Korea's Forthcoming Foreign Policy Challenges
Tuesday, October 18, 2016 – The penultimate lecture of Asia Society Korea Center’s 2016 Monthly Luncheon Series took place on Tuesday at the JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square, Seoul. Dr. Han Sung-Joo, former Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea was in attendance at the sold out event to talk about “Korea's Forthcoming Foreign Policy Challenges”. Dr. Han is a Board Member at the Asia Society Korea Center, Chairman of the International Policy Studies Institute of Korea and President Emeritus at Korea University. He used his talk to discuss the foreign relations predicament of South Korea for the next few years, which although will encompass many challenges, may not be as difficult or dangerous as many commentators make out. What is important for him are the forthcoming presidential elections in both the U.S and Korea which matter very much because of the personnel involved and the time gap between the two elections.
Dr. Han started his lecture by talking about the 2013 optimism in Korea for an improvement in foreign relations following turbulent times with Japan, North Korea and China. Park Geun-Hye had come to power and the hope was the new administration would help build ties with estranged counterparts. Although dialogue with China initially improved, we have since experience a deterioration of relations to the point where many people perceive Korea’s foreign policies to be at crisis point. The threat of a nuclear North Korea remains and there are many contradictory messages coming out of the South about how to deal with the situation. From increasing sanctions and using a carrot and stick approach to trying to destabilize Kim Jong-Un or launching a preemptive strike, many people cannot agree on how to deal with the North.
Another big issue for Han is how Korea should deal with the new government in the U.S that will be sworn in after the elections in November; in particular, how active will the U.S continue to be in world affairs, especially in Asia. Throughout history, America has oscillated between engagement and withdrawal in oversees affairs; this continues with Obama highlighting how some issues are of great interest to the U.S while others are secondary. The important question for Korea is, how much will the U.S be willing to invest and pay in South Korea and more importantly, what kind of relationship will the new Korean government want with America?
Remaining challenges that Korea faces includes its relationship with China and how it should also conduct itself in U.S-China relations. China is Korea’s largest trading partner, even bigger than Japan and the U.S combined; while the U.S is Korea’s only true ally in the area. As we know, China and the U.S are vying for power in the Asia-Pacific region and Korea has to tread carefully as to not antagonize either nation. For Han, the final challenge for Korea is in finding and electing a leadership who can foster a consensus and harmony among the sharply divided nation on how to conduct and go about foreign policy issues in order to move forward as a united country.