South Korea, US set to move closer under Joe Biden, but China has concerns

Name: ‘Welcome back America’: world leaders react to Joe Biden’s victory in US elections
Uploaded: 2021-01-30T10:00:20.000Z
Duration: 4 min 35 s
Description: ‘Welcome back America’: world leaders react to Joe Biden’s victory in US elections

Annual joint military exercises to resume and Biden vows to drop US threat to withdraw troops from Korean peninsula over cost-sharing

But Seoul must balance security commitments against its economic reliance on China, which is wary of US’ regional presence, observers say

Reading Time:4 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

American and South Korean marines take part in an amphibious exercise in 2016, before the countries began to pause their joint military drills. Photo: AP

Laura ZhouandRachel Zhang

Published: 6:00pm, 30 Jan 2021Updated: 9:53pm, 30 Jan 2021

The military alliance between Washington and Seoul is expected to be strengthened as the new US administration moves to repair ties with its key ally on the Korean peninsula, amid its rivalry with China and concerns over North Korea.

In an early sign of a stronger alliance under the Joe Biden administration, South Korea’s Defence Minister Suh Wook announced that the annual spring military exercises with the US would be resumed this year.

Previously held every March, the drills were either suspended or downsized each year since 2018 as part of the then US president Donald Trump’s effort to maintain a truce he had struck with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The exercise was downscaled last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The decision to resume was announced days after the first telephone call between Suh and Lloyd Austin, the new US defence secretary, who assured Seoul of the United States’ “ironclad” commitment to defending its long-term ally through their combined defence work.

04:35

‘Welcome back America’: world leaders react to Joe Biden’s victory in US elections

Although Biden has yet to outline his Indo-Pacific strategy, the alliance with South Korea is expected to play an important role in Washington’s approach in the region, diplomatic pundits said.