United States Secretary of State Anthony Blanken will embark on what is expected to be his last overseas trip in office, his first stop in crisis-hit South Korea where he will deal with the impeached president’s policies. Will try to encourage continuity.
He will meet with his counterpart Cho Tae-yol on Monday, the same day the arrest warrant for suspended President Yoon Seok-yol expires after he tried unsuccessfully to impose martial law on December 3.
Blanken is highlighting President Joe Biden’s alliance-building efforts and will then travel to Tokyo, making it important not to provoke South Korea, which has a fraught and often competitive relationship with Japan, in the eyes of his advisers. Where thousands of American soldiers are also present. .
Yoon was once a darling of the Biden administration with his bold moves to turn the page on friction with Japan and eye a greater role for South Korea on global issues.
Yoon joined Biden for a historic trilateral summit with Japan’s prime minister and – months before martial law was declared – was chosen to lead the World Democracy Summit, the outgoing is a signature move for the US administration.
Yoon also memorably wowed his hosts on a state visit by belting out “American Pie” at a White House dinner.
Blinken may face some criticism from South Korea for the visit, but he should be able to navigate the political crisis, said Sidney Seiler, a former U.S. intelligence officer now at the Center for Korea. Focused in Strategic and International Studies.
Blanken has a high enough profile to stay above the fray, he said, and can focus on challenges like China and North Korea.
“Blanken could relatively easily stop these domestic South Korean landmines and contextualize it rather than trying to prop up the ruling party or artificially create a sense of normalcy,” Seiler said. Where it’s not,” Seiler said.
In a statement, the State Department did not directly mention the political crisis but said Blanken would seek to maintain trilateral cooperation with Japan, including increased intelligence sharing on North Korea.
Change in both allies
Blankenship’s visit comes at a time of transition for both countries, with Trump returning to the White House on January 20.
Paradoxically, while Biden worked closely with the conservative Yoon, Trump enjoyed a warm relationship in his first term with then-progressive President Moon Jae-in, who made the U.S. president’s rapprochement with North Korea. Basic personal diplomacy is encouraged.
The Biden administration has emphasized since the crisis that it is reaching out to South Korean politicians across the divide, amid uncertainty over who will lead Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
Progressive opposition leader Lee Jae-myung – himself facing disqualification in a court case – supports diplomacy with North Korea.
But the former labor activist has also taken positions that differ from both Biden and Trump.
Lee has criticized the deployment of the US-made THAAD missile defense system, which Washington says is to protect against North Korea but which China sees as a provocation.
The South Korean left has long taken a hard line against Japan over its brutal 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean peninsula.
US officials said they had no warning of Yun’s imposition of martial law, which brought protesters to the streets.
Blanken told reporters last month that the crisis showed the strength of the institutions built in the three decades since South Korea embraced democracy.
“I think Korea is one of the most powerful stories in the world about the emergence of democracy and democratic resilience, and we will continue to look to Korea to set that example,” Blanken said.