Foreign minister survives reshuffle as Seoul opts for continuity amid strains with Washington

The survival of Foreign Minister Cho Hyun in President Lee Jae Myung's first Cabinet reshuffle highlights a preference for continuity in managing increasingly complicated relations with Washington, as sensitive disputes over investments and security pile up.

Lee shook up his Cabinet on Sunday, naming nominees for six ministerial positions at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups; the Ministry of Justice; the Ministry of Finance and Economy; the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport; the Ministry of National Defense; and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

Speculation over Cho's replacement persisted amid tensions between officials favoring greater diplomatic autonomy and those seen as alliance-oriented, as well as pressure from the government's trade policy circle.

Cho himself was said to have told people around him that his future was "not something I have any knowledge about."

But the Defense Ministry was the only post in the foreign affairs and security sector to get a new chief. Even there, Lee tapped Ret. Gen. Kang Shin-chul, a former deputy commander of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command. The choice brought in someone familiar with the U.S. military at a time when the allies must complete the Full Operational Capability assessment of the future Combined Forces Command, the second stage of the process for transferring wartime operational control, before the Security Consultative Meeting in October.

"It probably wasn't easy to replace the foreign minister at a time when South Korea-U.S. relations are in a delicate situation," a source from the ruling bloc said.

The reshuffle, in effect, reinforced experience with the United States at the Defense Ministry while opting for continuity at the Foreign Ministry.

A series of sensitive issues between Seoul and Washington have recently become intertwined, ranging from Korea's $350 billion investment commitment in the United States to the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines and revisions to the bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement.

Korea has yet to decide on even the first project under its U.S. investment commitment. Washington has also told Seoul that it would be difficult to separately accelerate follow-up security negotiations on the joint fact sheet produced after the leaders' summit without progress on the investment front.

Adding to the strain, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a major reduction in joint Korea-U.S. military exercises after expressing dissatisfaction on Aug. 16 over Seoul's lack of support for the Iran war. The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, originally scheduled to run through Thursday, ended six days early on Aug. 21.

"[It] seems that Trump just wants to beat on Korea due to his displeasure with its lukewarm response to his request for support in the Strait of Hormuz," a person familiar with Seoul's views told the U.S. outlet Politico in a report published Aug. 17, reflecting concerns over the state of the alliance.

Close relationship with national security adviser

Cho's close working relationship with National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac is also cited as a factor behind his retention. The two attended Namsung Middle School in Iksan, North Jeolla, and both passed the diplomatic service exam in 1979. They are longtime friends, with Wi even encouraging Cho to prepare for the exam with him when Cho was considering his career path.

The two have also remained aligned on policy under the Lee administration. When Unification Minister Chung Dong-young argued at a closed-door high-level government-ruling party meeting in September of last year that deputy national security advisers with Foreign and Defense Ministry backgrounds should be excluded from the National Security Council (NSC), Cho responded shortly afterward that it was "nothing more than a framework from 20 years ago" in advocating for Wi's inclusion.

Cho and Wi’s cooperation has, if anything, grown stronger as both have faced pressure from officials favoring greater diplomatic autonomy and the government's trade policy circle.

That stands in contrast to previous administrations, when the presidential national security office and the Foreign Ministry frequently clashed over control of foreign policy.

Under the Roh Moo-hyun administration, tensions between the NSC's autonomy faction and the Foreign Ministry's alliance faction culminated in the resignation of Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan. Wi, then director-general for North American affairs, also stepped down.

Under the Moon Jae-in administration, negotiations with Pyongyang and Washington led by National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong repeatedly drew criticism that the Foreign Ministry was being sidelined. During the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, speculation also emerged about tensions between First Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo and Foreign Minister Park Jin.

Continuing ties with the U.S.

Another factor is the relatively limited pool of figures within the liberal camp who have extensive experience dealing directly with the United States.

Coordination problems with Washington repeatedly surfaced under the Moon administration, whose foreign affairs and security team included many officials focused heavily on North Korea. In August 2018, a joint inter-Korean railway survey was delayed for more than three months over approval from the United Nations Command. In October of that year, then-Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said the government was considering lifting the May 24 Measures, which restricted inter-Korean trade and other exchanges after the sinking of the Cheonan warship. Trump publicly pushed back against the idea at the time, saying that Seoul would not be able to do so without approval from Washington.

Some in diplomatic circles say coordination with the United States might have unfolded differently had officials with a deeper understanding of the U.S. foreign policy establishment and its decision-making process occupied key positions at the time.

Wi, who previously served as minister for political affairs at the South Korean Embassy in Washington and director-general for North American affairs, was later recruited by the Democratic Party under Lee's leadership. He entered the National Assembly through proportional representation in the 2024 general election and became national security adviser when the Lee administration took office.

The current team handling relations with Washington also relies heavily on career diplomats, including Wi, Cho and now-Ambassador to the United States Kang Kyung-wha.

Cho spoke by phone with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Aug. 24 and is seeking an in-person meeting during a visit to the United States this month.

"The judgment may have been that, rather than changing personnel, the priority should be for the current team to manage the tangled array of issues with the United States," one source said.

"It is difficult to change just one position in the foreign affairs and security team," another source said. "The Foreign Ministry, Unification Ministry and National Intelligence Service all have to be kept in balance, and they probably concluded there was no need to cause a shake-up of that magnitude."

BY YOON JI-WON [[email protected]]