Strengthening South Korea's voice

South Korea needs to lay the foundations to better influence America's North Korea policy discourse

Despite some American convictions to the contrary, the United States and South Korea do not always have the same national interests on the Korean peninsula.

On the surface, the United States focuses on ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons, while South Korea focuses on threat reduction and maintaining stability. Below the surface rests a more complicated picture.

South Korea has reached a stage of development at which it feels more secure, confident, and willing to chart a new strategic course. Once-taboo strategic ideas like rethinking its alliance with the United States, accepting a regionally dominant China, pursuing neutrality, and securing an independent nuclear weapons capacity are all now on the agenda for discussion for South Korean policymakers.

On top of this, four years of President Trump’s meddling on the peninsula – starting with ‘fire and fury’ and the threat of war, climaxing with the global publicity stunt of his summit with Kim Jong-Un, and ending in a feckless mess of …