The death of ‘like-minded’ diplomacy and what it means for South Korea



Evergreen The death of ‘like-minded’ diplomacy and what it means for South Korea As the West drifts apart, Seoul must rethink its foreign policy to avoid being stranded in a geopolitical no-man’s-land Jeongmin KimFebruary 20, 2025 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance speaks at the Munich Security Conference, Feb. 2025 \| Image: Munich Security Conference/Conzelmann, edited by Korea Pro Editor’s note: Jeongmin Kim attended the Munich Security Conference as part of the Munich Young Leaders 2025 delegation through partial funding by the Körber-Stiftung Foundation. As rumors flew around the corridors of the Bayerischer Hof about potential U.S.-Russia peace negotiations over Ukraine, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance took the center stage at the 61st Munich Security Conference and delivered a speech that left European leaders visibly shaken. The tension in the room was palpable. Just a day before, an Afghan asylum seeker had driven a car into a crowd miles away, killing two and injuring dozens. Vance seized on this © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. LATEST ANALYSIS 01Lee Jae Myung’s ‘pacemaker’ strategy tests South Korea’s leverage with Trump 02Trump’s Korea investment victory lap masks safeguards Seoul still controls 03North Korean POW dispute tests Seoul-Kyiv trust and future Ukraine policy 04South Korea’s CPTPP push exposes the cost of turning trade gains into consensus 05AI storage boom gives South Korea battery makers an EV overcapacity lifeline 06South Korea’s Mexico strategy runs into the hard limits of USMCA politics 07Preschool test ban forces South Korea’s English hagwons to rethink placement 08Lee Jae Myung’s Wall Street pitch tests South Korea’s capital market credibility

Evergreen

The death of ‘like-minded’ diplomacy and what it means for South Korea

As the West drifts apart, Seoul must rethink its foreign policy to avoid being stranded in a geopolitical no-man’s-land

Jeongmin KimFebruary 20, 2025

The death of ‘like-minded’ diplomacy and what it means for South Korea

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance speaks at the Munich Security Conference, Feb. 2025 | Image: Munich Security Conference/Conzelmann, edited by Korea Pro

Editor’s note: Jeongmin Kim attended the Munich Security Conference as part of the Munich Young Leaders 2025 delegation through partial funding by the Körber-Stiftung Foundation.

As rumors flew around the corridors of the Bayerischer Hof about potential U.S.-Russia peace negotiations over Ukraine, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance took the center stage at the 61st Munich Security Conference and delivered a speech that left European leaders visibly shaken.

The tension in the room was palpable. Just a day before, an Afghan asylum seeker had driven a car into a crowd miles away, killing two and injuring dozens. Vance seized on this

The death of ‘like-minded’ diplomacy and what it means for South Korea

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Jeongmin Kim