South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol’s visit to the United States next month to mark the 70th anniversary of the US-ROK alliance is expected to serve as an opportunity to further strengthen the alliance between the two countries. In addition, strategic agendas on the Korean Peninsula and the region, such as strengthening extended deterrence against North Korea and trilateral cooperation between the United States and Japan, are expected to be addressed. Reporter Kim Hwan-yong reports from Seoul.
The governments of the two countries, the United States and the Republic of Korea, officially announced the schedule for the summit through President Yoon Seok-yeol’s state visit to the United States in April, and began to coordinate key agendas in earnest.
See also: US “US-ROK partnership at unprecedented level… President Yun’s state visit will deepen US-Korea relations”
This is the third summit between President Biden and President Yoon.
The fact that President Yoon’s visit to the US is made as a state visit, the highest level of honor, seems to be a decision considering the historical symbolism of the 70th anniversary of the US-ROK alliance this year. It is the first state visit by a Korean president in 12 years since former President Lee Myung-bak’s visit to the United States in 2011.
According to the Office of the President of Korea, the two leaders will discuss deterrence against North Korea, advanced technology and economic security, cultural and human exchanges, and regional and international issues at the Washington summit on the 26th of next month.
Taking the opportunity of President Yoon’s visit to the United States this time, the two countries are also discussing issuing a joint statement to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the alliance.
A high-ranking Korean government official met with Korean correspondents in Washington, DC on the 7th and said, “A joint meeting with specific details, such as looking back on 70 years, evaluating the current alliance, how to upgrade bilateral relations to the next level, and how to implement a stronger ‘US-ROK alliance in action’. We need a statement,” he said.
At this summit, it is expected that measures to strengthen extended deterrence against North Korea in response to North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats will be discussed.
Park Won-gon, professor of North Korean Studies at Ewha Womans University, predicted that the possibility of a new plan coming out this time is not high, given that the US-ROK alliance agenda, including extended deterrence against North Korea, was dealt with in detail at the summit in May last year, and the results are currently in progress.
Professor Park said that President Yoon’s visit to the US, including the summit, will focus on maximizing the symbolism of the 70th anniversary of the US-ROK alliance.
[녹취: 박원곤 교수] “It is important to what level the remarks from President Biden are. No matter what kind of nuclear weapons North Korea uses, there is a message that the United States will punish with a much stronger nuclear capability asymmetrically, but that message will come from the mouth of President Biden at the highest level.”
Kim Eun-hye, senior secretary for public relations at the Office of the President of the Republic of Korea, said that President Yoon’s visit to the United States will serve as a historic milestone for the US-ROK alliance to evolve more actively in preparation for the rapidly changing international situation and future uncertainties.
Dr. Cho Han-beom of the Korea Institute for National Unification, a national research institute under the Korean government, evaluated that President Yoon’s visit to the United States was made with the judgment of the leaders of both countries that the United States’ Indo-Pacific strategy and Korea’s foreign strategy coincide in a time of turbulent international situations.
In particular, Dr. Cho expected that this summit would lead to strengthening cooperation between the US and Japan on the Korean Peninsula and regional strategic level, given that the Biden administration welcomed the forced labor solution announced by the Yoon Seok-yeol government as a breakthrough in improving Korea-Japan relations. I did.
[녹취: 조한범 박사] “From the standpoint of the United States, it has been pursuing the restoration of the Korea-US-Japan axis in Northeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific region during the era of strategic competition between the US and China and the reorganization of the world order. Therefore, it is a situation where President Yoon’s breakthrough in Korea-Japan relations is quite welcome. Therefore, strengthening strategic solidarity in that aspect is the most important goal for the United States.”
It is known that consultations are also underway between the United States and Korea for President Yoon’s joint speech to the U.S. Congress and the House of Representatives.
A senior South Korean government official said, “It has not been decided yet, but the United States is also working with an open attitude.”
So far, the Korean president has made six state visits to the United States, and among them, five speeches have been made at joint meetings of the Senate and House of Representatives.
Kim Hyun-wook, a professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Korea, said the speech to the US Congress itself would be a powerful symbolic event for the 70th anniversary of the US-ROK alliance.
[녹취: 김현욱 교수] “From the standpoint of the United States, it means that the current government and the current ROK-US alliance are very important, and it is very important in the sense that Korea’s positive image towards the American people can be improved again by the Korean president’s speech in the US Congress, which is the representative of the American people. It looks like an opportunity.”
In Korea, attention is being paid to whether President Yoon’s visit to the United States will find a way to resolve the disadvantages that Korean companies will receive due to the implementation of the US Semiconductor Support Act, Inflation Reduction Act, and IRA.
The U.S. Semiconductor Support Act promised to pay a total of $39 billion in subsidies to companies building semiconductor factories in the country, but added conditions such as sharing of excess profits, and the IRA announced that it would pay subsidies of up to $7,500 only to electric vehicles finally assembled in North America. I put it.
Meanwhile, the United States and South Korea are closely monitoring the possibility of North Korea’s various armed provocations next month.
The possibility of a large-scale provocation by North Korea around the time of President Yoon’s visit to the United States is being raised.
Imchul Lim is a professor at the Center for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University.
[녹취: 임을출 교수] “It is highly likely that North Korea will express its dissatisfaction in some way in this area where its position is narrowed and pressured by the ROK-US alliance or the strengthening of extended deterrence. As one of the ways to express their dissatisfaction, it is highly likely that they will launch a reconnaissance satellite or launch a solid fuel ICBM that they have already announced.”
The National Intelligence Service of South Korea reported in a National Assembly Intelligence Committee work report on the 7th that North Korea may conduct nuclear exercises and launch new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) or military reconnaissance satellites by next month.
See also: South Korean National Intelligence Service “Possibility of North Korea launching new ICBM and reconnaissance satellite in March-April… Kim Jong-un’s first son”
This is VOA News Kim Hwan-yong from Seoul.