Bending to China may jeopardize Korea-US ties
A former U.S. government official warned that any decision by South Korea to yield to China’s trade curbs may jeopardize the Seoul-Washington alliance.
“Wrong decisions — anything seen as aid or compromise with the North Korean state — or bending to Chinese economic blackmail, could have disastrous consequences for our long-lived alliance and friendly relations,” Georgetown University School of Foreign Service professor William Brown told The Korea Times.
The warning came amid a deepening dispute between Seoul and Beijing as China is taking retaliatory measures against South Korea through a boycott of Korean products and pressuring tourism agencies not to book tours to Korea over the deployment of the U.S. advanced missile defense system.
Brown, who previously worked for the CIA, the Commerce Department and the National Intelligence Council, said that two countries could become detached if a new president were to draw the wrong lessons from Trump’s victory last year.
Korea’s new leader will be elected in a snap election on May 9.
He believes any wrong decision could make Trump take drastic action because Trump is under growing pressure from Americans who feel increasingly frustrated over military spending overseas.
“Washington think tanks and American — and many Korean — academics and pundits badly misread the degree to which Americans are growing weary of the costly military forces we have overseas leading to unsustainable federal fiscal and foreign trade deficits,” he said.
“They want a smaller, less costly and less taxing government. Trump wants a bigger military but he said he expects our allies, pointedly including Korea, to work harder to defend themselves. Some Americans incorrectly see Korea’s eco- nomic success as subtracting from the U.S. economy.”
The Washington-based Korea expert stressed it is important to understand that the Trump administration’s “America first” policy and Korean success are not at odds with each other.
“We are not rivals or even competitors,” he said. “Hopefully the new Korean leader and Trump can get together early on and iron out a new strategic plan for our relationship that will drive us to long-term economic stability and growth and success in dealing with North Korea.”
Against this backdrop, Brown advised Korea to build a stronger alliance with the U.S.