When the Yoon Suk-yeol administration released its “Strategy for a Free, Peaceful and Prosperous Indo-Pacific Region” last month, the document stated that Seoul would “seek to gradually expand nodes of cooperation with the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad).” Specifically, Seoul would start by cooperating on infectious disease, climate change and emerging technologies.

President Yoon has signaled that he wants to join the Quad since taking office, but Washington stated flatly that the “Quad will remain the Quad,” and nothing suggests it has changed its mind since. 

Simply put, the two “ironclad” allies end up on different sides