Oh Se-hoon: “The ROK-U.S. alliance is on thin ice ... Can we entrust our security to a government that doubts the alliance?”

[Financial News] Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon strongly urged the government to restore discipline in the Cabinet and promptly carry out investment in the U.S., saying that repeated gaffes by the current administration’s foreign and security policy team were undermining trust in the ROK-U.S. Alliance.
On the 1st, Oh posted on his Facebook page under the headline “Can we entrust our security to a government that doubts the alliance?” He said, “The ROK-U.S. Alliance is standing on thin ice,” and sharply criticized the Lee Jae Myung administration’s foreign and security policy.

Oh pointed to the U.S. ambassador to South Korea’s recent public reference to “turbulence” in relations between South Korea and the United States, saying, “It’s a word an ambassador of an ally rarely uses about the host country, and it tells us more than enough about how Washington, D.C., views Seoul right now.”
He went on to identify the current administration’s foreign and security policy team as the force fueling the crisis in the alliance. He took issue with Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul’s remarks during a parliamentary audit, to the effect of, “If a war breaks out with North Korea, can we trust those U.S. troops?” He also criticized Unification Minister Chung Dong-young for publicly commenting last April on North Korea’s Kusong nuclear facility, prompting the U.S. to restrict some intelligence sharing on North Korea.
Oh said, “The belief that ‘South Korea and the U.S. stand together’ is what has kept North Korea’s provocations in check until now,” and strongly criticized the government, saying, “Ministers in the South Korean government are rushing to say what North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would most want to hear.”

He also voiced concern that distrust over security was directly damaging the economy and trade. Oh noted, “U.S. President Donald Trump treats even alliances like entries in a ledger and does not separate security from trade.” He said that when South Korea pledged, a year ago, to increase defense spending and invest $350 billion in the U.S., the United States responded by supporting long-sought goals—a nuclear-powered submarine and revisions to the U.S.–Republic of Korea Agreement for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation. South Korea had a major opportunity but failed to seize it, he said.
He explained, “When passage of the special law to support investment in the U.S. was delayed, President Trump warned last January that he would raise tariffs on South Korea to 25%. The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruling that the reciprocal tariffs were unlawful caused the threat to fizzle, but the U.S. found a workaround through Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and has been imposing tariffs of around 12.5% on our exports since last July.”
He added, “The results of the Section 301 investigation targeting overproduction have not even come out yet. The burden falls entirely on our exporting companies and jobs,” and criticized the government, saying, “There’s no way other countries will fully trust a government that makes them doubt its commitment to the alliance. It’s shooting itself in the foot.”

He also rejected the optimism among some in the ruling camp that relations between South Korea and the United States would naturally improve after the U.S. midterm elections. Oh said, “Whichever party controls the U.S. Congress, the ‘America First’ calculus won’t change,” and warned, “If we just wait and watch another country’s election, we’ll be like the fool who waits by a stump for a rabbit.”
He also rebutted President Lee Jae Myung’s recent remark that “we should avoid a subservient attitude,” saying, “I can hear the alliance cracking, and yet those are extraordinarily complacent words,” and, “Self-reliance is possible only when the ROK-U.S. Alliance provides a strong shelter.”
Finally, Oh urged the president, “Does this government believe in the ROK-U.S. Alliance? If it does, it must first restore discipline in the foreign and security policy team and hold those responsible for remarks that shook the alliance to account.” He stressed, “It must also present a concrete timetable for the remaining investment in the U.S. and act one step ahead of the United States. The golden window of opportunity won’t wait for us.”


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