Eyeing an election victory, Korea’s leftist party shifts right and reassures Washington, Tokyo

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s Democratic Party will maintain the nation’s alliance with the U.S. and cooperation with Japan, and the party will not tilt toward China if it wins the June 3 presidential election, a foreign-affairs expert of the liberal party says.

Yet lawmaker Wi Sung-lac told The Washington Times that reengaging with North Korea, not ignoring historical diplomatic disputes with Tokyo and responding to President Trump’s tariffs are also on the table. The potential use of U.S. Forces Korea for off-peninsula actions, such as a Taiwan crisis, is murky.

“The main pillar of [Democratic Party of Korea] foreign policy thinking is a strong alliance between South Korea and the U.S. and the partnership between South Korea and Japan and trilateral cooperation,” Mr. Wi said.

Geopolitical issues are front and center as Seoul gears up for the election after conservative President Yoon Seok Yeol’s impeachment over his December martial law decree.

DPK presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung is leading in the polls. The DPK controls the unicameral National Assembly and could capture both branches of government. Mr. Yoon was removed from office this month and is standing trial on an insurrection charge.

Mr. Lee has spoken forcefully at rallies condemning the Yoon administration’s pro-Tokyo policies. Still, with the Blue House within reach, the left-wing firebrand is rebranding himself as a centrist. In February, Mr. Lee dubbed the DPK “center right,” irking some lawmakers who prefer the label “progressive.”

The DPK candidate is trying to establish himself as “the people’s candidate,” not just the “progressive option,” the JoongAng Ilbo, Korea’s No. 2 newspaper, said Tuesday.

Although Mr. Lee is critical of Japan’s historical role in Korea, “regarding cooperation in the present and future, his stance is very open-minded,” Mr. Wi told The Times.

However, he added that a Lee government would not ignore historical animosities that Mr. Yoon had sidelined.

“We will discuss,” Mr. Wi said. “The Germans and Israelis: Did they put these things into the hands of historians?”

Mr. Wi said the DPK doesn’t “believe we need to tilt back toward China,” indicating another turnaround for the party’s presidential candidate. In 2023, Mr. Lee courted domestic disapproval after a chummy meeting with the Chinese ambassador.

Relations with China are touchy. In 2017, Beijing was infuriated by U.S. forces’ establishment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system in South Korea. THAAD’s powerful radar could snoop on northeast China’s upper atmosphere.

Beijing retaliated. South Korean businesses’ China operations suffered, Chinese tour groups dried up and K-pop concerts were halted.

“That had some consequences,” Mr. Wi said. “Because of the overreaction and retaliatory action against us, public opinion in South Korea turned extremely bad against [the] Chinese.”

THAAD “is no longer a big issue,” he said.

Still, widespread condemnation of Russia and China by the international community amid the Ukraine war has generated “blowback,” Mr. Wi said. Beijing and Moscow have “unprecedentedly” sided with North Korea at the United Nations Security Council, he said, calling the situation “undesirable.”

Seen as a potential foreign minister if Mr. Lee wins, Mr. Wi is acquainted with geopolitical hot seats. A former ambassador to Russia, he served as the deputy at Seoul’s embassy in Washington, and was South Korea’s point man at the China-sponsored Six Party Talks which sought – unsuccessfully – to denuclearize North Korea.

Mr. Wi insisted that South Korea’s alliance with the U.S., which includes a mutual defense treaty and the deployment of 28,000 U.S. troops on Korean soil, and its trilateral defense cooperation with Japan, a standout Yoon initiative, would be safe under Mr. Lee.

No Korean party with hopes of power can be anti-American. A poll published Monday by the Asan Institute, a Seoul-based think tank, found that 74.2% of South Koreans view the U.S. as the most important country for their economy, 85.8% see the U.S. as a “preferred future partner” and 71.2% want U.S. troops in the country.

Recalling Mr. Trump’s first-term meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Mr. Wi anticipated renewed contact between Washington and Pyongyang and possibly between Pyongyang and Tokyo also.

Such moves, he hoped, could restart frozen North-South dialogue. Negotiations should focus on denuclearization, but talks themselves cannot reduce tension and build confidence, he said.

Seoul would not breach international sanctions against North Korea, but humanitarian, medical and cultural projects could lay the “groundwork for meaningful, tangible developments” on nuclear issues, Mr. Wi said.

Thorny matters

Risk lies in the changing stance of U.S. Forces Korea. Though officially postured against North Korea, USFK has shifted geographically from the Demilitarized Zone to three major land-air bases south of Seoul, along Korea’s China-facing Yellow Sea Coast.

The U.S. Army’s website calls the central U.S. base at Pyeongtaek “the largest force-projection platform in the region.” The U.S. Navy can access strategically located South Korean bases at Jeju Island and Pyeongtaek.

“I don’t believe [the U.S. bases were] designed to deal with the China problem,” Mr. Wi said. “All these bases were designed for dealing with North Korea.”

Yet with Beijing now Washington’s prime strategic rival, Seoul faces a similar risk with Tokyo. If the U.S. confronts China on Taiwan or in the South or East China seas, American bases on their territories mean South Korea and Japan could be sucked into war.

Though the use of the forces against China “is not the major policy stance of the Pentagon yet,” Mr. Wi said he knew of voices in Washington raising the issue.

“We are in a dilemma,” he said. The possibility of North Korea working with China in a potential confrontation means South Korea’s “major role is to cover the northern front,” he said. “I am not saying we cannot do anything” but “I don’t want to go into detail.”

Mr. Wi was animated about Mr. Trump’s tariffs, which include a 25% levy on Korean imports such as automobiles and electronics. The U.S. president’s sweeping tariffs on various nations have been suspended for three months.

Mr. Wi said the tariffs are “a source of great concern” and “a completely unconventional approach.” Still, he added, “It is reality, and we have to deal with this new reality.”

South Korea has a free trade agreement with the U.S. and is a major investor in America’s autos, chips and display sectors. It is also a core player in globally strategic products, including semiconductors, ships and defense items. Its companies could play roles in Mr. Trump’s pet project: the Alaska energy pipeline.

“We have to try to make some deal,” Mr. Wi said. “Washington and Seoul should not forget that the most important thing is mutual trust based on the spirit of our alliance.”