Be careful not to take anti-China stance
President Yoon Suk-yeol will make his multilateral diplomatic debut when he attends a NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, June 29 and 30. Yet he needs to take a pragmatic, but careful approach toward security cooperation with NATO as the summit offers both opportunities and challenges for Korea.
National Security Office (NSO) Director Kim Sung-han said that Yoon's attendance at the summit will achieve three purposes. The first is to strengthen the "value-based solidarity" with the 30 NATO member nations to promote common values such as democracy and human rights. The second is to lay the groundwork for a "comprehensive security network" with the transatlantic alliance. The third is to find ways to better cope with emerging security threats, including cyber and aerospace threats as well as climate change. Korea plans to set up a mission to NATO in Brussels, Belgium.
More importantly, Yoon is expected to call for NATO's help in dealing with North Korea's nuclear weapons program. It is necessary for Seoul to work more closely with the United States and other NATO members in prodding Pyongyang to move toward denuclearization, peace and stability. He will also discuss how to step up economic collaboration with the organization in such fields as nuclear energy, semiconductors and renewable energy. In addition, he plans to make a pitch for South Korea's bid to host the 2030 World Expo in Busan.
There are high hopes that Yoon will expand the country's diplomatic horizons by actively engaging in multilateral diplomacy during the summit. He is scheduled to have a three-way summit with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The meeting, if held, will be the first of its kind in four years and nine months. However, a much-anticipated bilateral meeting between Yoon and Kishida will not be held due to the continuing conflicts over thorny historical issues such as wartime forced labor and sex slavery. This could have negative implications over Yoon's efforts to mend ties with Japan.
We hope Yoon will produce successful results from the NATO summit to ensure our country's security and ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia. But we cannot be all optimistic because the summit will take place against the backdrop of a new Cold War between Western democracies and their rivals ― China and Russia. The NATO members are likely to adopt a new strategic concept to expand its role beyond the North Atlantic region to respond to threats from China in the Asia-Pacific. This concept is in keeping with Biden's efforts to expand the international coalition against Beijing.
Last week, Beijing and Washington exchanged barbs over the NATO summit. China's foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin expressed Beijing's objection to four Asia-Pacific countries ― South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand ― taking part in the summit as partner nations. He said the Asia-Pacific is beyond the geographical scope of the North Atlantic. In response, U.S. National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said that China does not have the authority to veto which international meetings Korea should attend, adding that the summit is not about creating an "Asian version of NATO."
The Korean presidential office said Yoon's attendance at the summit has nothing to do with any anti-China policy, dismissing Beijing's objection. Seoul needs to do more to make sure that Yoon's diplomatic debut at the NATO gathering does not represent an anti-China stance. Now Yoon faces a daunting task of strengthening Korea's alliance with the U.S. and partnership with NATO without drawing a backlash from China amid the escalating superpower rivalry.
President Yoon Suk-yeol will make his multilateral diplomatic debut when he attends a NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, June 29 and 30. Yet he needs to take a pragmatic, but careful approach toward security cooperation with NATO as the summit offers both opportunities and challenges for Korea.
National Security Office (NSO) Director Kim Sung-han said that Yoon's attendance at the summit will achieve three purposes. The first is to strengthen the "value-based solidarity" with the 30 NATO member nations to promote common values such as democracy and human rights. The second is to lay the groundwork for a "comprehensive security network" with the transatlantic alliance. The third is to find ways to better cope with emerging security threats, including cyber and aerospace threats as well as climate change. Korea plans to set up a mission to NATO in Brussels, Belgium.
More importantly, Yoon is expected to call for NATO's help in dealing with North Korea's nuclear weapons program. It is necessary for Seoul to work more closely with the United States and other NATO members in prodding Pyongyang to move toward denuclearization, peace and stability. He will also discuss how to step up economic collaboration with the organization in such fields as nuclear energy, semiconductors and renewable energy. In addition, he plans to make a pitch for South Korea's bid to host the 2030 World Expo in Busan.
There are high hopes that Yoon will expand the country's diplomatic horizons by actively engaging in multilateral diplomacy during the summit. He is scheduled to have a three-way summit with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The meeting, if held, will be the first of its kind in four years and nine months. However, a much-anticipated bilateral meeting between Yoon and Kishida will not be held due to the continuing conflicts over thorny historical issues such as wartime forced labor and sex slavery. This could have negative implications over Yoon's efforts to mend ties with Japan.
We hope Yoon will produce successful results from the NATO summit to ensure our country's security and ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia. But we cannot be all optimistic because the summit will take place against the backdrop of a new Cold War between Western democracies and their rivals ― China and Russia. The NATO members are likely to adopt a new strategic concept to expand its role beyond the North Atlantic region to respond to threats from China in the Asia-Pacific. This concept is in keeping with Biden's efforts to expand the international coalition against Beijing.
Last week, Beijing and Washington exchanged barbs over the NATO summit. China's foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin expressed Beijing's objection to four Asia-Pacific countries ― South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand ― taking part in the summit as partner nations. He said the Asia-Pacific is beyond the geographical scope of the North Atlantic. In response, U.S. National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said that China does not have the authority to veto which international meetings Korea should attend, adding that the summit is not about creating an "Asian version of NATO."
The Korean presidential office said Yoon's attendance at the summit has nothing to do with any anti-China policy, dismissing Beijing's objection. Seoul needs to do more to make sure that Yoon's diplomatic debut at the NATO gathering does not represent an anti-China stance. Now Yoon faces a daunting task of strengthening Korea's alliance with the U.S. and partnership with NATO without drawing a backlash from China amid the escalating superpower rivalry.
