Korea did not feature a lot during the U.S. mid-term elections. As in any domestic election, national issues, such as the economy, topped the agenda, followed by the most urgent foreign issues like the Islamic State, Ebola and the Ukraine.
However, the Republican takeover of Congress, regardless of the fact Barack Obama will remain in office for two more years, could potentially have a lot of effects on this peninsula.
Think back to how the switch of power from Democrat to Republican in 2000 ruined President Kim Dae-jung's "sunshine policy" of engaging North Korea, aggravating the isolationist regime's play with nuclear fire.
Congressional leaders do not execute policies of course, but they can drive the White House in the direction they want.
If, for instance, the Republican-dominated Senate passes the long-shelved HR 1771 aimed at toughening sanctions on North Korea, and it responds with another nuclear test or long-range missile launch, the North's nuclear crisis will have crossed the point of no return. Given the GOP's keen interest in North Korea's human rights abuses, Pyongyang may feel additional heat from across the Pacific.
Also noteworthy will be U.S. Republicans' traditional hard-line policies toward China, as well as their relative sympathy to Japan and its military resurgence. If Capitol Hill's diplomatic pendulum swings toward Tokyo, it would pose a considerable challenge for South Korea, considering the strained relationship between the two Northeast Asian rivals, while posing a dilemma on Seoul in striking a diplomatic balance between Beijing and Tokyo.
Seoul also needs to watch out for any changes in U.S. economic policy.
Given the GOP's criticism of the U.S. Federal Reserve's quantitative easing and low-interest rate policy, the Fed's rate hike may come sooner than expected, giving Korea another economic headache. The traditional Republican advocacy for free trade could prove to be a double-edged sword for Korea: a boon for exporters, but a bane for trade bureaucrats, especially considering Seoul has yet to join the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership of free trade bloc.
As the international community has seen, the two major U.S. parties have maintained a bipartisan consistency in matters of national importance, such as security and trade, and will likely continue to do so. For South Korea to protect its national interests, the principles the Seoul government has to keep in mind remain unchanged: watch carefully the regional and global political developments and prepare, while maintaining its identity and independence no matter what changes with the surrounding powers.
Koreans who prefer relatively liberal U.S. Democrats may find comfort that Hillary Clinton is likely to run to become the next president of the U.S. if she decides so. Yet they must also remember it was a Democratic administration that planned to strike North Korea without even informing Seoul back in 1994.
However, the Republican takeover of Congress, regardless of the fact Barack Obama will remain in office for two more years, could potentially have a lot of effects on this peninsula.
Think back to how the switch of power from Democrat to Republican in 2000 ruined President Kim Dae-jung's "sunshine policy" of engaging North Korea, aggravating the isolationist regime's play with nuclear fire.
Congressional leaders do not execute policies of course, but they can drive the White House in the direction they want.
If, for instance, the Republican-dominated Senate passes the long-shelved HR 1771 aimed at toughening sanctions on North Korea, and it responds with another nuclear test or long-range missile launch, the North's nuclear crisis will have crossed the point of no return. Given the GOP's keen interest in North Korea's human rights abuses, Pyongyang may feel additional heat from across the Pacific.
Also noteworthy will be U.S. Republicans' traditional hard-line policies toward China, as well as their relative sympathy to Japan and its military resurgence. If Capitol Hill's diplomatic pendulum swings toward Tokyo, it would pose a considerable challenge for South Korea, considering the strained relationship between the two Northeast Asian rivals, while posing a dilemma on Seoul in striking a diplomatic balance between Beijing and Tokyo.
Seoul also needs to watch out for any changes in U.S. economic policy.
Given the GOP's criticism of the U.S. Federal Reserve's quantitative easing and low-interest rate policy, the Fed's rate hike may come sooner than expected, giving Korea another economic headache. The traditional Republican advocacy for free trade could prove to be a double-edged sword for Korea: a boon for exporters, but a bane for trade bureaucrats, especially considering Seoul has yet to join the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership of free trade bloc.
As the international community has seen, the two major U.S. parties have maintained a bipartisan consistency in matters of national importance, such as security and trade, and will likely continue to do so. For South Korea to protect its national interests, the principles the Seoul government has to keep in mind remain unchanged: watch carefully the regional and global political developments and prepare, while maintaining its identity and independence no matter what changes with the surrounding powers.
Koreans who prefer relatively liberal U.S. Democrats may find comfort that Hillary Clinton is likely to run to become the next president of the U.S. if she decides so. Yet they must also remember it was a Democratic administration that planned to strike North Korea without even informing Seoul back in 1994.
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