Can America’s alliance with South Korea survive one of the most virulently anti-American leaders to ever hold the top office in Seoul?
That question is about to be put to the test as South Korea's leftist President Lee Jae-Myung heads to Washington, D.C. on Aug. 24.
In general, the American public is unaware of the current political realities in a country where 28,500 U.S. troops are based. That is because of shoddy or lazy reporting by legacy and even conservative media.
Lee has publicly aligned himself with the U.S. but moved behind the scenes "to undermine the fundamental basis of his country’s partnership with America, the formal military alliance, formed in 1953 just months after the Korean War armistice," China specialist Gordon G. Chang wrote in an Aug. 15 analysis for The Hill.
Lee, who won the June 3 snap presidential election in a contest critics said was marred by widespread irregularities, "is virulently anti-American. At stake, therefore, is the future of the treaty relationship between Washington and Seoul. Democracy in South Korea is also at risk. Lee, in the name of democratic governance, is fast taking steps to end it," Chang wrote.
Indeed Lee's popularity is in question as public opinion is decisively pro-American, and the streets of major cities are regularly filled by massive anti-Lee and anti-CCP demonstrations that are ignored by the legacy media.
During the campaign, Lee referred to American troops in South Korea as an “occupying force.”
As president, Lee "wasted no time chipping away at Korea’s relationship with the U.S. For instance, in a move that will degrade military readiness, the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield joint exercise scheduled to begin on Aug. 18, will be drastically scaled back — especially the crucial field training component of the 10-day event," Chang wrote.
On Aug. 7, a Unification Ministry official, speaking anonymously to the press, confirmed that the exercises were “adjusted” due to concerns about North Korea’s reaction.
On July 21, Lee’s government conducted a raid on the Osan Air Base, which is jointly operated by U.S. Forces Korea and the Republic of Korea Air Force.
Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-Seok entered the Master Control and Reporting Center, operated by both militaries. "This was in violation of the Status of Forces Agreement because there was no prior notification of the American military. Cho seized confidential radar data and information on the U.S. Air Force’s U-2 surveillance planes," Chang noted.
Tara O, a former U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who served at Osan, told Chang that “Cho and his large team absolutely should not have had access to such classified information.”
Following the Lee-ordered raid on Osan, two high-level exchanges between Washington and Seoul were called off.
The first was a planned July 21 meeting between Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio and Korea’s National Security Advisor Wi Sung-Rak, and the second was the “2+2” trade meeting. The Korean representatives to the talks were notified the meeting was called off just as they were about to board a plane to travel to the U.S.
Lee also led the effort in the National Assembly, the country’s unicameral legislature, that paralyzed his predecessor Yoon Suk-Yeol’s government by filing 22 impeachment motions.
"Lee, after leading the effort to impeach Yoon for his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law, then used the impeachment power to destabilize the interim government of Acting President Han Duck-Soo," Chang noted.
After the country’s Constitutional Court removed Yoon, Lee had Yoon imprisoned on spurious charges of “insurrection.”
“Lee and his party have created a false narrative of insurrection,” Morse Tan, a former U.S. ambassador-at-large for Global Criminal Justice, told Chang.
Lee’s government has held Yoon in inhumane conditions. “The Democratic Party of Korea jailed Yoon in a tiny cell in sweltering weather, and they have been denying him medications,” Tara O, now at the East Asia Research Center, told Chang.
"Some fear Yoon will die in custody, but that does not appear to concern the ruling party," Chang wrote.
On Wednesday, South Korean prosecutors raided the office of the People Power Party.
“These are the things done by leftist dictatorships,” said Tan. “The attack on freedom is ferocious.”
Chang concluded: "The U.S. has endured previous leftist, anti-American presidents in South Korea — to be specific, Kim Dae Jung, Roh Moo-Hyun and Moon Jae-In. There is apparently a feeling in Washington that the U.S. can similarly outlast Lee Jae-Myung.
"Perhaps America can. But Lee, unlike his predecessors, is more determined and ruthless. America’s alliance with South Korea might not survive Lee’s rule, and its democracy is in even greater danger."
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