South Korea-US alliance expands beyond security

President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Joe Biden hold a joint press conference at the White House following their first face-to-face summit, Friday (local time). AP-Yonhap

Moon, Biden agree on vaccine partnership, diplomatic approach to NK

By Jung Da-min, Joint Press Corps

The decades-long security alliance between South Korea and the United States seems to be having its range broadened after President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the economy and advanced technologies at their summit held in Washington D.C., Friday (local time).

Moon later wrapped up his five-day trip to the U.S., following the summit, and arrived home Sunday.

During the summit, the presidents reaffirmed the military alliance while promising to engage in talks with North Korea for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. They also agreed to establish a comprehensive economic and technological partnership that included securing supply chains for vaccines as well as semiconductors and electric batteries. In addition, Biden promised to provide COVID-19 vaccines for 550,000 South Korean troops.

The summit seemingly brought win-win outcomes for both leaders as each got what they really wanted for their own sides during their talks, which marked their first in-person meeting since Biden took office in January.

For Korea, the summit is expected to provide the impetus to revive Moon's peace initiative toward North Korea as a joint statement published afterwards reaffirmed that Washington's North Korea policy will be based on the 2018 Panmunjeom Declaration between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as well as the Singapore Joint Statement released by Kim and Biden's predecessor Donald Trump.

Also, South Korea secured a comprehensive vaccine partnership that includes Korean firms manufacturing U.S. approved vaccines, which will help placate concerns over shortages here.

"In my view, the summit has been a huge success for Korea," said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, an associate professor of international relations at King's College London.

"To begin with, Moon is going home with a promise that the U.S. will be sending vaccines for the Korean military. This way, Korea has received a promise that no other country has. I think this shows the high esteem in which the U.S. holds Korea."

For the U.S, the Biden administration secured a $39.45 billion investment from Korea's top four business groups ― Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK and LG ― in the semiconductor and electric vehicle battery sectors.

At the same time, the U.S garnered Korea's commitment to regional cooperation in the Asia Pacific region as the two nations agreed to "acknowledge the importance of open, transparent, and inclusive regional multilateralism, including the Quad," which will put Seoul in a tough position in dealing with China that has castigated the U.S.-led coalition in the region.

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Oh Mi-yeon, a director of the Asia Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council, said the summit was "a win for Washington and Seoul."

"Both leaders walked away with goodies. For Biden, that was a massive South Korean investment in secure, resilient supply chains for technologies such as semiconductors and high-capacity batteries, which have seen global shortages." The U.S. goal here, she added, was a "targeted decoupling" with China."

"A vaccine swap agreement did not come through, but South Korea was able to secure a targeted U.S. commitment to provide vaccines to 550,000 Korean soldiers who are in contact with U.S. forces in Korea," she said, adding that this was accompanied by a "KORUS Global Vaccine Partnership" which will ramp up production.

President Moon Jae-in visits SK Innovation's battery plant in Atlanta, Ga., Saturday (local time), the last day of his five-day visit to the United States. At right is SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. Yonhap

Among the events held alongside the summit to highlight the long military alliance between the countries, a White House Medal of Honor ceremony to honor a Korean War veteran drew special attention, with both Moon and Biden attending the event, Friday, ahead of their summit.

At the event, Biden presented Ralph Puckett Jr., a 94-year-old retired Army colonel, with the most prestigious military distinction for his acts of "conspicuous gallantry" during the 1950-53 Korean War. Moon became the first foreign leader to attend such a ceremony of its kind.

Moon also took part in a groundbreaking ceremony for the Wall of Remembrance at the Korean War Veterans Memorial the same day, following the summit.

The termination of the U.S. government's guidelines on South Korea's missile development programs has also drawn attention among defense experts, with Moon's aides saying the ending means "missile sovereignty" for South Korea.

As for expanding their economic partnership, the two leaders vowed to form new ties in dealing with the global issues of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic as well as strengthening cooperation and exchanges in the development of 5G and 6G technologies and semiconductors.

"President Biden and President Moon commit to work together to develop a future-oriented partnership by leading innovation in the areas of clean energy, such as next generation batteries, hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage, and in the emerging technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI), 5G, next generation communications network (6G), open-RAN technology, quantum technology, and bio-technology," the post-summit joint statement said.

Diplomatic experts said that the ties and cooperation between the countries are expected to be expanded and strengthened through the agreements made at the summit.

Cheong Seong-chang, a fellow at the Sejong Institute, said one of meaningful outcomes was that the two countries narrowed their differences on their North Korea policies.

"Key officials of the Biden administration initially had a very negative perception of the summit between former U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but they expressed their willingness to talk with North Korea based on existing agreements with the North," he said.

"In addition, through the joint statement after the summit, South Korea and the United States reaffirmed their common belief that diplomacy and dialogue based on the existing agreements between the two Koreas as well as those between the North and the U.S., such as the Panmunjeom Declaration and the Singapore Joint Statement, are essential in achieving the complete denuclearization of and permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula."

In such a context, Biden announced his appointment of former U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Sung Kim as a special envoy to North Korea, in what experts said was a sign of his willingness to engage in talks with Pyongyang.

President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Joe Biden hold a joint press conference at the White House following their first face-to-face summit, Friday (local time). AP-Yonhap
Graphic by Cho Sang-won