On December 9th, 2020, the GW Institute for Korea (GWIKS) and the East Asia National Resource Center, and Ajou University U.S.-China Policy Institute co-sponsored the Korea Policy Forum Roundtable Discussion on “Prospects for U.S.-China Strategic Rivalry and U.S.-ROK Relations under the Biden Administration.” The experts virtually gathered from the US and Korea and engaged in a two-session discussion to discuss how the Biden administration will change the US-China and US-ROK relations.

‘Multilateral engagement’ was the most commonly used term by the panelists. The panelists agreed that a multilateral approach will be necessary when the US tries to advance the relationship with China or South Korea. As the Biden administration is expected to pursue regional cooperation, Frank Jannuzi, President and Chief Executive Officer, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, underscored that the US should cautious to not approach China with antagonism and instead build a rule-based relationship. While other panelists raised questions on the details of the rules and who would create the rules, Mr. Jannuzi stated that for now, it is important that we have China join the rule-based relationship and at least follow the atmosphere of those rules.  

Adding on other panelists’ arguments and questions, Sang Hyun Lee, Senior Research Fellow, Sejong Institute, asked about the possibility of enforcing a rule-based order without antagonizing China. Additionally, he asked what kind of insurance policy could be offered by the US when China’s retaliation is processed to other third-party participants of the rule-based relationship. As panelists also mentioned North Korea in terms of the US-China relations, Ambassador Joseph Yun, Senior Advisor, U.S. Institute of Peace, Former U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy, pinpointed that the US-China and the US-ROK relations may look like two separate bilateral relationships but in reality are connected.

Heung-Kyu Kim, Director, U.S.-China Policy Institute, Ajou University, then opened the next session to discuss the prospects of the US-ROK relations. Jina Kim, Research Fellow, Korea Institute of Defense Analyses, stated that with the Biden administration, the US foreign policy is expected to roll back to its original strategies, retracting back to multilateralism. Ambassador Yun called this a transition from pragmatic diplomacy to traditional diplomacy. Joseph DeTrani, the former U.S. Special Envoy for the Six-Party Talks with North Korea, stated that to upgrade the US-ROK relations, the two countries need to resolve the shared issues first, such as the cost of SMA, trade, the absence of a peace treaty with North Korea, etc. Also, other panelists pointed out the necessity of redefining the US-ROK alliance and prioritizing and sharing each country’s priorities.

Sharing the anticipation of the possibility that the incoming administration may be able to advance its relationships with China and South Korea, we need to remember that the Biden Administration will hold an important role as the representative of the US and the people of America.