United States 2017 South Korea-U.S. Friction on North Korea and THAAD Park Geun-hye was impeached in March 2017, and the presidential candidate
Moon Jae-in, who was more friendly to North Korea, was considered likely to win the upcoming election. The
Trump administration was concerned that the incoming South Korean government would take a more passive stance towards relations with their northern neighbor, and refrain from imposing strong sanctions on North Korea. Tensions on the
Korean Peninsula escalated when North Korea conducted its
sixth nuclear test in September 2017 after firing several ballistic missiles in April 2017. In response, the Trump administration increased pressure on North Korea via additional sanctions. The Moon Jae-in administration, which had taken office in May, did not increase pressure on North Korea in tandem with the United States, which some considered an impediment towards a strong international response towards North Korea. The South Korean administration had also formulated a policy to resume work on the
Kaesong Industrial Complex and
Mount Kumgang, further increasing economic cooperation with North Korea, leading to a widening gap between the geopolitical response towards North Korea carried out by South Korea and the United States. Relations were further strained as a result of President Moon Jae-in's questions about intelligence sharing around the unauthorized deployment of THAAD (
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) assets in South Korean territory. The conflict over the THAAD deployment deepened after the
U.S. Department of Defense declined to provide answers to the questions posed by South Korean leaders.
U.S. reaction The New York Times published an article claiming that South Korea would be the "odd man out" due to differences in South Korea's policy on North Korea at the Korea-U.S. and Japan summit on September 21, 2017. When U.S. President Donald Trump visited South Korea on November 7, 2017, and conducted a press conference with Moon Jae-in, Trump commented that "[South] Korea is a very important country", confirmed that "there will be no exclusion [of South Korea]", and denied that there was any "Korea passing". However, conservative opposition parties in South Korea insisted that his comments were typical diplomatic rhetoric, and that the controversy about "Korea passing" would continue because no formal agreements were reached. Following the US-South Korea summit, Trump praised Moon Jae-in's cooperation with the United States in addressing the North Korea situation. The
Wall Street Journal decried Moon jae-in's policies on the
Kaesong Industrial Complex and the THAAD deployment, saying that Moon Jae-in was an "unreliable friend". It also claimed that the United States still viewed the Moon Jae-in administration negatively.
2018 controversy between South Korea and the U.S. during the North Korea-U.S. summit. On May 19, 2018,
Donald Trump called Moon Jae-in immediately prior to Moon's scheduled visit to the United States, and asked why there was a gap between his pledge and North Korea's
denuclearization stance. Trump expressed his discomfort with this gap. On May 22, during the summit between South Korea and the U.S., Trump's demeanour indicated dissatisfaction. Additionally, during the summit, Trump scaled back on what had been a scheduled exclusive media interview. During a press conference at the summit, Trump was asked a total of 28 questions, while Moon Jae-in was only given the opportunity to respond twice. Trump also cut off the Korean-to-English interpreter when the interpreter began to interpret Moon Jae-in's last reply, saying "I'm sure that's what I've heard before, so I don't have to listen to an interpreter.". On May 24, Trump announced the cancellation of the 2018 North Korea-U.S. Summit, which was scheduled for June, without notice to the Republic of Korea. The
Blue House belatedly received the news of the cancellation through
Twitter. After this, controversy over "Korea passing" resurfaced.
Hong Jun-pyo of the
Liberty Korea Party made mention of "Korea passing" and contended that Moon Jae-in's administration was excluded from North Korea-U.S. summit negotiation, adding that the success of negotiations was up to the U.S. and China. On June 30, 2019, when the
2019 Koreas–United States DMZ Summit was held, Trump allegedly didn't want Moon to join him.
China 2017 conflict between South Korea and China over the THAAD deployment President Moon Jae-in stated that the decision to deploy THAAD batteries was necessary. In response, Chinese Foreign Minister
Wang Yi protested, saying that the decision was "a setback for relations between the two countries". In addition,
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party,
Xi Jinping said that Moon Jae-in had deceived him. On October 31, 2017, South Korea and China released a joint document containing the "results of consultation between the two countries on improving relations", in order to normalize their relations.
North Korea North Korean policy changed after the inauguration of the Moon Jae-in government. The South Korean government had continually proposed military talks, Red Cross talks and requests for the North to participate in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, but North Korea had been unresponsive for some time, causing controversy. North Korea then unilaterally called off scheduled high-level talks between South Korea and the United States, denouncing the joint South Korea-U.S. exercise "Max Thunder" and condemning the defection of Thae Yong-ho, a former British construction worker in North Korea's state, describing him as "human scum." In June 2020, North Korea blew up an inter-Korean joint liaison office.
Japan In Japan, some public figures argued that "polite ignorance" was the best way to deal with
Moon Jae-in's administration. In the defense white paper,
Defense of Japan 2019, Japan denigrated South Korea's position as security partner by lowering South Korea's standing. The Japanese government argued that, since 2018, the
legal foundation of the friendly and cooperative relationship between two countries had been overthrown, and positioned themselves as waiting for South Korea to resolve this internationally illegal situation. On the South Korean side, controversy erupted over "Korea Passing" again when the Korean government failed to arrange a summit meeting with Japan during the
2019 G20 Osaka summit. Former Korean minister of foreign affairs, Gong Ro-myung, criticized the Korean government for acting like amateurs, leading to Korea-Japan relations deteriorating catastrophically and hitting rock bottom politically and economically.
2024 declaration of martial law Following the
self-coup by Yoon Suk-yeol, leaders from around the world appeared to avoid diplomatic activities with the South Korean government - for example,
Lloyd Austin,
United States Secretary of Defense, decided not to visit South Korea. The Prime Minister of Japan,
Shigeru Ishiba, was said to have canceled his plan to visit South Korea and was coordinating a visit to Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. On 13 December 2024 (KST), U.S. President-elect
Donald Trump said that he would meet
Kim Jong-un once the wars in Ukraine and Gaza were over. There were then concerns that South Korea would be subjected to another "Korea Passing" by Donald Trump unless
Yoon Suk-yeol was impeached. After the second impeachment motion was passed by the National Assembly on 14 December 2024, the U.S. government said that they "highly value the resilience of South Korea's democracy and the rule of law", and expressed its readiness to work with the acting president. However, U.S. President-elect
Donald Trump declared a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister
Shigeru Ishiba before he took office, and did not mention South Korea at all, leading to further concerns that South Korea's diplomatic isolation and decline in international status would continue unless the
Constitutional Court of Korea quickly decided to impeach
Yoon Suk-yeol. == See also ==