Do Je-hae edits news stories as part of the AI team.
Pandemic highlights new diplomatic challenges for Korea
President Moon Jae-in speaks on the phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping at his residence at Cheong Wa Dae, May 13. Yonhap
By Do Je-hae
Human security, managing US-China antagonism to be key focus in Moon's diplomacy
By Do Je-hae
One of the huge differences in President Moon Jae-in's recent speech from previous occasions was the rare mention of diplomacy.
Rather than bilateral relations, Moon highlighted the concept of “human security,” as one of the keywords in his address.
“Building upon successful epidemic prevention efforts, we will lead international cooperation in the post-COVID-19 era while placing human security at the center,” Moon said in the special speech to mark his third year in office, May 10.
The remarks were seen to underline the need for Korea to adapt to the new concept of security in dealing with all factors threatening safety such as disasters, diseases and environmental issues, not just conventional military threats.
Experts who spoke to The Korea Times following the anniversary speech said some noticeable changes are expected in Korea's diplomacy in the wake of the pandemic.
“During the remainder of his term, human security will be the core topic as there is not much that can be done in the area of traditional security cooperation,” Hwang Jae-ho, a professor at the School of International Studies of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, told The Korea Times, May 11. “Even in relation to North Korea, he mentioned human security as an item for inter-Korean cooperation.”
Moon left out ongoing difficulties in relations with major powers such as the U.S., Japan and China in the speech, leading to questions about whether this was due to an alleged lack of progress in his first three years in office.
“The main diplomatic focus right now is centered on sharing the Korean model for quarantine around the world and human security,” Hwang said. “Regarding criticisms about the lack of progress in issues with the U.S., China and Japan, it is not that our diplomacy was not effective. Rather, there was not much Korea could do to change things because their respective positions are so obstinate.”
The rocky Korea-U.S. negotiations over the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) to determine Korea's share of the cost for maintaining U.S. troops here have raised concerns about a weakening in the alliance during Moon's term.
On top of this, Moon's diplomatic team has also been criticized by the opposition and conservative members of the Korean public for its handling of Korea-Japan relations, particularly with the decision last August to terminate a bilateral military intelligence pact, the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), and then reversing the decision a few months later.
“President Moon's diplomacy for the first three years in office was rather underwhelming,” said Lee Seong-hyon, director at the Center for Chinese Studies at the Sejong Institute. “South Korea's relationship with the U.S. and Japan in this period have all deteriorated.”
New thinking on diplomacy
Some experts note the reduced focus in bilateral relations is natural, given that the world is preoccupied with fighting a transnational problem at the moment. Against this backdrop, leaders and policymakers need to go beyond 20th-century geopolitical ideas, according to analysts.
“As we're experiencing with the pandemic, the traditional approach to foreign policy needs to be rethought,” John Delury, a professor at the Graduate School of International Studies at Yonsei University, said in a phone interview with The Korea Times. “In South Korea, in particular, there is a traditionalist attitude of going country by country, like should the focus be U.S., China or Japan? But what we are seeing with the COVID-19 is how you cannot think in bilateral terms and country by country. First of all, the threats are transnational. But also solutions are transnational.”
“I think that President Moon and the government are doing a very good job of finding ways to create some solutions and models of cooperation even in the midst of this pandemic. So that should be absolute top priority for the next two years to get beyond the kind of 20th-century geopolitical ideas about country by country and instead think in new kind of ways.”
President Moon Jae-in, center, prepares to participate in a special teleconference of G20 leaders at his office at Cheong Wa Dae, March 26. Courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae
The presidential office and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) have stressed that Moon's active diplomacy in the wake of COVID-19 has raised the country's stature by displaying its leadership and expertise in responding to a common global problem. Moon has spoken with more than 30 leaders and participated in G20 and ASEAN teleconferences to share Korea's knowhow in dealing with the pandemic, according to the presidential office.
US-China antagonism
Even though Moon deserves some credit for his active diplomatic engagement amid the pandemic, concerns are mounting about the persistent challenges ahead, particularly due to the rising U.S.-China tension in the aftermath of COVID-19.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called the coronavirus the “Chinese virus,” said that the pandemic was a worse “attack” than Pearl Harbor during a recent press conference. “This is worse than Pearl Harbor, this is worse than the World Trade Center. There's never been an attack like this,” Trump said, ramping up his blame game with China. “Could've been stopped in China. It should've been stopped right at the source. And it wasn't.”
The rising tension between the U.S., Korea's most important ally, and China adds to the complexities surrounding Korea's diplomacy, which has traditionally placed a priority on the U.S., according to experts.
While the Moon admiration has also empathized the importance of keeping up the ironclad alliance with Washington, there has also been intense focus on rebuilding ties with Beijing that were hampered due to the dispute over the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, a U.S. missile system, on Korean soil.
“Managing U.S.-China antagonism is going to be a huge challenge,” Delury said. “There is no sign of significant improvement in U.S.-China relations. It's kind of a question of how bad they get, how quickly. So that's not good for South Korea. That's going to be very hard for Moon to manage.”
Cheong Wa Dae has placed huge priority on realizing Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Korea this year, the first time in six years, but experts are doubtful about the realization of the visit, and its outcome even if it does happen.
“With China, bilateral relations have been slowly recovering since the THAAD discord, not due to South Korea's diplomatic shrewdness, but because of Beijing's own needs to mend ties with Seoul to offset U.S. influence in the region,” Lee said.
Cheong Wa Dae has continued to stress that it is pushing for Xi to visit “as early as possible” this year despite the COVID-19 situation. During a phone call on May 13, Xi reaffirmed his wish to visit Korea this year.
“The visit could be possible in the latter half of the year when the COVID-19 crisis is expected to subside, but the visit is unlikely to take place in the immediate future,” Hwang said. “From the President's point of view, it will be best if it takes place within the year. But even if it doesn't, there is an understandable reason for it. If it happens despite COVID-19, then it will be a diplomatic achievement for President Moon.”
North Korea
Experts also advised the President not to rush inter-Korean relations in the waning phase of his term. “It's easy for President Moon to feel time pressure and therefore to try to ramp up progress on the North Korean frontier, as the clock is ticking for the remainder of this term. That's the wrong approach that previous presidents all fell into,” Lee said.
“What Moon should focus on is to heal the political and ideological polarization that has ravaged South Korean society for decades. Moon may want to become a president who unifies the two Koreas. But he needs to unify South Korean society first.”
After focusing on the New Southern Policy with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) last year, Cheong Wa Dae stressed that this year will be devoted to the New Northern Policy for cultivating more economic and cultural cooperation with countries situated north of the Korean Peninsula. The policy is also linked to Moon's priority for inter-Korean economic exchanges. But it has been sidelined since the outbreak of COVID-19.