THE KOREA TIMES

APLN member Kim Won-soo, former Under Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs of the United Nations, wrote for The Korea Times, arguing that South Korea must adopt a multifaceted strategy by strengthening its alliance with the United States, engaging in minilateral partnerships, and advancing multilateral cooperation to navigate the uncertainties of a Trump-influenced global landscape.

First and foremost, Korea must identify an optimal policy mix in managing its alliance relationship with the U.S. Bilateral coordination with the U.S. must be deepened in every important domain, particularly in the “2 Ds” (defense and diplomacy) and “2 Ts” (trade and technology). These four domains are increasingly interconnected as geopolitics these days are entangled with geo-economics and technological competition. In view of Trump’s top-down decision-making style, intimate personal rapport between the Trump and President Lee Jae Myung must also be nurtured carefully and given highest priority.

Secondly, bilateralism must be supplemented by minilateralism. Korea-U.S.-Japan trilateral relations should come first. Korea and Japan can and should also deepen their bilateral coordination, to manage their relationship and mitigate regional and Trumpism risks. Among others, Korea and Japan can coordinate quietly on their responses to defense burden-sharing and trade tariffs. The Korea-Japan-China trilateral relationship comes next, as it provides Korea with a valuable avenue to explore possible areas of cooperation with China, starting from domains of low political differences and high mutual vulnerability, such as climate, the environment and nuclear safety. Korea should be open-minded and proactive to other minilaterals such as the Quad, consisting of Australia, India, Japan and the United States.

Last but not least, Korea must play a proactive role in facilitating various forms of coalition-building through plurilateral, regional and global multilateralism to compensate for the growing gap in the provision of global public goods. Middle powers must step up to the plate. They can build bridges between the Global North and the rising Global South. This role will be critical until the dust settles on global governance. Through issue-based and multilayered coalitions of the willing, middle powers can also help the U.S. and China manage their hegemonic competition responsibly. Coping with existential threats against the whole of humanity requires the U.S. and China to find common ground for the collective good of themselves and humanity.

None of these tasks is easy. Each of them must be planned thoroughly and executed discreetly. Risk management and contingency planning must be included. Indeed, the global and regional geopolitical climate facing Korea is full of uncertainty and volatility. But I count on Korea’s resilience in steering it shrewdly so as to turn crisis into opportunity.

Read the full article here.

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