On November 10, 2020, the GW Institute for Korean Studies (GWIKS) and the East Asia National Resource Center co-sponsored the Korea Policy Forum on “The U.S. Presidential Election and Korea: Journalists’ Views.” Moderated by Yonho Kim, Associate Director of GWIKS, American and South Korean journalists discussed the domestic reactions to the results of the election and prospects for inter-Korean and U.S.-Korea relations.
Currently, we are in the midst of a transition where the Trump administration is denying the election results, and President-elect Biden and his team are trying to proceed with an unofficial transition. Capitol Hill also waits on Georgia for their Congressional election results. Depending on the two runoffs the results will determine which party will lead the Senate. If the Republican Party takes the lead in the Senate, the Biden administration will be the first since George H.W. Bush to become the president without a unified government. Seung Min Kim, the White House Correspondent for The Washington Post stated that this is an unprecedented situation and we have to wait till January to get a clear overview of who will lead the government and how it will affect the policies and the press.
Following Correspondent Kim’s comments, Anthony Kuhn, the Seoul Correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) stated that the results of the US election are important as it is linked to ally stability, reliability, and the will to collaborate to deal with international challenges. In Seoul, there has been an extraordinary focus on how the election results will impact the inter-Korea and the US-North Korea relations. According to a survey by Realmeter, the majority of South Koreans do not expect a significant change. However, many South Koreans hold a more positive view of the new administration’s relationships with Japan and China.
Heejoon Kim, the Newsroom Director of the Department of Inter-Korean Unification, Foreign Affairs & National Security of YTN, talked about the Koreans’ response to President-elect Biden and issues which the US and South Korea have to resolve together. These issues include North Korea relations and US-China conflicts. Needless to say, the Trump administration has drastically shifted the US-Korea alliance. It is unsure whether the Biden administration will follow the tracks of Obama’s Korea policy or Clinton’s strategy. Director Kim argued that due to this uncertainty, the Moon administration was quick to send South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kyung-hwa Kang to meet Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to share South Korea’s stance and strategy in foreign relations.
Lastly, Insun Kang the Deputy Managing Editor of The Chosun Ilbo, shared her experience as a journalist who covered issues from the Trump administration. Looking back on the past four years, she claimed that the pressure was more intense than expected. While she is relieved that there is a new leader heading to the White House, she argues that it will be difficult for the new president to bring back the tradition and standards that existed four years ago in Asia relations. Amid hope and expectations on the Biden administration, concerns also prevail on the new relationship between the US and South Korea.
After the four speakers’ brief presentation, they dived deeper into various issues by answering questions that were asked among themselves and by the audience. The first topic discussed was on North Korea and how its leader has shown no response to the election result. Moreover, some raised concerns of how the Biden administration may retract the North Korea policy that existed before the Trump administration, reforming the US-North Korean and inter-Korea relationships in a less amiable manner than it is now. Moving forward, the panelists also talked about the White House and its media politics. For the past four years, the Trump administration had demonized certain media outlets and journalists while also using social media such as Twitter to share policy issues before a formal briefing. While the ramification of media demonization may linger around for a while it is expected the new administration to manage the press and policy briefings different from the Trump administration. Other issues that were discussed were the political and cultural illiteracy of US politicians, the factors that influence South Korea’s perspective on US politics, the US-China relations, and the US-South Korea alliance.
