South Korean President's "multi-basket approach" strategy

South Korea's proactive push to resume the China-Japan-Korea Summit mechanism, which has been stalled since 2019, shows its efforts to break the deadlock on the North Korea issue and President Yoon Suk Yeol's need to leave a legacy.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (center), Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio (left) and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang attend the ASEAN+3 Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, November 2022. (Source: the Chosun Daily)

After more than four consecutive years of delay, the 9th China-Japan-ROK Summit will finally be held in Seoul, South Korea on May 26-27. This summit will be attended by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and host country President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Resuming Tradition

The event was originally expected to be held in 2020 after the 8th Summit in Chengdu, China in December 2019. However, the rapid spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and the tense relations between Japan and South Korea over compensation for South Korean forced labor victims have made it difficult to hold the event. Hosting the 9th Trilateral Summit after a hiatus is a diplomatic success for the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and further reflects Yoon’s “multi-basket” approach to the North Korea issue.

The China-Japan-Korea Trilateral Summit was established in 2008 in Fukuoka, Japan, with the intention of holding it annually to promote regular exchanges and cooperation among the three Northeast Asian countries. Each country takes turns serving as Chair each year, in the order of Japan, China, and South Korea. However, the mechanism has been interrupted three times, each lasting about three to four years.

In 2012, the 5th Summit was hosted by China in Beijing. Amid rising tensions between the three countries over historical issues and territorial disputes, it took three years for the next Chair, South Korea, to host the 6th Summit in Seoul in 2015, thanks to the lobbying efforts of former South Korean President Park Geun Hye.

Then, when it was Japan’s turn to host the 7th Summit in Tokyo in 2016, the three countries decided to postpone it amid Park’s impeachment, which led to political instability in South Korea. In 2017, the THAAD crisis (the US deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in South Korea) once again caused the mechanism to be postponed due to severe tensions in Sino-South Korean relations.

It was not until Ms. Park's replacement, former South Korean President Moon Jae In, took power with a "3 no" policy on the THAAD issue, that the 7th Tokyo Summit was officially held in 2018.

Make more impression

It can be seen that the two interruptions of the China-Japan-Korea Summit mechanism both occurred when it was the turn of Korea to be the Chair, and the third suspension was basically the result of political turmoil in Korea. Meanwhile, Korea was the country that proactively proposed the establishment of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS) in 2009, contributing to the official establishment of this agency in 2011, headquartered in Seoul.

TCS is an intergovernmental organization that aims to promote long-term cooperation among China, Japan and Korea through policy recommendations. The establishment of TCS marks an important milestone in institutionalizing trilateral cooperation that began in 1999. Given this reality, the fact that South Korea was able to resume the China-Japan-Korea Summit mechanism that had been delayed since 2019 can be considered a diplomatic success, a certain mark in the legacy of President Yoon Suk Yeol's five-year term.

Not only is this event of diplomatic significance, it is also an effort by South Korea to send a message regarding the North Korean issue. Faced with the threat of nuclear weapons and war on the Korean Peninsula, President Yoon Suk Yeol is pursuing a “put your eggs in many baskets” approach, mobilizing diverse partners in both Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia.

Before that, President Yoon needed to devote more attention and resources to the April 10 National Assembly election. After the election, Mr. Yoon was able to focus more on the North Korea issue. South Korea has been pushing to officially upgrade ASEAN-South Korea relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership by the end of this year, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the Dialogue Partnership between the two sides. Recently, South Korea and Cambodia also upgraded their relations to a Strategic Partnership during Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet's four-day visit to South Korea from May 15. Recently, South Korea also made a notable move when it sent Foreign Minister Cho Tae Yul to Beijing to meet with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi (for the first time in 6 years) in the context of China being relatively "quiet" about the current tense situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Efforts to make a breakthrough

The series of diplomatic activities above shows South Korea’s efforts to find a “way out” of the current deadlock on the Korean Peninsula. Instead of changing its hardline approach (including tightening its alliance with the US and promoting cooperation with Japan within the US-Japan-South Korea trilateral framework), Mr. Yoon sought to lobby many countries in the region to influence North Korea, bringing it back to the denuclearization negotiation process.

By resuming the China-Japan-South Korea Trilateral Summit mechanism just under two weeks after Foreign Minister Cho’s trip to Beijing and the visit to Seoul by the prime minister of Cambodia – China’s close partner in Southeast Asia – South Korea is implicitly sending a fairly clear message to China that it should play a bigger role in preventing war on the Korean Peninsula.

While former President Park Geun-hye was unable to continue the annual China-Japan-ROK Summit mechanism after 2015, it remains an open question whether President Yoon will be able to continue the momentum of holding this mechanism annually after 2024. But at least for now, we can see certain progress in President Yoon’s “multi-basket” strategy since the April 10 National Assembly election.

With the resounding victory of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), President Yoon’s administration will face many difficulties in implementing domestic policies until the end of its term in 2027. Therefore, to achieve more achievements in the remaining 3 years of his presidency, Mr. Yoon needs to push harder on the foreign front. And the 9th China-Japan-ROK Summit in Seoul is an effort in that direction.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/sach-luoc-tiep-can-nhieu-gio-cua-tong-thong-han-quoc-272570.html