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| President Moon Jae-in holds his first telephone talks with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden at Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday. / Joint press corps |
Biden reaffirms security commitment to South Korea
By Kang Seung-woo
The government's attempt to reach out to U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and his aides needs to be made carefully, according to diplomatic experts, Thursday, even though such a gesture is not at all improper.
Since the former vice president was projected to secure the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House late last week, the administration and politicians have hurried to meet or communicate with those linked to his camp.
In line with the move, President Moon Jae-in had a phone conversation with Biden, Thursday; and during the 14-minute talks they agreed to work closely together to resolve the North Korea nuclear issue.
"Moon asked Biden to communicate closely for a forward-looking development of the alliance, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the establishment of lasting peace," presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok said.
Biden reaffirmed the U.S. security commitment to South Korea and said he would closely cooperate to resolve the North Korea issue, calling South Korea a "linchpin" of security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, according to Kang.
They also agreed to cooperate on other issues such as the fight against COVID-19 and climate change, agreeing to meet at an early date.
Besides Moon, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha also met with Senators Chris Coons and Chris Murphy, close allies to Biden, in Washington, D.C., Tuesday (local time) during her visit to the country.
However, there are some concerns that Seoul's hurried act may upset the Donald Trump administration and the Republican Party, with them still putting forward conspiracy theories regarding the election. The U.S. conservative political party is projected to retain a majority in the Senate for the time being and exert influence on U.S. policy toward North Korea.
"There is nothing wrong with treating Biden as the president-elect and reaching out to him, as foreign leaders like Angela Merkel and others have rightly done," said Daniel Sneider, an international policy expert at Stanford University.
"That is a normal part of the transition process in the U.S. and the fact that Trump refuses to concede should not be a consideration."
Bruce Klingner, a former CIA analyst and senior researcher at the Heritage Foundation, also said South Korea's reaching out to the apparent winner to lay the groundwork for establishing relations with the new administration was "customary."
"Even prior to elections, countries will engage with senior leaders or legislators from both parties to maintain relationships and be positioned for any change in administration rather than waiting until inauguration," he said.
Although the experts agreed that South Korea's move is "prudent," some are also worried that the government seems to be in quite a hurry as the incumbent administration is refusing to concede, which may negatively affect the national interest.
"The Trump administration will run until Jan. 20 and if it is displeased with South Korea's leaning toward the Biden administration, it may not cooperate on transfer policy documents on South Korea-related issues to its successor. Also, we need to be cautious about falling out of favor with the Republican Party, which is expected to secure the majority in the Senate and stands against Biden," said Park Won-gon, a professor of international politics at Handong Global University.
Klingner said, "Some might, however, advise foreign nations to wait on making congratulatory calls until all of the various lawsuits have made their way through the courts and the incumbent administration concedes defeat."
Sneider advised government officials and politicians to refrain from traveling to the U.S. recklessly, which could backfire.
"I think it is a bit premature for Korean officials and politicians to be flying to Washington to try to meet Biden aides and others. It smacks of a bit of desperation on the part of the Moon administration to try to preserve their policy of engagement with North Korea," he said.
Saying that the foreign minister's meeting with Biden's aides on the sidelines of her ministerial talks with State Secretary Mike Pompeo was comprehensible, Sneider added, "But other visits, such as one I understand the minister of unification may be planning, make little sense to me."
Pompeo expressed discomfort over phone conversations between Biden and leaders of other countries. In an interview with Fox News, Tuesday, saying it would be fine if the calls were to say just hi, but "we have one president, one secretary of state, one national security team at a time."
