Secretary General Stoltenberg and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders have made common cause with partners like South Korea in the Indo-Pacific region as those countries condemn Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
91ÆÞÓÑ Japan Chair Ken Weinstein sat down with a South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to talk about why the war in Ukraine matters to Indo-Pacific and global security.
Event Transcript
This transcription is automatically generated and edited lightly for accuracy. Please excuse any errors.
Ken Weinstein:
Good afternoon. I have the distinct honor of introducing a man who swept a White House crowd off its feet during his inaugural state visit to Washington in 2023 with an unforgettable rendition of Don McLean’s classic, American Pie. But those who follow global affairs closely know his excellency Yoon Suk Yeol, the president of the Republic of Korea, is more than just a talented vocalist. He is an extraordinary leader. A man who has brought forth a dynamic vision of a Korea that leverages its economic, technological, and diplomatic prowess as a global pivotal state to advance freedom, peace, and prosperity through democratic principles and enhance international engagements.
Ken Weinstein:
President Yoon’s efforts to transform Korea into a global pivotal state include significant assistance to Ukraine, expanded global aid, deepened engagement with the global south, including through the recently completed Korea Africa Summit, which followed on last year’s Korea Pacific Island Forum and deepened engagement with NATO as one of NATO’s Asia Pacific four partners.
Showing immense courage, President Yoon works tirelessly to repair and rebuild Korea Japan relations in partnership with Prime Minister Kishida. Thanks to President Yoon’s vision and commitment, a reinvigorated trilateral partnership between Korea, Japan, and the United States was inaugurated last August at the Camp David Summit hosted by President Biden. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome President Yoon to the NATO Public Forum podium. Mr. President.
Yoon Suk Yeol:
Dr. Kenneth Weinstein, president emeritus of 91ÆÞÓÑ Institute and distinguished guest, good afternoon. It’s a great pleasure to be here in Washington, DC, where NATO was founded 75 years ago. President Harry Truman, who launched the Marshall Plan and championed the creation of NATO, once said that the United States had an obligation to protect all free peoples and that NATO was a neighborly act to fulfill that obligation.
After two world wars that inflicted immeasurable pain and suffering upon mankind, NATO was established with a solemn promise that such tragedy would never be repeated. However, in 1950, just one year after NATO’s founding the Korean War broke out on the Korean peninsula with a surprise invasion by Soviet-backed North Korea. The communist totalitarian power had begun to show its expansionist ambitions extending beyond Europe to Asia. At the time, 10 of the 12 NATO member states stood together under the banner of the United Nations. With the blood that they shed fighting alongside us, the Republic of Korea was able to defend its freedom and prevent the communization of the Korean Peninsula. On behalf of the people of the Republic of Korea, I extend my deepest and heartfelt gratitude to the NATO family for their willingness to sacrifice for our freedom. In the aftermath of the Korean War, recognizing that the Cold War could easily turn into a hot war, NATO began to expand its membership and build an integrated response capability to meet the evolving challenges and threats of changing times.
Today, NATO stands as the world’s largest security alliance, with 32 member states. Ladies and gentlemen, 35 years after the end of the Cold War, we find ourselves basing new and challenging forces. These forces reject an international order based on universal values and norms. They incite their own people to harbor hostility towards the external world, disguising this as patriotic nationalism.
Autocratic regimes maintain their power by restricting the freedoms of their own citizens and subjecting them to constant surveillance. The collusion of those who advocate for altering the status quo through force directly challenges the peace and prosperity established by the free world.
At this moment, the security of both Europe and Asia is a simultaneously under threat. This is why IP4 countries have attended the NATO Summit for the third consecutive year. It is said that freedom is never given for free. The only way to block and thwart the attempts to change the status quo through coercion is for our allies and friends to stand together and united in overwhelming strength. It must be also made very clear that any reckless challenge will not only lead to failure but also result in greater suffering on their part.
Ladies and gentlemen, with the support of the free world, the Republic of Korea has miraculously risen from the ashes of war, achieving growth and prosperity through liberal democracy and a market economy. Today, we proudly stand as a prominent member of the free world. Guided by the Indo-Pacific strategy, which is anchored in the three visions of freedom, piece, and prosperity, and the three cooperation principles which are inclusiveness, trust, and reciprocity, the Republic of Korea will stand firmly with its allies and friends to uphold peace and prosperity in both the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic regions.
The 74-year-old UN command with the participation of countries in the Indo-Pacific region and Europe, bolstered by a strengthened US-ROK alliance stands as a robust foundation for neutralizing the North Korean nuclear and missile threats and safeguarding peace on the Korean Peninsula and throughout the region. The navies of the Republic of Korea, the UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, and the Indo-Pacific region, and the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands in Europe work closely together at sea to monitor the enforcement of the UN Security Council’s sanctions against North Korea.
The war in Ukraine and the Russian cooperation with North Korea have actually further strengthened the Republic of Korea and NATO’s cooperation. The Republic of Korea will continue to neutralize and block the illegal military and economic cooperation between Russia and North Korea through the ROK-US alliance, trilateral collaboration between and with the US and Japan, and close coordination with NATO members. We will also continue to provide comprehensive support for the end of the war in Ukraine and peace and reconstruction of Ukraine.
Through the ITTP, or the Individually Tailored Partnership Program, signed with NATO in Vilnius last year. Korea commits to addressing complex security threats of cyber, information, and psychological warfare, and AI digital, while actively pursuing flagship projects with our IP4 partners. Ladies and gentlemen, the Republic of Korea will continue to act responsibly for a free, peaceful, and prosperous Indo-Pacific and beyond. Together with NATO and our partners in the Indo-Pacific region and all of you here today, we look forward to building a safer and brighter future for all. Thank you very much.
