Lee Jae-myung Calls for Strategic Ambiguity Between the U.S. and China
It appears that Lee Jae-myung wants to Finland-nize South Korea’s relationship between the U.S. and China:
South Korea is torn between the United States and China in their intensifying strategic competition, as Washington is a longtime security ally, while Beijing is the nation’s largest trading partner.
Korea Times
This situation has thereby led South Korea to take a stance of so-called strategic ambiguity, a policy of refraining from any overt actions that would suggest Seoul is taking sides.
However, calling into question why South Korea should be the one to bear the pressure of choosing between the two superpowers, Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), instead says that it should be the U.S. and China that vie to seek Seoul’s closer cooperation for their own interests. He calls this “national interest-centered pragmatic diplomacy,” and it’s the backbone of his foreign policy platform for the presidential election, scheduled for March 9, 2022.
“Amid the intensifying Sino-U.S. rivalry, South Korea has seen less room to maneuver, but I don’t think we deserve to face pressure to pick a side because we are maintaining strategic ambiguity,” Lee said in a joint interview with The Korea Times, Reuters and the South China Morning Post at the DPK’s headquarters in Seoul, Wednesday.
“South Korea is the world’s 10th-largest economy, while possessing the world’s sixth-most-powerful military, so why should we be pressured to make a choice in accordance with other countries’ interests? I think the situation is coming where we can make decisions independently, putting our national interests first,” he added. “Any thinking that we have to choose between the two is a very disgraceful approach.”
You can read more at the link, but it sounds like Lee just doesn’t want to decouple the South Korean economy from China like other countries have begun to do. He just wants to maintain the status quo. Decoupling from China would be extremely painful at first, but Australia’s recent example has shown that it can be done.
And why not? China takes care of China first. America takes care of America first. Why can’t South Korea take care of South Korea first?
The US economy is very much tied to China. Just look at Tesla and Apple who signed a secret deal with the Chinese government to develop China in exchange for letting Apple do business in China, and the Chinese government eliminating Apple’s competition from Samsung. The US demanding other countries to decouple from China… the US should set an example themselves.
What total nonsense. It was China which shot itself in its own foot, stopping Australian coal imports. It wasn’t Australia that stopped the coal sales themselves. Other than coal, much of Australian exports to China are still very much intact. Without exports to China, the Australian economy will lose 40% of its exports. Australia is even more heavily dependent on China than South Korea.
This theory of decoupling is just that, just a wishful thinking.
First, Finland had to defeat the Soviets and then join the Nazis.
The USA might be a bad neighbor sometimes, but the Chinese are bullies. As more of the world unites against China, Korea will have to make a choice to remain more or less free, or knuckle under to China. If you thought the Japanese were harsh colonial masters, wait until the PLA takes over all the military facilities, and the MSS has an office on every block.
This dude will start leaving tribute at the western gate for his emperor in china…
Wrong, Flyingsword. This dude is a no-nonsense guy who promises not to give any undeserved tributes to either China AND the USA. He’s the only presidential candidate ever that promises to wipe out the Chinese illegal fishing in Korean waters, as well as to promises not to put up with the US $5 billion a year financial blackmail demands while treating South Korea as a US backyard. What makes you think he’s going to put up with China’s shenanigans? Because he’s not kissing on the American behinds?
but it sounds like Lee just doesn’t want to decouple the South Korean economy from China like other countries have begun to do.
Which countries?
Despite the overall unpopularity of the CCP, major corporations haven’t exactly ‘decoupled’ from the PRC.
Take Apple. It’s still producing iPhones in the PRC.
And Airbus is still assembling Airbus planes in China for the Chinese market.
Also @GIKorea seems to have forgotten that in a capitalist economy, the government can’t exactly call the shots in regards to corporate decisionmaking.
Lee JaeMyung can’t order the chaebols to decouple from China and if the chaebols feel that there is no benefit from decoupling they will keep things as it is.
That’s the reality of how corporations work.
Also people seem to forget that out of the Quad, only one country shares a land border with the PRC.
And India despite being qualitatively inferior to the PLA still has the quantitative mass and a nuclear deterrent to boot, in addition to the longtime historic animosity with the PRC.
Which means they can afford to join the Quad and not worry about backlash from the PRC.
The ROK on the hand shares a land border with the PRC via the DPRK and the nearest Chinese city of Qingdao, which is also home to a major PLAN naval base is 45 minutes away by plane.
That and the fact that the ROK military has nowhere as the mass as the PLA and no nuclear deterrent means that the ROK needs to walk a fine line in regards to relations with the PRC.
So if the US really wants the ROK to join and expand the Quad, it should be ready to provide security guarantees like access to nuclear weapons and nuclear subs.
But, of course we know that will never happen.
What has Quad done lately? Absolutely nothing other than they making fancy speeches and showboating around with naval exercises. When the balloon goes up, do you really believe Japan will be there for you when they’re too busy cutting backroom deals with China behind your backs? They may have fancy naval ships that sound impressive on paper, but their leadership is low quality, and the ships are manned by out of shape 45 years olds self-defense forces navy who rely on cell phones to call emergencies after their overvalued tin can warships get crushed after colliding with South Korean freight ships.