasized the importance of “alignment” during this visit, but it is evaluated that the difference in approaches between the public and North Korea was remarkable. Although the two countries have formed a consensus on “held the Korea-US summit as soon as possible”, it is predicted that preparations for the talks will not be smooth unless disagreements over the US-China conflict and North Korea policy issue narrow down.

Youngbin Jo reporter [email protected]

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