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Time to strengthen Korea-US alliance
Joe Biden was sworn in as the new president of the United Sates on Wednesday, raising the hope that his administration will restore the democracy so severely damaged by his predecessor, Donald Trump. In his inaugural address, he called for unity by promising to bring America together. As he said, unity is the path forward to end divisive politics and heal the U.S.
Biden's inauguration marked a new start for both America and the world. His top priority at the moment is to tackle domestic issues such as the raging COVID-19 pandemic and the slumping economy. Most of all, he should stand up for democratic values and principles, ending Trump's blatant disregard for them. We hope that he and Americans work together to liquidate Trump's bad legacy and move toward national unity and social cohesion.
It will take several months for Biden to determine his administration's foreign policy -- but he will scrap Trump's "America first" approach and unilateralism. He has vowed to rebuild a rules-based international order and promote multilateralism. Most notable is his commitment to strengthening traditional U.S. alliances with countries around the world.
In this regard, it is worth noting what Biden said in his first presidential speech: "We will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again … We'll be a strong and trusted partner for peace, progress and security." He needs to restore America's global leadership to make the world peaceful and prosperous. To that end, the U.S. must play a more active role and take greater responsibility as a global superpower.
Our major concern now is how to solidify the alliance between Seoul and Washington in the Biden era. The U.S. leadership change could offer both opportunities and challenges for South Korea. Unlike Trump, Biden will not likely demand an unreasonably high increase in Korea's payment for hosting American troops here. But the Biden administration might take a tougher stance on North Korea, making it hard to achieve a breakthrough in the stalled nuclear negotiations.
We urge Seoul and Washington to work together to resolve the North Korea nuclear issue. The denuclearization talks have been deadlocked since Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un failed to reach a deal at their second summit in Hanoi in February 2019. Now the Biden government and the Moon Jae-in administration should make joint efforts to resume dialogue with Pyongyang to find a negotiated solution.
It is somewhat worrisome that Biden is seeking to discard Trump's top-down approach in dealing with the North. Antony Blinken, Biden's nominee for secretary of state, said Tuesday that the new U.S. administration would review the country's "entire approach and policy" toward North Korea. His remark could signal a significant change in how to denuclearize the North. It could also cause a rift between the two allies over the issue.
That's probably why President Moon tapped Chung Eui-yong, former director of the National Security Office (NSO), as new foreign minister. Chung played a crucial role in brokering two historic summits between Trump and Kim for denuclearization talks. Moon and Chung should work closely with their U.S. counterparts to map out a new strategy to prod the Kim regime to return to dialogue and move toward denuclearization.
