Diplomacy: Politics: News: The Hankyoreh

Joe Biden, launched on January 20th, is accelerating the diplomatic movement of the US administration. Unlike the predecessor Donald Trump’s administration, which advocated’U.S. Priority’, it is clearly observed that it is trying to cope with numerous diplomatic issues by strengthening relations with alliances that share core values ​​such as democracy and human rights. Secretary of State Tony Blincoln, head of U.S. foreign affairs, gave a diplomatic speech entitled “Foreign Policy for the United States,” which outlined the direction of the Biden administration’s future foreign policy. The’National Security Strategy Guideline’ has been published, which clarifies the basic concept. This document revealed that China is “the only competitor that can challenge the international order” in many aspects, such as economy and technology. The direction these speeches and documents point to are also clear. We will join forces with our allies to confront China, a rival with the only competence to challenge the United States. An alliance is a relationship that is determined to stand shoulder to shoulder and fight together when difficult things arise. So, if the United States asks its allies to join forces with its rival China, words alone are not enough. Face to face, shake hands, and spit after intense debate, we have to come together and reaffirm our determination. No matter how much the world is suffering from measles due to the Corona 19 crisis, and video anger is common,’face-to-face talks’ are still very important to humans. If so, when will the face-to-face summit between the two countries be held? To weigh this, there are many things to think about. What is important in diplomacy is formality and order. If there are important diplomatic issues, the first step is to discuss at the working level, and when opinions are gathered here, the level of the talks is raised to the upper level. After this process, if the opinions of the two countries reach a common consensus, diplomatic ministers’ meetings, sometimes summit meetings, will be held depending on the importance of the matter. For the Moon Jae-in administration, this Korea-US summit is inevitably very important. Considering that President Moon’s term of office will end in May 2022, this is the last opportunity to reactivate the’peace process on the Korean Peninsula’, which the government has been pursuing with great care. However, the US is only expressing its principled position, “We will discuss and reconsider with allies such as Korea and Japan” regarding the new administration’s policy toward North Korea. We must do our best to achieve favorable results for Korea through close communication between Korea and the United States. Until now, the two countries have been communicating with each other at various levels at a high level. Although the media does not report on this one by one, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs releases a brief press release every time there is a phone call or video conference between the two countries. These include Minister Eui-yong Eui-yong and Secretary of State Blincoln (February 12), Gyu-deok Noh, the head of the Korean Peninsula Peace Bargaining Headquarters, and Sung Kim, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs (February 10); 8th, March 2nd), etc. are in communication. Separately, Seo Hoon, head of the Blue House National Security Office, and Jake Sullivan, White House National Security Advisor, are also in communication. Other than that, it can be assumed that there will be a lot of communication where the authorities do not release data.

President Moon Jae-in is holding his first summit with US President Joe Biden on February 4. Provided by the Blue House

If so, when will the face-to-face talks between the ROK-US leaders take place? It is customary to hold a meeting with foreign ministers prior to the summit. In this regard, Japanese media released an interesting report on the 4th. It meant that Secretary of State Blincoln and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin were adjusting their schedule to visit Japan from the 15th to the 17th. The fact that the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense work together means we are opening a Security Consultative Committee, which we usually call 2+2. The 2+2 Conference is a meeting in which allies or equivalent countries discuss various issues of diplomacy and security in-depth. However, during the Donald Trump administration, which neglected the alliance, the meeting didn’t hold well. Having a 2+2 meeting in itself is a’sign’ of the US attitude toward its allies. Korean reporters who confirmed the report on the afternoon of the 4th were flipped over. This is because, if the new US Secretary of State and Defense Secretary visit Japan, it is common sense to visit Korea together. Reporters who turned the phone to the Blue House and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs all night succeeded in confirming that “the schedule has not been confirmed yet, but discussions are taking place.” Accordingly, the media reports that on the 5th, Blincoln and Lloyd will visit Korea on the 17th and 19th to hold a 2+2 meeting. The fact that the new US Secretary of State and Defense Secretary is the first to visit Japan and South Korea, two key allies in Asia, rather than Europe, means that the Biden administration, following the former Trump administration, also regards the geopolitical importance of the Indo-Pacific region very high. is. So, when will the Korea-US summit be held? In this regard, interesting reports have come out in the United States. US media reported today that President Biden is adjusting the schedule to invite Prime Minister Suga to the White House in April. When this report comes out, Japanese reporters will inquire about the contents of the press conference held twice in the morning and in the afternoon at the Prime Minister’s residence. Kato Katsunobu’s reply to that was “I would like to adjust it as soon as possible. A specific schedule has not been set yet.” The American reaction was the same. State Department spokesman Ned Price said on the 8th, “The White House has long said that President Biden has long been hoping to meet Japan’s Counterpart (Suga Prime Minister). (But) I know that the talks have not been finalized at this point.”

