March 15, 2022
South Korea's New President Is Welcome Development for U.S. Policy on North Korea, China
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during a press conference at the National Assembly Library in Seoul, South Korea, (Photo by James Lee/Xinhua via Getty Images)
South Korea concluded a bitterly divisive presidential campaign season with the election of Yoon Suk-yeol on March 9. Both he and his opponent, Lee Jae-myung, engaged in a battle of mudslinging and accusations, making this an acrimonious campaign. Both candidates were highly unfavorable, making this a true “election of the undesirables.”

Heritage Senior Research Fellow Bruce Klingner writes <[link removed]> that Yoon, of the conservative People Power Party, will bring South Korea’s foreign and security policies into greater alignment with those
of the United States. This holds great promise for improved coordination on issues related to the U.S.-South Korea alliance, including bilateral policy toward North Korea and China. Yoon sees a strong alliance with the United States as the basis for South Korea’s foreign relations with North Korea, Japan, and China. He criticized incumbent President Moon Jae-in’s premature push for a return of wartime operational control of South Korean forces from the United Nations Command prior to Seoul having fulfilled agreed upon conditions. Instead, Yoon advocated for strengthening the alliance by resuming bilateral military exercises, which have been curtailed since 2018.

A Yoon presidency may lead to South Korea being more willing to assume a larger regional security role. Seoul has been reluctant to antagonize Beijing, and more recently, Moscow, due to concerns over the impact on its economic interests or jeopardizing Chinese and Russian support for facilitating improved inter-Korean relations.

Washington will privately welcome greater solidarity with Seoul on foreign and security issues. The Moon presidency was marked by strong policy divergences with the U.S., which Washington sought to publicly minimize rather than risking a rift with an important ally. However, Yoon will face great resistance to implementing his policies, due to the narrowness of his victory amongst a highly polarized electorate as well as the National Assembly being controlled by the opposition party.

North Korea will likely conduct additional prohibited missile launches and may further ratchet up tensions by returning to nuclear or intercontinental ballistic missile tests. North Korea will blame any future provocations on Yoon’s “hardline” policies, but the regime continued its threats, insults, and missile launches despite Moon’s obsequious toward Pyongyang.

Strong alliances are in the strategic interests of the United States, augmenting the nation’s military, intelligence, and diplomatic capabilities. South Korea is a stalwart ally that has fought alongside U.S. forces in every major conflict since the Korean War. The policies of incoming President Yoon Suk-yeol will remove impediments to closer alliance coordination and will more closely align with comprehensive efforts to address growing regional security challenges.
March 16, 2022 @ 3:00
pm EDT - The 2022 B.C. Lee Lecture featuring The Honorable Mike Pompeo <[link removed]>

The Heritage Foundation is honored to host former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for our signature event on U.S. policy in the Indo-Pacific. Heritage’s annual B.C. Lee Lecture on international affairs was endowed by the Samsung Group in honor of its founder, the late B.C. Lee, to focus on the U.S. relationship with the Indo-Pacific.

-