[Special Column] The Logic of Power: The "Donroe Doctrine" and Korea's Self-Reliance

Jung-Hoon Min, Professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy

It has been nearly a year since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. The second Trump administration has reversed the foreign policy of former President Joe Biden, which focused on "abandoning America First and restoring global leadership." Instead, it is aggressively pursuing U.S. interests on the international stage by reactivating the "America First foreign policy," centered on "strategic selection and concentration" as well as a "transactional approach to alliances."

In particular, the administration has fully launched the so-called "Donroe Doctrine," aimed at maintaining dominant influence over the Western Hemisphere, throwing the world into turmoil. The "Donroe Doctrine" emerged as a term to describe President Trump's aggressive actions regarding Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal around the start of his second term. It represents the Trump administration's foreign policy stance, which seeks to maintain dominant influence over the Americas by combining the "Monroe Doctrine" advocated by the fifth U.S. President James Monroe with Trump's "America First" approach.

The "Monroe Doctrine," declared by President Monroe in 1823, was a foundational U.S. foreign policy that emphasized mutual non-interference between the Americas and Europe. Throughout the 19th century, the United States maintained this principle of mutual non-interference between the two continents, and the Monroe Doctrine later became synonymous with American isolationism.

The National Security Strategy (NSS) report released at the end of last year by the second Trump administration clearly stated that the core U.S. interests are the security of the Western Hemisphere (the Americas), centered on homeland defense, and the stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region, with a focus on containing China. The administration has given top priority to strengthening influence over the Americas, and this policy stance is rapidly taking concrete shape through recent military intervention in Venezuela and the expressed intention to acquire Greenland.

The military action against Venezuela on January 3, justified as "blocking the influx of illegal immigrants and drugs," is widely believed to have been motivated by securing oil resources and reducing the influence of China and Russia in Central and South America. Additionally, despite Greenland being an autonomous territory of Denmark, a NATO ally, the U.S. push to acquire Greenland is seen as an effort to counter the growing influence of China and Russia in the Arctic region, while also securing abundant natural resources such as oil, natural gas, and rare earth elements.

The situations in Venezuela and Greenland carry significant implications both geopolitically and geoeconomically. From a geopolitical perspective, they signal the return of great power politics, where the logic of power prevails. The second Trump administration, as outlined in the aforementioned NSS, has made it clear that the United States no longer has the capacity to engage equally with every region and issue around the world. Instead, it will focus on its core national interests-security in the Western Hemisphere and containing China-while expecting regional allies and partner countries to take the lead in addressing local security threats.

Through the events in Venezuela and Greenland, the United States has made it clear that it will reduce its role as a provider of security public goods and maintainer of the international order, instead concentrating more on its core interests. As a result, the future international security order is expected to see a rise in self-reliant strategies among nations, with major countries such as the United States, China, Russia, the European Union, India, Japan, and South Korea focusing more on their own regional security and expanding their roles. This trend, known as the "fragmentation of security," is likely to become more pronounced.

From a geoeconomic perspective, the regionalization and bloc formation aimed at securing stable supply chains are expected to intensify. In order to maintain an edge in the fierce U.S.-China competition, especially in advanced technology and strategic industries, the second Trump administration is promoting "onshoring"-expanding stable domestic supply of key raw materials and energy, as well as increasing core manufacturing facilities within the United States. The situations in Venezuela and Greenland illustrate America's interest in securing stable regional supply chains by expanding its political and economic influence over the Americas. In response to U.S.-led supply chain restructuring, major countries are expected to intensify their efforts to secure supply chains by region and sector.

The resurgence of great power politics, driven by the logic of power, demands above all that South Korea strengthen its self-reliance. As the United States shifts the burden of regional security to its allies in order to focus on its own core interests, concerns are growing over reduced security leadership. On the Korean Peninsula, which faces increasing military threats from North Korea and is a stage for great power diplomacy, the security burden is bound to increase. Therefore, as the South Korea-U.S. alliance remains the irreplaceable core of Korean Peninsula security, it is necessary to realize and develop security cooperation between the two countries based on strengthened capabilities. South Korea must pursue the modernization and efficiency of its military forces, the transfer of wartime operational control, and the establishment of nuclear sovereignty to achieve self-reliant defense. At the same time, the alliance should be developed into a more equal and mutually beneficial strategic partnership. In addition, by managing relations with neighboring powers such as Japan, China, and Russia, South Korea must maintain a favorable balance of power in East Asia.

Meanwhile, in response to geoeconomic regionalization and bloc formation, it is necessary for South Korea to leverage its strengths-being among the world's top ten in military and economic power and possessing world-class manufacturing capabilities-to pursue multifaceted global cooperation in order to secure stable supply chains and maintain technological competitiveness. In advanced technology and strategic industries, South Korea should strengthen bilateral and small multilateral cooperation with the United States and other technologically advanced countries to secure future growth engines and competitiveness. At the same time, it should expand practical cooperation with China in consumer goods, services, content, and supply chains based on a horizontal cooperation structure to secure economic benefits and broaden trade. Furthermore, based on the principles of "inclusiveness, co-prosperity, and solidarity," South Korea should build stable and mutually beneficial core mineral supply chains with Global South countries such as ASEAN, the Middle East, and Africa, and increase cooperation in practical areas such as advanced technology, development cooperation, energy, and the defense industry.

Jung-Hoon Min, Professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy