Editorials
Korea, U.S. must compromise after inconclusive talks
Inconclusive talks exposed growing divisions over investment, Hormuz support and security cooperation, underscoring the need for practical compromise.
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, left, shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during bilateral talks at the State Department in Washington on Sept. 18.
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS/YONHAP
Seven months after their last meeting, the foreign ministers of Korea and the United States ended talks in Washington on Friday without a breakthrough. The outcome was hardly surprising given President Lee Jae Myung’s positions earlier that day on major bilateral issues, including Korean investment in the United States and a possible deployment to the Strait of Hormuz.
Lee repeatedly stressed the need for “commercial rationality” in U.S. investment projects. On Washington’s request for military support, he drew a line, saying there would be “no troop deployment that involves Korea in a war or combat.” With the two sides so far apart, an agreement between the ministers was unlikely.
Recent negotiations have at times made it difficult to believe these are talks between allies. Washington, frustrated that Seoul has not readily accepted its requests on investment and Hormuz, has shown little urgency in follow-up discussions on building nuclear-powered submarines and permitting uranium enrichment and spent-fuel reprocessing, steps that would strengthen Korea’s security capabilities. It also unilaterally notified Seoul of reductions in joint military exercises.
Korea, meanwhile, has moved slowly on U.S. investment commitments that other allies completed earlier, prompting complaints that it is an excessively slow negotiator. Seoul has also struggled to decide how to respond to Washington’s request for support in Hormuz amid U.S. pressure and domestic public opinion.
Lee’s categorical statement ruling out involvement in war or combat narrowed negotiating room and reduced the scope for strategic ambiguity. Seoul is considering options such as deploying the Cheonghae Unit to help protect shipping through the strait. Yet with missiles and drones flying in the region, the line between combat and noncombat operations can inevitably become blurred.
The contrast with Japan is notable. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is seeking a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in New York on Tuesday, ahead of the U.S.-China summit Thursday. Tokyo reportedly wants to coordinate with Washington in advance to ensure that any U.S.-China agreement does not harm Japanese interests.
Lee is also scheduled to attend the United Nations General Assembly, but no Korea-U.S. summit has yet been announced.
The joint trade and security fact sheet agreed upon by the Korean and U.S. presidents last October was intended to produce mutually beneficial results. Both governments should return to that spirit. Rather than allowing disagreements over investment, military cooperation and alliance obligations to harden, Seoul and Washington should take a longer view of the alliance, consider each other’s constraints and find practical compromises that can turn their leaders’ agreements into action.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
