The Double Standard for South Korea in the US Indo-Pacific Strategy
February 1, 2019
In his piece for the print edition of the Diplomat Magazine, KEI Director Kyle Ferrier draws the readers' attention to the U.S. government's inconsistent behavior towards partners in the Asia-Pacific region that are facing China's coercion. He highlights how the U.S. Indo-Pacific policy focuses on countering China's assertive behavior in the region, but has failed to step up to defend South Korea when it faced pressure from Beijing for the deployment of THAAD.
In fact, Ferrier notes that subsequent U.S. policy did much harm by adding its own pressure on South Korea, threatening to withdraw from KORUS FTA and the calling for Seoul to pay a greater share for the placement of U.S. troops on the peninsula.
This ultimately adds a significant burden on South Korea and introduces unnecessary uncertainty to other close allies in the region.
See the issue of the Diplomat piece here