Chinese coercion has taken its toll on the South Korean economy, but it is prompting Seoul to reduce its exposure to China.
South Korea
The Washington Declaration is a big step forward in U.S.-South Korea relations. Seoul will have a much greater say in intel-sharing and nuclear strategy.
Seoul and Washington will want to send a message of unity in the face of saber-rattling — and worse — by North Korea, China, and Russia.
The Ukraine war and North Korea’s provocations have catalyzed renewed debate in South Korea over whether to develop a nuclear weapons program.
Demographic change within Asia’s aging powers leads to rising investment in Asia’s growing states, enabling them to leverage competition between China, Japan, and South Korea.
By learning from a MERS outbreak in 2015, South Korea was prepared and acted swiftly to ramp up testing when the new coronavirus appeared there. Meanwhile, the U.S., plagued by delay and dysfunction, wasted its advantage.
The dispute is being played out within a complex confluence of historical grievances, domestic politics, the ongoing US-China trade war, and a looming global recession.