South Korea is hardly alone in facing the uncertainties of the new Trump administration. Moreover, it is impossible to consider South Korea’s response to Trump’s foreign policy without considering how other countries might also respond, given that they constitute important partners for South Korea as well.  

In the first part of this volume of Korea Policy, we pose the issue in terms of a recalibration in the Indo-Pacific, considering both South Korea’s response (Kuyoun Chung) and the response of other major players: Japan (Sayuri Romei), Australia (John Blaxland), ASEAN (Joseph Chinyong Liow and To Minh Son), and Vietnam (Bich Tran). This regional focus is not only useful for comparative purposes but also for what South Korea might learn from developments elsewhere in the region. The wider lens also raises questions about how U.S. allies and partners may be looking at one another—as well as China—in managing the disruption of the second Trump presidency. What opportunities might arise for closer coordination?  

In the second part of the volume, we consider South Korea’s more enduring policy challenges, starting with the North Korea problem (Christopher Green). The volume then turns to how the country might manage slower growth and declining birth rates. What might a new industrial policy look like (Sunhyung Lee)? And are there alternatives to the failed pronatalist policies that South Korea and many other countries have pursued up until now (Darcie Draudt-Véjares)? 

This collection of essays starts with common challenges posed by the Trump administration’s emerging Asia policy, primarily its current preoccupation with tariffs and alliance burden-sharing. The essays grapple with how countries across the region will position themselves between new U.S. demands, the ongoing gravitational pull exerted by China, and the prospects for heightened geostrategic tensions. Yet the pieces on industrial policy and demographics are a reminder of the underlying sources of national power and the difficulty of forging wider grand strategies oriented toward the medium- and longer-run. Achieving a modicum of autonomy requires not only deft diplomacy but also the capacity to address complex issues such as spurring innovation and managing demographic change, which directly impinge on national capabilities.