President Lee Jae-myung, speaking amid signs of strain in the South Korea-U.S. alliance, said that "differences are bound to arise between nations" and that "in relations between countries, we must avoid a subservient or deferential attitude." Speaking at a Cabinet meeting on the 13th, Lee stressed that "the Republic of Korea's diplomatic principle is pragmatic, national-interest diplomacy." He also said the alliance with the United States "is extremely important," while adding that "managing relations with the major powers around us also remains important." Lee stepped in to set the course after the dispute over whether the alliance is fracturing spread beyond partisan argument to expose a rift within the government's foreign policy and security ranks between those favoring greater autonomy and those prioritizing the alliance.
No one would object to "national interest first" as a diplomatic principle. The problem is that the discord between the two countries has gone beyond ordinary differences to reach a highly unusual and worrying state. Even Kang Kyung-wha, ambassador to the United States, voiced frustration at a parliamentary audit held in Washington on the 12th, saying that "consultations at the senior level, as much as I would like to have them, are not taking place to the extent I want, to a degree that frustrates even me." U.S. restrictions on sharing intelligence on North Korea have also continued since Unification Minister Chung Dong-young's remark in March about a uranium enrichment facility that North Korea had built. A White House official recently expressed displeasure toward South Korea, saying Washington hoped Seoul would "adhere to decades-old alliance standards in the intelligence and counterintelligence fields." Even so, Chung has insisted that "it is simply not true that the alliance is being shaken or damaged," and the National Intelligence Service says the total volume of intelligence provided by the United States has not declined.
Resolving the situation ultimately hinges on restoring mutual trust. The United States is said to be deeply concerned about South Korea's counterintelligence situation. Regardless of the merits, the senior officials who touched off the controversy should take responsibility for settling it. Pragmatic diplomacy that takes neighboring countries into account can proceed smoothly only on the foundation of a solid alliance with the United States. Those at the helm of foreign policy and security must keep in mind that this is a critical juncture requiring them to defend the country's practical interests on pressing economic and security issues — investment in the United States, construction of a nuclear-powered submarine and the transfer of wartime operational control — while further strengthening the alliance. The governing bloc, for its part, should not stir conflict by framing opposition criticism as subservience to a foreign power in order to display political purity.