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| Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, right, and Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, both wearing masks, talk to each other during a ceremony to mark the 1919 March 1 Independence Movement at Paiwha Girls' High School in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Yonhap |
By Yi Whan-woo
Concerns are growing that the fast spread of the coronavirus in Korea is not only threatening public health but also affecting the country's diplomacy and defense postures.
Korean citizens have been being restricted from entry or have to undergo rigorous quarantine procedures in nearly 80 countries, while regular joint military exercises with the U.S. have been postponed. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is facing the cold shoulder among her counterparts, with her planned meeting with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab last week being abruptly canceled.
Critics say the Moon Jae-in administration's diplomacy is being bungled.
As of Sunday morning, 78 countries were banning the entry of visitors from Korea or placing tight quarantine measures on them, as a result of the rising number of people infected with COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) here. The government has made efforts to prevent more countries from doing so by explaining Korea's virus response, but the number of countries is only growing, including some key allies such as the U.S.
"The coronavirus case is revealing our diplomatic incompetence," said Park Won-gon, an international relations professor at Handong Global University.
He pointed out the 78 countries account for about one-third of the U.N. members. Among them are Singapore, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and Uzbekistan.
"This is more problematic as not only tourists but also businesspeople can't fly back and forth as they want," Park said. "It means failing to lift entry restrictions will eventually leads to shrinking business abroad."
Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University, said "diplomatic bungling" was evident when the Moon Jae-in administration did not restrict Chinese nationals from entering here when the coronavirus was spreading in Wuhan in January.
"Not matter how close diplomatic and economic partners they are with Korea, the 78 countries are imposing entry restrictions for the lives of their people," Shin said. "This is what Korea should have taken toward China and it did not do so because of its low-key diplomacy."
Last week, Foreign Minister Kang was scheduled to meet her British counterpart during her visit to London. But the talks were canceled at the last minute, and she instead met with Health Minister Matt Hancock.
Regarding the canceled foreign ministerial talks, the British Embassy in Seoul explained it was due to "unforeseen circumstances."
Shin said he is "highly doubtful" about such an explanation.
"I'd rather say Minister Kang was not important enough for the British foreign secretary to meet. The cancelation of the talks may not be related to the coronavirus, but it certainly suggests Korean diplomacy, under Kang, is not being very respected."
The militaries of Korea and the U.S. announced last week they were postponing their regular springtime joint exercises. This is the first time a combined exercise has been postponed due to a public health emergency since they began in 1954.
The computer-simulated exercise was scheduled to begin March 9.
As the two sides did not say until when the drill has been postponed, some military sources even speculate the March exercise is "virtually scrapped."
The analysts said the postponement of the joint drill is "worrisome for our defense posture."
"We're clearly witnessing how the virus can disrupt the decades-old exercises. Who knows if the next scheduled drills this year will be called off as well?" Shin said.
Park said concerns over the defense posture will escalate if the U.S. imposes entry restriction on Koreans.
The U.S. announced travel restrictions on Koreans, but has not banned citizens from visiting.
