A top foreign policy adviser to South Korea's Democratic Party (DP) presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung said Thursday he stressed Lee's desire to strengthen the Seoul-Washington alliance and trilateral cooperation with Japan if elected, during talks with senior White House officials.
Kim Hyun-chong, former trade minister, made the remarks as he met with Trump administration officials in Washington to discuss a wide array of issues, including new US tariffs on South Korea, bilateral trade and security threats from North Korea.
Lee of the liberal DP has been leading in various polls ahead of the June 3 presidential election. In this week's National Barometer Survey poll, Lee garnered 43 percent support, trailed by former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo with 23 percent and former Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo of the conservative People Power Party with 12 percent.
"What I told the US side was that the position of candidate Lee and the DP is that the South Korea-US alliance is of great importance, that we should upgrade it if possible, and that there is a need to strengthen trilateral cooperative relations among South Korea, the United States and Japan," he told reporters in front of the White House.
His remarks came amid lingering speculation that a liberal administration in Seoul might pay more foreign policy attention to relations with China as well as longstanding historical issues with Japan, whereas a conservative one prioritizes the alliance with the US and leans toward enhancing cooperation with Japan.
Apparently brushing aside such speculation, Kim underscored the need for closer cooperation with Japan.
"Given the current circumstances and global landscape, South Korea and Japan should closely cooperate," he said. "From my standpoint, bilateral cooperation should proceed at a level seen when Choshu and Satsuma cooperated."
He was referring to a military and political partnership formed in 1866 between the two powerful feudal domains in Japan, Satsuma and Choshu, to overthrow the Edo shogunate, the military government during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868.
During the talks at the White House, Kim also touched on tariff and trade-related issues.
South Korea and the US have been in consultations over tariffs and economic and industrial cooperation as Seoul is seeking to secure exemptions from Trump's 25 percent "reciprocal" tariffs and other sectoral tariffs, including 25 percent duties on automobiles and certain auto parts.
Trump has paused reciprocal tariffs on Korea and other trading partners until July 8 to allow for negotiations.
On auto part tariffs, Kim told US officials that in light of South Korea's free trade agreement with the US, the two sides should craft a solution that can be reached "at a level acceptable" to the Asian ally.
"About 67 percent of South Korea's trade surplus with the US comes from autos and auto parts. That said, we mentioned the significance (of the tariff issue)," he said.
Commenting on Trump's 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs, Kim said that South Korea "may need more time" for negotiations.
He also pointed out the 25 percent reciprocal tariff rate is the highest among countries with FTAs with the US
"I asked (US officials) whether (the reciprocal tariff rate on Korea) is really appropriate," he said.
"Through the South Korea-US FTA, US products, particularly agricultural ones, come (into Korea) duty-free now, while 25 percent tariffs are imposed on Korean cars, which can be seen in a sense as a double penalty. We need to do well in the negotiation process on this matter.
Regarding North Korea, Kim said that he shared the US condemnation of the North's short-range ballistic missile launches earlier this week, which he described as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions. He also agreed that Pyongyang should refrain from further missile launches.
"In my personal view, South Korea needs to further strengthen asymmetric conventional weapons capabilities and take steps to be able to respond if need be," he said.
Asked if there were discussions on the possible troop reduction of the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea as well as its role and status, he said, "No comment."
Kim served in various posts during former liberal governments, including the ambassadorial post at the UN. (Yonhap)
