"Trump Could Become a Better Partner with Lee Jae-myung... Not Interested in 'Saving Yoon'"

U.S. Foreign Affairs Magazine Foreign Policy
"South Korean Conservatives Desperate for Trump's Support"

Foreign media reports suggest that the possibility of U.S. President Donald Trump extending a helping hand to South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is facing impeachment threats, is slim. Analysts say that the hopes of some People Power Party lawmakers and Yoon supporters who want to save the president from impeachment with Trump’s help are far from Trump’s true intentions.

President Trump of the United States. Photo by EPA Yonhap News

The American foreign affairs magazine Foreign Policy (FP) reported on the 3rd (local time) under the headline "South Korea's conservatives are desperate for Trump's support," discussing the possibility of Trump’s involvement in Korean politics.

FP stated, “Lawmakers from the ruling People Power Party attended Trump’s inauguration last month and asked the returning U.S. president to intervene in domestic crises,” adding, “A lawmaker boasting a tenuous connection with the Trump administration headed to Washington.” It also pointed out, “Conservative politicians are distorting President Yoon’s (martial law) authoritarian gamble as a move to counter Chinese interference and strengthen the alliance with the U.S.”

Furthermore, it noted, “Yoon’s followers cling to the hope that Trump will somehow investigate claims of election fraud and rescue President Yoon.” “But to be clear, the U.S. president does not have the authority to overturn South Korean democracy,” and “despite the desperate cries of the People Power Party, Trump appears unwilling to save former President Yoon,” the analysis said. Trump neither has the authority nor the interest.

It also revealed an episode where Trump, frustrated about incidents like Yoon’s own self-inflicted setbacks, said, “Everyone calls me confused, but look at South Korea.” It added, “Trump, who advocates for U.S. interests based on ‘principled realism,’ a transactional approach to diplomacy that sets aside values and alliances, is likely to view South Korean politics through a transactional lens as well.”

In that regard, the report suggested that Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, might be a better match. It described Lee as “an adaptable leader who is establishing himself as someone capable of navigating Trump’s capricious diplomacy” and “a pragmatist close to Trump who prioritizes national interests.” It concluded that “realists with starkly different political values could unexpectedly build a partnership.”