I did not say that the report was correct, but just saying “there is no fixed schedule”, but not denying the fact that the talks were going forward. In this case, reporters usually accept that there is a coordination of opinions between the two governments in line with the report. The Washington correspondent must have been similar. Reported on the bottom of the 4th page of the 9th, “If it comes true, there is a possibility that the Biden regime will be the first foreign leader to hold a meeting face-to-face after the inauguration in January.” In the past, the Japanese Prime Minister has held the first summit meeting with the newly elected US President, usually in February-March, and the Korean President in May-June. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is also known to have proposed a schedule for the first talks with the United States, aiming at the end of February. However, considering the situation of the elderly President Biden, it is estimated that the US government has delayed the schedule since vaccination began. April proposed by the United States can be thought of as the’fastest’ date the United States was able to propose when considering the situation such as Corona 19 and vaccination. Then, what will be the schedule of President Moon Jae-in’s first visit to the United States? President Moon also said at a New Year’s press conference in January that he would like to hurry to communicate with the United States to restart the’peace process on the Korean peninsula’. However, the United States is putting more emphasis on Japan, which actively cooperates with its strategy to contain the public and the’Quad’, a security consultative group of four countries, including the United States, Japan, Australia, and India. Therefore, it is certain that the US-Japan summit will take place before the ROK-US. Looking at the past experience, there is only one precedent that since 2000, the Korean president met the new US president before the Japanese prime minister. The protagonist was President Kim Dae-jung. President Kim advanced the schedule of the meeting to early March in order to obtain US agreement on the Sunshine Policy he was pursuing. However, the talks, which took place without a review of the US policy toward North Korea, ended in the worst failure ever.

Considering this situation, President Moon’s first visit to the United States is likely to be around the end of April to May after Prime Minister Suga’s visit to the United States. The Blue House and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will make a desperate effort to ensure that President Moon’s visit to the US is scheduled to be’not too late’ than Prime Minister Suga. There are two itineraries for reference in this regard. First of all, President Moon is likely to face President Biden for the first time at the World Climate Summit proposed by President Biden. The meeting will be held on video on Earth Day, April 22nd. Also, President Moon has been invited by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to the G7 Summit held in Britain this year. This meeting will take place from 11 to 13 June in Cornwall, UK. The point to watch in the future is whether President Moon will be able to hold a stand alone talk with President Biden in Washington in May at the latest. If the schedule on the US side is not satisfactory, the White House is likely to propose that’we will meet in the UK in early June, so let’s have a face-to-face talk’. If the schedule is set in this way, it can only be concluded that the United States also considers the importance of Japan several times more important than Korea. From the standpoint of Korea, I have no choice but to feel great sadness. Will President Biden meet President Moon in Washington or Cornwall? Sometimes this seemingly trivial schedule can be a meaningful indicator of where the country’s diplomacy is heading now. However, if you make a prediction, it would be Washington. History of the ROK-US alliance It is a very important alliance that the United States calls the linchpin of prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. By Gil Yoon-hyung, staff reporter [email protected]