Moon Chung-in, professor emeritus of political science and international relations at Yonsei University, said of the South Korea-U.S. alliance that "personally, I see the alliance as a curse rather than a blessing for us," adding that "as long as we remain in an alliance, we cannot escape the security dilemma."
Moon made the remarks on the 21st at a roundtable hosted by the Center for National Future Strategy at Seoul National University under the title "New North Korea-U.S. Dialogue, a Korean Peninsula at a Crossroads: Asking Elder Statesmen for Direction," according to diplomatic sources on the 22nd. Moon served as special adviser for unification, diplomacy and national security to former President Moon Jae-in. He also served as an adviser to the Special Committee on a New Strategy for Peace on the Korean Peninsula, launched this year by the Democratic Party of Korea.
"The United States is trying to use South Korea as a front-line base to contain China," Moon said. "The South Korea-U.S. alliance has contributed to the country's security and economic development, but it could heighten the risk of being drawn into a future clash between the United States and China."
"If we look 20 to 30 years ahead, it could become a curse rather than a blessing," he said, proposing, as a long-term alternative to the alliance — a collective defense arrangement — a multilateral security cooperation framework that would include China, Russia and North Korea.
Song Min-soon, a former foreign minister who attended the roundtable, pushed back on the characterization of the alliance as a curse. "The alliance is neither a blessing nor a curse, but a reality," Song said. "South Korea should expand its autonomy within the framework of the alliance."
Asked whether North Korea can be regarded as a trustworthy negotiating partner, Moon said: "We just need to accept North Korea as it is. We need to put ourselves in their position and empathize." Chang Dal-joong, professor emeritus at Seoul National University, countered that "it is fine to see North Korea as it is, but hasn't North Korea been the one violating every agreement all these years?" Moon responded that "this is not about taking North Korea's side, but about seeing things objectively," noting arguments that the United States also broke agreements during negotiations over the North's nuclear program.