[Reporter’s Notebook] Biden Showcases Friendship... Tangible Gains Fall Short of Expectations

"Consider where human glory begins and ends. My glory lay in having wonderful friends."

At the welcome dinner for the Korea-US summit on the 21st, President Yoon Suk-yeol recited a passage from the poem "Human Glory" by Irish poet William Butler Yeats to President Joe Biden, reaffirming the alliance between the two countries.

Watching this Korea-US summit where Yeats' poem was mentioned, one word comes to mind: "thoughtfulness." This poem was quoted in 2017 when then-President Barack Obama awarded the "Medal of Freedom" to then-Vice President Biden. President Biden, proud of his Irish immigrant heritage and identity as an Irishman who came to America seeking freedom, was moved to tears upon hearing this passage.

The thoughtfulness between friends did not stop there. President Biden prepared a desk sign engraved with the phrase "The Buck Stops Here" as a gift for President Yoon's visit to Korea. This desk sign is modeled after the one that Harry Truman, the 33rd President of the United States, kept on his desk during his presidency. The White House did not miss President Yoon's remark on the YouTube broadcast "Seok-yeol's Brother's Restaurant" during his presidential campaign, where he said he wanted to place this sign on his desk if elected.

Along with thoughtfulness, there were conversations that built a close relationship, sharing personal stories. President Yoon reportedly said that his reason for running was, "After 27 years as a prosecutor, I felt a crisis in liberal democracy." President Biden, also of immigrant descent and what is called a "dirt spoon" background, shared his story of wanting to change politics, building mutual trust based on liberal democracy.

However, aside from building friendship, there were also notable disappointments. South Korea failed to attract direct investment from American companies. This contrasts with President Biden's meetings with Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun, from whom he secured investment commitments of $17 billion (about 20 trillion won) and $10.5 billion (about 13 trillion won), respectively.

Furthermore, quickly confirming participation in the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) leaves managing diplomacy with China as a future challenge. In diplomacy, practicality is as important as justification. It is necessary to secure clear national interests beyond just making great friends.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.