Without domestic support, foreign policy fails

Lee Ha-kyung

The author is a senior columnist of the JoongAng Ilbo.

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress last week was beyond expectations. His 43-minute speech — quite flawlessly delivered in English — brought 500 plus members of the House and Senate to their feet 23 times with roaring cheers and claps of approval. President Yoon casually joked “BTS beat me to the White House, but I beat them to Capitol Hill.” He was accompanied by the heads of Korean corporations Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor and SK, who had pledged billions of dollars of investment in America, during his state visit to the U.S.

The moment captures the stunning escalation of Korea’s standing in the 70-year history of bilateral alliance since the signing of the Korea-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty in 1953. U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy welcomed Yoon to the podium for taking a “historical step” in the bilateral relations.

The U.S. is an ally South Korean presidents must pay utmost attention to. U.S. President Harry Truman bypassed the usual procedure of asking Congressional approval for the declaration of war and immediately sent troops to South Korea when North Korea invaded the South on June 25, 1950. U.S. forces under Gen. Douglas MacArthur administering postwar Japan during the Allied occupation arrived at Suwon on June 29. After watching South Korean soldiers with no weapons in their hands trying to defend against the flood of invaders, the American war hero vowed to defend the country as if it had been his own. He pleaded with the U.S. to send more weapons and firearms as they were fighting with fists. The battalions under Col. Smith were immediately dispatched to South Korea as the first American-led ground troops followed by the sending of two Army divisions.

When the war turned unpredictable due to China’s intervention in December 1950, British prime minister Clement Attlee urged Truman to give up the war in Korea and concentrate U.S. forces on defending Europe. But Truman vehemently resisted. Battling with the 300,000 Chinese soldiers in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in freezing cold weather was like a living hell. Injured American soldiers pleaded to return to the battlefield. The Korea-U.S. alliance was forged just like that seven decades ago.

Yoon’s seven-day state visit to the U.S. has helped restore the mutual trust that was shaken under the previous government. The U.S. has proposed to create a permanent Nuclear Consultative Group, the first of its kind in Asia, to discuss deterrence capabilities and strategy. Those who called for South Korea’s own nuclear armaments or the redeployment of U.S. tactical weapons could be discontent. But the establishment of such a defense mechanism could be the first meaningful step to deal with a nuclear-armed North Korea.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, waves to members of the U.S. Congress after finishing a 43-minute speech, April 27, during his seven-day state visit to the United States.

The Yoon administration must work equally hard to persuade the public to share his diplomatic achievements in the U.S. and draw public support. It must move closer to the majority Democratic Party. The opposition party is meant to oppose. Its role is to raise different voices to the government. At the same time, the opposition can compensate for the imperfectness of the governing power. A democracy is not complete without the opposition. The government cannot materialize any of the agreements with the U.S. without the support from the majority party in the National Assembly.

President Yoon has been criticized for “shaming the country” and returning “empty-handed” from his summit in Tokyo and Washington. Opponents attack the president for drawing too little from the summits in return for his generous offerings. Korean companies have invested greatly in the U.S. and helped create a lot of jobs there. But the U.S. has not made any concessions for Korean companies in the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act. An American reporter even asked Biden why Washington was causing damage to its core ally. The U.S. must demonstrate goodwill through its follow-up actions.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will pay a visit to Seoul this Sunday. Yoon broke the diplomatic deadlock between the two countries by offering to compensate for the wartime forced labor through a ‘third-party’ solution before his visit to Tokyo. It is time for Kishida to return the goodwill. At the very least, he must express an apology in the deepest form.

Yoon caused an uproar from his critics for opposing an outright demand for Tokyo to kneel over what it did a century ago. Sentiment in Korea could change sharply if Kishida offers to kneel hundred or thousand times until Koreans forgive Japan. It would be a reciprocal gesture towards President Yoon who did his best to improve their future relationship. In December 1970, German chancellor Willy Brandt knelt before the memorial to the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland like a sinner. Germany prompted two world wars, but it had regained international trust by repeating apologies with sincerity. It unified itself and became a leader of Europe. Japan must go down the same path.

Foreign policy is an extension of domestic politics. Without internal support, no foreign policy can succeed. It is important to draw a comprehensive impetus to push ahead with the policies through persuasion at home. Kim Dae-jung was a president for the liberal front, but he had appointed far-right Kang In-duck as his first unification minister. The former president retained most of the Blue House staff of his predecessor from the rivaling party. Hans-Dietrich Genscher was a member of the liberal Free Democratic Party, a third party in West Germany, but he had served as ministers of the interior and foreign affairs under two difference chancellors of West Germany and became the longest serving cabinet member in the country. He helped to midwife the German union. Yoon must learn from them.

The president may be tempted to replay the scenes of the cheers of the Congress. But he must put them behind and draw support from his own people. A foreign policy without domestic support is like a tree without roots. Diplomacy cannot stand if it does not have the backing at the home turf.