President Joe Biden is rolling out the red carpet for South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol just weeks after a Discord leak revealed the Biden administration has been eavesdropping on Yoon’s government.
South Korea’s two-day state visit starting Tuesday is Biden’s first with a pivotal Indo-Pacific partner and the second of his term, hosted not only after the leak but amid Russia‘s war in Ukraine, China‘s rise, and North Korea‘s increasing belligerence.
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Former President Barack Obama admitted in 2015 that the National Security Agency had been wiretapping then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone for years, according to Tom Cochran, an Obama State Department alumnus and now a partner at public affairs firm 720 Strategies.
“It’s certainly not good when what governments assume is happening becomes public knowledge and confirms that it’s actually happening,” Cochran told the Washington Examiner. “It’s a public relations problem, certainly. But with anything, speaking face to face is a great first step to repairing a relationship.”
Biden has used a state visit for similar purposes in the past, hosting France more than a year after the president’s nuclear submarine agreement with Australia and the United Kingdom angered French President Emmanuel Macron. South Korea’s also comes six months after Yoon was overheard on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly saying, “It would be so embarrassing for Biden if those f***ers at the National Assembly don’t approve” his $6 billion pledge to international public health organization the Global Fund. The translation of Yoon’s hot mic moment has been disputed.
But despite Yoon’s complaints about the Discord leak, there are more important bilateral matters that need to be raised during his visit, per American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Zack Cooper.
“I do think this visit will tighten U.S.-South Korea ties, particularly if the two sides can make some progress on tough issues like extended deterrence and economic cooperation,” the former assistant to the White House deputy national security adviser for combating terrorism and special assistant to the principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy said.
Current national security adviser Jake Sullivan previewed Biden and Yoon’s “major deliverables” on extended deterrence, cyber cooperation, and climate mitigation, in addition to foreign assistance and investment after international protectionist criticisms regarding Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. Sullivan, too, underscored South Korea’s stronger relationship with Japan and support of Ukraine, as well as joint ventures with Hyundai, Samsung, and SK Battery America.
“This visit, of course, also comes at a critical moment as North Korea continues to develop its nuclear missile capabilities,” Sullivan told reporters Monday. “The alliance remains committed to pursuing dialogue with the [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] to achieve a peaceful diplomatic resolution to long-standing differences and to achieve the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
He added, “We are ready to meet at any time at any place to address serious concerns, and we are open to the possibility of humanitarian assistance with appropriate safeguards to help the people of the DPRK.”
South Korea’s visit will provide an opportunity for Biden and Yoon to meet for the fifth time in person during the latter’s first year in office and additionally commemorates the 70th anniversary of the countries’ relationship. Yoon’s schedule includes a White House South Lawn arrival and state dinner, complementing sit-downs with Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, among other officials. These engagements will supplement a range of remarks and an appearance before a joint session of Congress.
Andrew Yeo, the Brookings Institution Center for East Asia Policy Studies’s SK-Korea Foundation Chair, described Yoon’s visit as contributing to a “future-oriented” alliance, citing his speeches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and meetings with Hollywood executives, such as the Screen Actors Guild.
“They’re going to talk about the future direction of the alliance that is no longer just about military defense and security but things like scientific technology cooperation, artificial intelligence, economic security, so addressing things like supply chain issues,” he said. “They’ll probably address that in terms of coordinating policies when it comes to things like export control.”
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More broadly, the Discord leak, hundreds of documents shared by Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira on the social media platform popular with gamers, has put pressure on Biden to reform how his administration classifies information and grants security clearances. Some of the Discord records pertain to CIA intercepts of South Korean communications discussing whether the country should supply the U.S. with artillery shells for Ukraine, violating Seoul’s lethal aid policy.
Yoon’s visit is happening against the backdrop of speculation Biden is poised to announce his 2024 reelection campaign through a prerecorded video before speaking to the North America’s Building Trades Unions Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., echoing his 2020 launch on that rollout’s fourth anniversary.
