[The Editors' Verdict] The Gift Bundle President Yoon Must Secure

122 Companies Accompany U.S. State Visit
Beyond Alliance: Economic Achievements and Tangible Benefits Matter

President Yoon Suk-yeol's visit to the United States is just three days away. President Yoon and the First Lady will depart for the U.S. on the 24th, pay respects at the Korean War Memorial on the 25th, and hold a summit meeting and state banquet with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on the 26th. The White House emphasized that this is the second state visit by a foreign leader under the Biden administration and the first state visit by a leader from the Indo-Pacific region.

For South Korea, it is the first state visit in 12 years since former President Lee Myung-bak. Accompanying this visit are 122 companies, including the top four conglomerates. This is the largest economic delegation since the launch of the Yoon administration. The focus is said to be on “advanced industries.” Marking the 70th anniversary of the Korea-U.S. alliance, there are high expectations that the alliance between the two countries will be further strengthened in both economic and security fields.

President Yoon has put considerable effort into this visit. Despite controversies in March, he made a sudden announcement of a third-party compensation plan for forced labor victims and successfully arranged a Korea-Japan summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, which seems closely related to this U.S. visit. Without improving Korea-Japan relations, it would be difficult to achieve the U.S. vision of strengthening the trilateral alliance among Korea, the U.S., and Japan against China, Russia, and North Korea. The presidential office worked hard to resolve the U.S. surveillance controversy that broke out ahead of the visit. In an interview with foreign media, President Yoon even hinted at the possibility of providing weapons to Ukraine, which is at war with Russia.

Of course, President Biden is expected to highly appreciate President Yoon’s efforts and reaffirm the ironclad Korea-U.S. alliance. Biden’s commitment to Korea, a key ally, will help reassure the public who are anxious about North Korea’s intensified nuclear provocations. Such achievements could also help raise President Yoon’s approval rating, which has fallen to the 20% range.

However, President Biden’s attention is likely to be more focused on the 122-member economic delegation accompanying President Yoon rather than on President Yoon himself. Biden, who will soon have to announce his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election, prioritizes American jobs over complex diplomatic issues. His recent public speeches repeatedly emphasizing Samsung’s and SK’s investments in the U.S. are in line with this.

He will likely be even more eager to showcase economic achievements in the Korea-U.S. summit with President Yoon. While emphasizing alliance cooperation, the U.S. is thoroughly pursuing economic nationalism.

On the 17th, in the announcement of electric vehicle subsidy eligibility under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), South Korea’s Hyundai and Kia vehicles were not included at all. European cars were similarly excluded. Semiconductor companies must even submit trade secrets to receive subsidies for building factories in the U.S. The business community expects President Yoon to raise his voice about such imbalances during the summit.

It is true that the importance of the U.S. to South Korea has grown amid the global supply chain restructuring in the so-called new Cold War era. Conversely, the value of South Korea as an ally is more precious to the U.S. than ever. There is a reason why the U.S. treats Korea as a “state guest.” President Biden will likely have many demands. We must not fall into the mistake of being dazzled by hospitality and giving away too much without securing real benefits. Gifts are meant to be exchanged.

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