Park Geun-hye’s ouster to trigger shift on US policy

The ouster of South Korea’s president on Friday triggers an election within the next 60 days that polls show will install a leader more skeptical of US foreign-policy objectives in Northeast Asia, The Wall Street Journal said.

Park Geun-hye, the conservative president removed by South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Friday, was a reliable US partner, pushing Washington’s hard-line approach to North Korea that aims to pressure Pyongyang’s leadership over its missile and nuclear programs.

South Korea this week received the first components of a controversial US missile-defense system that is meant to deter North Korea’s missile threat.

Moon Jae-in, the leading candidate to succeed Park, has questioned the missile-defense system and championed policies that would bring South Korea closer to China and encourage more dialogue with the rival Korean regime in Pyongyang. 

The presidential hopefuls behind him, who like Moon are on the left side of the political spectrum, have similarly accommodating views on those relations.

The court’s unanimous decision made Park the first South Korean leader to be removed from office by impeachment. The verdict brought tens of thousands of people into the streets of Seoul to rally for and against it. At least two people were killed during the protests. 

Park’s ouster also brought an end to a dramatic political-corruption scandal that has gripped the nation for half a year.

US and Asian officials said Park’s removal introduces new uncertainty to Northeast Asia at a time of heightened concerns in Washington about North Korea and China. 

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will travel to Seoul next Friday as part of a three-city swing through Asia, the paper said, noting that his trip starts Wednesday in Tokyo and he will go to Beijing after visiting South Korea.

The Trump administration is planning to deploy the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, or Thaad, in South Korea and attempt to significantly increase financial pressure on Pyongyang.

Current and former US officials said it was uncertain whether South Korea’s political transition will affect the timing of the missile system’s deployment. Some said the next South Korean president could seek to woo Pyongyang through economic inducements and joint-business projects.

These officials said there could be parallels to the George W. Bush administration’s relationship with South Korea in the early 2000s. Tensions spiked between Washington and Seoul at that time, due to differing views on whether to directly engage Pyongyang.

“There’s likely to be a more left-leaning government in Seoul, which won’t see eye-to-eye with the Trump administration,” said Victor Cha, a Korea expert at Georgetown University who served in Bush’s White House. 

Any new leadership stance Park’s successor takes that directly engages Pyongyang stands to put South Korea at odds with a growing consensus in the international community to punish North Korea for its recent behavior.

Source: MENA