Ken Weinstein:
Well, thank you, Mr. President, for those characteristically frank, insightful, and stirring remarks. Now, you’ve mentioned you just came from the IP4 Summit. North Korea’s alignment with Russia is of growing concern here in Washington, in Seoul, Tokyo, and in Europe. How do you see this alignment affecting Ukraine? To what extent will Russia and the DPRK cooperate militarily and economically? And what impact is this going to have on ROK policy with regard to Ukraine, Russia, and North Korea?
Yoon Suk Yeol:
Thank you for that question. The missiles and the artillery shells that North Korea is supplying to Russia will prolong the war in Ukraine, and Russia’s potential military technology and economic assistance to North Korea in return threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the northeast Asian region as well.
Yesterday and today, NATO allies and our partners together expressed their strong concerns over the growing Russian-North Korean alignment. Russia’s cooperation with North Korea over the war in Ukraine appears to be a collusion of convenience driven by their own pressing knees. Russia wants North Korea to actively engage in anti-American, anti-western rhetoric while serving its arsenal.
North Korea hopes that Russia will provide it with advanced military technology and energy resources and also help them weaken the monitoring of the UN Security Council’s sanctions. The South Korean government will continue to strengthen the US-ROK Alliance and also US-Japan cooperation, US-Japan-Korea cooperation in partnership with NATO to thwart and neutralize elicit Russian-North Korean military and economic cooperation.
We will also closely analyze the potential impact of Russian-North Korean cooperation on the security of our country and international peace, and we will take steps to devise corresponding countermeasures. With NATO, we will enhance information sharing on North Korean weapons that have been deployed on the battlefields in Ukraine. Now, to support Ukraine, which we will continue to do so, we already have the comprehensive assistant package that we’re already providing to Ukraine.
We will continue to expand that package, working closely with our NATO allies and IP4 countries in this process. We will build on the Ukraine Peace and Solidarity Initiative announced in July of last year in Kyiv and expand our security and reconstruction assistance.
Ken Weinstein:
Thank you, Mr. President. The NATO alliance was formed 75 years ago, as we all know, to face the Soviet threat. How would you compare the US-Soviet relationship during the Cold War with today’s US-China relationship? Should parallels be drawn? Because particularly against this backdrop, the Republic of Korea and the People’s Republic of China maintain high level communications. You hosted a successful Korea-Japan summit on May 27th. I happened to have been in Seoul at that time and caught the very positive news reports. Where do you see Republic of Korea-China relations going and policy going?
Yoon Suk Yeol:
Thank you for that. Yes, in the past, the US-Soviet Cold War did exist, and it was a political system that were completely different, and they wanted to were competing, and that was the situation in that time. At that time, the trade volume of the US and Soviet was very minimal, less than 1 percent of each country’s GDP. So at that time, basically, the economic situation was very different. But nowadays, unlike the containment policy in the past, the trade volume to and with China have grown substantially, and US and China, in fact, I will say be in a very difficult situation without the economic trade.
So in the past, I would say that the US-Soviet Cold War was a military confrontation that assumed even an all out war, including nuclear war. The US-China rivalry of today is more like a strategic competition, which involves technology and hybrid competition involving information warfare and high-tech economic warfare using also media, fake news, and et cetera. So the situations in that ways are quite different. So there’s a gray area that are actually the main battlefield of the world of the rivalry today, which makes it quite also difficult to respond to today’s rivalry between US and China.
Now, for a long time, Korea and China have had a long history of economic and social exchanges, however we have a different system for sure, and different institutions between the two countries. But we will continue to communicate on a strategic level with China and, based on the mutual respect, reciprocity, and international norms, we’re going to continue to have that relationship with China. But at the same time, for the peace of the region and also to focus on the agenda of the global world, we’re going to also continue to have that conversation and communication with China.
Ken Weinstein:
Thank you, Mr. President. Let me turn to the last question. We have seen fissures in the global geo-economic situation during the COVID pandemic and also during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. What role can the Republic of Korea play in encouraging economic prosperity and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific? How can Korea’s Indo-Pacific strategy help build a more stable and resilient supply chain? And what are the implications of all this for the Euro Atlantic?
Yoon Suk Yeol:
The Indo-Pacific region is an economically advanced region, and there is also the mid economic region and also emerging nations are included in the Indo-Pacific region. So there are different levels of economic development in that region. So to drive the economic development of that region as a whole, we need to make sure that we encompass all different levels of economic status. And because Korea had such a compact and successful economic growth over such a short period of time, we can share our own experiences with those countries in Indo-Pacific region.
And we are strong in manufacturing industries in Korea, as you all know, and we have amazing talents with great technological prowess. So our prowess is, once again, in manufacturing and also human resources. We can actually have a very practical collaboration with Indo-Pacific countries. As for the resilience in supply chain, multilateral platforms are very critical. And then we will do our best to be a leading role in the expanding multilateral platforms.
In fact, MSP, which stands for the Minerals Security Partnerships, and also IPEF, Indo-Pacific Economic Frameworks, we could use those kind of platforms to really strengthen the resilience of the supply chain globally. In fact, we’re the chair of the APEC next year, and we can utilize also this kind of platform to lead regional discussions on trade and investment of the Indo-Pacific regions. Again, this could be a great opportunity for trade, investment, innovation, and digital economy. We can share our experiences to the countries of Indo-Pacific region. That’s what we will do.
Ken Weinstein:
Well, thank you, Mr. President. It’s been a real privilege to be here with you, and I’m sure that the NATO Public Forum feels the same way. We wish you the best of luck in future endeavors, and thank you for your leadership.