“Asking for Trouble” and Heightening Security Risks: President Yoon’s “Negative Diplomacy” under Fire

More people are criticizing President Yoon Suk-yeol for his “negative diplomacy,” creating unnecessary enemies by mentioning the possibility of supplying weapons to Ukraine. When it comes to foreign relations, standing in solidarity with allies is necessary, but managing risk factors is also important.

Right after President Yoon’s comment was made public on April 19, Russia began warning South Korea that the supply of weapons was an act of intervening in the war as well as a hostile action against Russia. Moscow even mentioned the possibility of a counterattack by providing North Korea with weapons. On April 20, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry, said that Russia would interpret the supply of weapons to Ukraine as hostile behavior against Russia and mentioned the Korean Peninsula issue. Managing the relationship with Russia has become more and more difficult due to the prolonged war, and in this situation, President Yoon’s remark acted as a catalyst provoking Russia.

Park Byung-hwan, director of the Eurasian Strategy Research Institute who formerly served as a minister in Russia said, “To respond to North Korean nuclear and missile threats, the Republic of Korea needs to strengthen its national defense and improve cooperation with the U.S. and Japan on security issues. But preventing countries with the potential to support the North, like Russia, from getting closer to North Korea is another major pillar in foreign relations.” He continued and said, “Reducing such negative factors is more important than increasing positive factors when it comes to foreign relations, but President Yoon has failed to notice this.”

President Yoon is adjusting his voice to go in line with that of the U.S. on all issues on foreign affairs in time for his visit to the U.S. next week. Sending weapons to Ukraine was something that the Joe Biden administration had strongly requested since the Yoon Suk-yeol government was inaugurated last May.

But there can be no diplomacy that abandons one side to strengthen the other, the U.S. Russia is an important party linked to resolving the North Korean issue, along with the U.S., China, and Japan. Without support from Russia, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, it will be difficult for the international community to enforce additional sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). If the DPRK expands its tripartite military cooperation with Russia and China, it could clash with the security alliance of the Republic of Korea, the U.S. and Japan. In this case, tensions will inevitably run high on the Korean Peninsula.

President Yoon’s public remark that the tension in the Taiwan Strait was due to “attempts to change the status quo by force” has suddenly emerged as an issue of conflict with China. On Friday, Wang Wenbin, the spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, claimed that resolving the Taiwan issue was solely a matter for the Chinese and argued that China would not allow any intervention from another country. The South Korean foreign ministry argued that China had made a serious diplomatic gaffe, triggering conflict between the two countries.

President Yoon’s words were seen as an unsuccessful attempt to manage risk. The president chose to openly side with Washington threatening South Korea’s relations with Russia and China, instead of maintaining a strategic ambiguity on sensitive diplomatic issues, on which the U.S. stands in opposition to China and Russia. Eventually, it will only strengthen the confrontation between blocs: South Korea, the U.S. and Japan against North Korea, China and Russia. There is also the possibility of North Korea using President Yoon’s words as an excuse to take advantage of the antagonistic structure of a New Cold War.

This is not the first time that President Yoon engaged in negative diplomacy. During a state visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in January, he met with the troops of the Akh Unit and said, “The UAE’s enemy and biggest threat is Iran.” His simple interpretation of the relation between the UAE and Iran was problematic, but his comment stirred more controversy because it could be interpreted to mean that Iran and South Korea were enemies. The foreign ministry said that it did not want to see any exaggerated interpretations of the president’s remark, but the Iranian foreign ministry argued that the statement was diplomatically improper and completely ignorant. They summoned the South Korean ambassador and protested. President Yoon has continued to fuel diplomatic risks, not befitting the “number one salesman of the Republic of Korea,” which he declared himself to be.