US officials stress collaboration with Japan, South Korea amid Seoul leadership crisis

U.S. lawmakers and diplomatic officials stressed the need for close cooperation among the United States, South Korea and Japan in response to the possible impeachment of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The officials say that Yoon, who could be removed from office as soon as this weekend over a short-lived imposition of martial law that threw his country into turmoil, has played an important role in the informal U.S. alliance that Washington has forged in the Asia-Pacific region.

Senator Jack Reed, who spoke to VOA Korean on Wednesday, said Yoon’s diplomacy has “strengthened South Korea vis-a-vis China and Russia and other emerging threats in the Pacific.”

“The collaboration between South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Australia — that is probably going to do more to deter hostilities than anything else. So, that has to be maintained,” said Reed, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

He emphasized that the presence of a significant number of U.S. forces in South Korea “keeps the North Koreans from doing something rash and very destructive to South Korea.” More than 28,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea.

“That relationship — the United States and South Korea — I think, is made more formidable when Japan is also part of it, and the Philippines are also part of it,” Reed said. “And I think South Korean people have to recognize that we’re talking about their safety and security.”

The embattled president has been criticized in his own country for pursuing a foreign policy that fostered closer relations with Japan, a country still reviled by many of his countrymen for its harsh colonial rule from 1910 to 1945.

Senator Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told VOA Korean that a strong relationship between South Korea and Japan is beneficial to the overall Indo-Pacific region, which faces the rise of China.

“We know there’s been historic tensions for centuries between Japan and Korea,” Warner said. “I actually think that level of collaboration between America, South Korea and Japan is in the best interests of the region.”

Andy Kim, who was sworn in this week as the first Korean American U.S. senator, told VOA Korean he hopes “people recognize the importance of ensuring that South Korea remains engaged in the region.”

“I do think that the work that has been happening between the United States, South Korea and Japan is important, and I hope that whoever is the leader and whatever happens next in South Korea, that type of work continues,” said Kim, who expressed shock at Yoon’s declaration of martial law on Dec. 3.

The South Korean president said his decision was aimed at “eradicating pro-North Korean forces and to protect the constitutional order of freedom.” Soon after his declaration, a majority of South Korean lawmakers voted to overturn the order. Yoon, who was legally obligated to comply with the vote, did so six hours after his original declaration.

South Korean lawmakers pushed Dec. 7 to impeach Yoon for the failed martial law declaration. The resolution accused Yoon of putting South Korea on the brink of war by operating a foreign policy “hostile to North Korea, China and Russia, but centered on Japan.” The opposition-led attempt failed because a boycott by Yoon’s ruling People’s Party left the legislature short of the necessary quorum.

Yoon now faces another impeachment vote, which he vowed Thursday to “fight to the end.”

Representative Marilyn Strickland, who recently secured a U.S. House seat for a third term, called for “good relationships” with allies, when asked about the controversy.

“If I think about the safety and the freedom of the entire Indo-Pacific region, it is better to have good relationships with our allies than to be at odds with each other,” she said in a Zoom interview Tuesday with VOA Korean.

‘Disturbing signals’

U.S. diplomatic and security experts said Yoon’s declaration of martial law was clearly wrong but questioned whether an impeachment resolution should be based on his approach to international relations.

“If you look back at the impeachment resolution, one of the paragraphs in that impeachment resolution directly attacked President Yoon for the trilateral partnership that he had established with Japan and the United States. That was very disturbing,” said Evans Revere, the former principal deputy assistant secretary and acting assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He spoke to VOA Korean on Monday via Zoom.

Kenneth Weinstein, the Japan chair at the Hudson Institute, shared a similar sentiment.

“It’s disturbing in the sense that if the South Korean opposition is going to run on an anti-American, anti-Japanese agenda, it sends disturbing signals to North Korea about alliance unity. It sends disturbing signals to China about alliance unity,” Weinstein said.

“And frankly, it sends disturbing signals to the incoming Trump administration about what kind of government South Korea is likely to have if President Yoon is impeached.”

Harry Harris, former U.S. ambassador to South Korea during the first Trump administration, told VOA Korean on Tuesday via email that the cooperation among the U.S., South Korea and Japan should continue.

“I’ve spoken for a while now how important President Yoon’s outreach to Japan is, especially his meetings in the U.S. and Japan with former Prime Minister [Fumio] “Kishida,” he said.

The U.S. State Department has sidestepped questions on the controversy.

“We continue to call for the full and proper functioning of the ROK’s democratic institutions and processes, in accordance with the constitution,” said a spokesperson for the State Department in an email to VOA Korean on Saturday. ROK, or the Republic of Korea, is the official name of South Korea.

“The United States is committed to the peace and security of the Korean Peninsula,” the spokesperson said.

VOA’s Joon Ho Ahn contributed to this report.