President Trump Must Treat Korea as a True Ally

When Korea and the United States stand again as equal partners, we will together enjoy greater freedom and prosperity.

Park Moon-soo

The author is a chairman of Future & Values and director of the Korea Peace-making foundation. Dear President Donald Trump,

It has been 27 years since we first worked together as business partners in 1998. The memories remain vivid and positive. Yet I am writing today not as a businessperson, but as a Korean deeply anxious about my country’s future.

Mr. President, Korea is facing a grave political and economic crisis. Anxiety reminiscent of the 1997 IMF financial meltdown is spreading across the nation. What troubles Koreans even more is the growing perception that our fate rests in your hands. It feels as if we are once again waiting for decisions made abroad, like a subordinate awaiting a ruler’s command.

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, greets Korean President Lee Jae Myung outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington on Aug. 25. [UPI/YONHAP]

For more than seven decades, the Korea-U. S. alliance has been the cornerstone of our security. It is an alliance forged in blood. The sacrifice of young American soldiers in the Korean War remains embedded in our soil, just as young Koreans fought and died alongside U.S. troops in Vietnam. Through this partnership, Korea rose from the ruins of war to become the world’s 10th-largest economy, while the United States gained a steadfast democratic partner in Asia. But the alliance has also carried tensions and asymmetries.

In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt secretly agreed to recognize Japan’s control over Korea in exchange for Japan’s acceptance of U.S. rule in the Philippines. The so-called Taft-Katsura Agreement turned Korea into a pawn on the chessboard of great powers. America ignored Korea’s freedom, and Japan seized it as a colony. That betrayal remains an enduring scar on the Korean consciousness.

Today, your words and actions evoke memories of that painful past. When Korea is spoken of as a “cash cow” or treated as an “economic colony,” it undermines the alliance and breeds deep mistrust and resentment among Koreans. Demands such as $350 billion in cash investment have provoked harsh reactions here, reviving the kind of anti-American sentiment seen during the mad cow disease protests years ago.

You champion “America First” and the goal of making America great again. Every leader should put their nation’s interests first. But true alliances are built not on coercion, but on mutual respect. President Lee Jae Myung has made a wise proposal to you — that you be the peacemaker and he the pacemaker. His message is that Korea wishes to be a genuine partner in achieving your vision of a great America.

Such a partnership would serve both nations. Yet if your impatience or unilateral demands were to destabilize the Lee administration, it would deal a severe blow to Korean democracy. The shock waves would spread across East Asia, weakening the region’s democratic bloc and undermining America’s strategic position.

If democratic allies fall apart, the vacuum will be filled by instability and disorder. A runner without a pacemaker cannot sustain pace, and a peacemaker without a partner cannot deliver peace. The success of the Lee administration is intertwined with your own. If one falters, both fail.

U.S. President Donald Trump holds a ″Foreign Trade Barriers″ document as he delivers remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington on April 2. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

You hold the key to transforming Korea’s crisis into opportunity. I earnestly ask you to exercise leadership in resolving the stalled Korea-U. S. trade negotiations based on mutual respect and shared benefit. If you genuinely support Korea’s efforts for peace and stability, it will serve America’s long-term interests as well.

When Korea and the United States stand again as equal partners, we will together enjoy greater freedom and prosperity. And you, Mr. President, will be remembered as a leader who advanced global peace and democracy in the 21st century.

With an unwavering heart, I will continue to pray for your wisdom and for the enduring friendship between our nations.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.