HANKYOREH

APLN member Cheong Wook-sik writes on the US presidential election and argues that South Korea needs to be thoroughly prepared and emphasise the resumption of bilateral or multilateral dialogue with North Korea, regardless of who wins the election in November.

To summarize, it would make sense to state that while Choson may not have a preferred future US president, it is ready to respond to any situation.

That is the context in which Kim stated that both options of “negotiations or confrontation” remain. No longer is Choson the subservient party when it comes to relations with the US — it is now a powerful party in its own right.

As such, South Korea also needs to be thoroughly prepared. If the Yoon Suk-yeol administration continues with hard-line North Korea policies and places all its eggs in the basket of simply strengthening its trilateral alliance with the US and Japan, it will have to sit back and watch North Korea run amok if Harris wins, or be reduced to a loner on the sidelines if Trump emerges triumphant.

To avoid any embarrassment, South Korea should, no matter who wins the election in November, emphasize resuming bilateral or multilateral dialogue with our northern neighbor. We should start by refraining from “overwhelming displays of strength” and halting the spread of propaganda leaflets and loudspeaker broadcasts to the North.

Read the full article here.

Image: Wikimedia Commons