{"id":2197032,"date":"2022-06-22T19:04:47","date_gmt":"2022-06-22T10:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/pro\/?p=2197032"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:12:15","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:12:15","slug":"yoon-spurns-balancing-between-us-and-china-with-foreign-policy-picks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2022\/06\/yoon-spurns-balancing-between-us-and-china-with-foreign-policy-picks\/","title":{"rendered":"Yoon spurns balancing between US and China with foreign policy picks"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol has shown a <\/span>clear pattern<\/span><\/a> of appointing technocrats to key posts in his administration, and that preference has carried over to foreign policy picks that reflect his goal of more <\/span>closely aligning<\/span><\/a> with the U.S.<\/span><\/p>\n

The foreign policy team of Yoon\u2019s predecessor Moon Jae-in featured a number of people who did not have a diplomatic background. Many of these officials supported either the Sunshine Policy that advocates engaging North Korea or the so-called balancer theory that calls for retaining some distance from both China and the U.S. Of special importance was Yonsei University professor Moon Chung-in and academics connected to him, collectively known as the Yonsei faction.<\/span><\/p>\n

The composition of Yoon\u2019s foreign policy team is quite different, though the appointees have quite a bit in common. All in their 60s, most of them have experience in both foreign policy and domestic politics. And most notably, many of them specialize in U.S. relations and alliance management, which speaks to Yoon\u2019s intention to reorient South Korean foreign policy away from the framework of <\/span>strategic ambiguity<\/span><\/a> between Beijing and Washington.<\/span><\/p>\n

YOON\u2019S TEAM<\/b><\/p>\n

In South Korea\u2019s political system, there are essentially five key roles that shape the nation\u2019s foreign policy: national security adviser, foreign minister, defense minister, unification minister and director of the National Intelligence Service.<\/span><\/p>\n

The newly appointed national security adviser is Kim Sung-han, a professor at Korea University and a leading expert known for his consistent and ardent support of U.S.-centered foreign policy. He previously worked as vice foreign minister in the Lee Myung-bak administration<\/span><\/p>\n

Kim\u2019s first deputy Kim Tae-hyo is another professor known for his active support of the U.S.-ROK alliance, as well improving relations with Japan. Kim Tae-hyo also worked under Lee Myung-bak as presidential national security strategy secretary.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

South Korea’s president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol announces his nominees for key posts, including Kwon Young-se as unification minister | Image: Yoon’s spokesperson office (April 13, 2022)<\/p><\/div>\n

National Assembly member Park Jin has taken the position of foreign minister. Park began his career as a diplomat in the foreign ministry but quit after just a year to resume his studies. He has since worked in the Blue House and been elected to the parliament four times, recently serving as head of the Korea-America Association.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yoon selected three-star General Lee Jong-sup, who has worked closely with the U.S. Forces Korea and on U.S.-ROK combined command structures, to serve as his defense minister. His appointment constitutes a minor break with tradition as the defense minister position usually goes to a four-star army general, though Moon Jae-in did appoint a navy admiral.<\/span><\/p>\n

The one exception to Yoon\u2019s pattern of appointing professionals is his selection of Kwon Young-se to lead the unification ministry. Kwon started his career in law enforcement and then got involved in domestic politics in the early 2000s, becoming a National Assembly member. From 2013-15, he served as the South Korean ambassador to China.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kwon is a political heavyweight but not a North Korea specialist or technocrat. However, his first deputy Kim Ki-ung is a career official who has been involved with nearly every inter-Korean negotiation since the early 1990s.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yoon\u2019s pick for director of the National Intelligence Service is somewhat surprising. Usually presidents give this position to someone they closely trust, often career politicians or law enforcement officials. But Yoon went with the career diplomat Kim Kyu-hyeon, somebody he had never met in person, for the highly sensitive position.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new spymaster once worked in Park Geun-hye\u2019s Blue House, and interestingly, when Yoon was prosecuting the Park administration after her impeachment, Kim Kyu-hyeon came under investigation and was even briefly arrested.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another important position is that of South Korean ambassador to the U.S. This post went to Cho Tae-yong, another professional diplomat and U.S. specialist who previously served as vice minister of foreign affairs, responsible for North Korean nuclear issues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, it\u2019s worth considering the new prime minister Han Duck-soo. While Han is an economist and longtime official, he also served as the ambassador to the U.S. from 2009 to 2012 and is known for actively supporting free trade agreements, including with the U.S. Thus Han\u2019s selection dovetails with not only Yoon\u2019s economic agenda but also his foreign policy priorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

South Korean foreign minister Park Jin and his U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken | Image: Park Jin’s Facebook page<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

WHAT TO EXPECT<\/b><\/p>\n

When it comes to economic management, Yoon is expected to switch many responsibilities from the Office of the President to the prime minister\u2019s office. But this does not appear likely to be the case for foreign policy, with the president\u2019s office and especially National Security Advisor Kim Sung-han likely to make major decisions.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s noteworthy that Yoon\u2019s team has a remarkable number of people who used to work for President Lee Myung-bak. This is quite logical when one considers that Yoon is quite hostile to the personnel of his predecessor and is not particularly fond of people who used to work under Park Geun-hye, whom he played a major role in impeaching as a former prosecutor.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first product of Yoon\u2019s foreign policy team was the joint U.S.-ROK statement that came out of Yoon\u2019s recent <\/span>summit<\/span><\/a> with U.S. President Joe Biden. The statement envisions a departure from the policy of balancing that both Moon Jae-in and Park Geun-hye promoted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This shows Yoon is decisively steering South Korean foreign policy back toward a pro-U.S. orientation. While for now this is mainly a shift in <\/span>rhetoric<\/span><\/a>, there has been evidence of concrete action in this direction, such as the Yoon administration\u2019s <\/span>efforts<\/span><\/a> to <\/span>address<\/span><\/a> U.S. complaints about the poor facilities of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) base.<\/span><\/p>\n

Edited by Bryan Betts<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Domestic Politics<\/span><\/a>Inter-Korean & Foreign Relations<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol has shown a clear pattern of appointing technocrats to key posts in his administration, and that preference has carried over to foreign policy picks that reflect his goal of more closely aligning with the U.S. The foreign policy team of Yoon\u2019s predecessor Moon Jae-in featured a number of people who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3665,"featured_media":2197034,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[27,28],"yoast_head":"\nYoon spurns balancing between US and China with foreign policy picks - KOREA PRO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2022\/06\/yoon-spurns-balancing-between-us-and-china-with-foreign-policy-picks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yoon spurns balancing between US and China with foreign policy picks - 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