Yoon’s plan to ditch strategic ambiguity will test US-ROK alliance, DPRK policy



Analysis Yoon’s plan to ditch strategic ambiguity will test US-ROK alliance, DPRK policy Seoul's economic ties with China and North Korea tensions will complicate efforts to align with Indo-Pacific Strategy Jagannath P. Panda April 13, 2022 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON South Korean president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol visits Camp Humphreys, the largest U.S. military base in South Korea, on April 7, 2022 \| Image: Office of Yoon Suk-yeol's spokesperson Since his election last month, South Korean president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol and his transition team have taken a number of steps that have begun to reveal his broader foreign policy strategy, even as mounting crises at home and abroad suggest major challenges ahead. In early April, Yoon’s policy consultation delegation visited the U.S. and conveyed Yoon’s intent to upgrade the U.S.-ROK alliance and participate in the “working group” of the four-nation Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad. This policy signaling comes amid the war in Ukraine, deepening convergence between China and Russia and North Read More © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. LATEST ANALYSIS 01North Korea reveals new vertical take-off drones amid ‘modern warfare’ push 02How long-range strikes on Russia could impact North Korean troop deployments 03How North Korean hackers and IT workers collude to cause chaos 04What pro-Trump think tanks reveal about his likely North Korea policy priorities 05Yoon bet on US to deter North Korea. Now he faces an alliance skeptic in Trump. 06All the question marks hanging over Trump’s approach to North Korea in term two 07Time almost up for North Korea’s plan to launch 3 military satellites in 2024 08Trump return rekindles prospects of North Korea talks, but Russia stands in way

About the Author

Jagannath P. Panda

Dr. Jagannath Panda is the Head of the Stockholm Centre for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs (SCSA-IPA) at the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP), Sweden. He is also the Director for Europe-Asia Research Cooperation at the YCAPS, Senior Fellow at The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS), The Hague; and an International Research Fellow at the Canon Institute for Global Studies (CIGS) in Japan. Dr. Panda is the Series Editor for Routledge Studies on Think Asia and author of the book India-China Relations (Routledge: 2017) and China’s Path to Power: Party, Military and the Politics of State Transition (Pentagon Press: 2010). His recent work includes Quad Plus and Indo-Pacific (Routledge: 2021); Scaling India-Japan Cooperation in Indo-Pacific and Beyond 2025 (KW Publishing Ltd. 2019), and The Korean Peninsula and Indo-Pacific Power Politics: Status Security at Stake (Routledge, 2020).

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