- The moment an ally is treated not as a friend but as a business partner, America’s own power begins to weaken.
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| Kim Moon-kyo, Current Affairs Columnist |
For decades, the United States has been one of South Korea’s most important allies. Americans and Koreans shed blood together during the Korean War, and for more than 70 years, the two countries have worked side by side to defend peace and security on the Korean Peninsula. South Korea, too, has not turned away when the United States faced difficult times.
And yet, looking at Trump’s America today, one cannot help but ask:
What, exactly, is an alliance?
Recently, President Trump publicly took issue with South Korea’s decision not to participate in U.S. military action against Iran and ordered a significant reduction in joint U.S.–South Korea military exercises. These exercises are a core part of the alliance’s military readiness against threats from North Korea. If they are now being linked to whether South Korea participates in an entirely different war in another region, that changes the nature of the alliance.
South Korea is currently considering ways to contribute to maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz. It has even dispatched a fact-finding team to assess conditions on the ground. However, no decision has yet been made to deploy South Korean forces.
Iran has warned that if South Korean troops participate, it could regard such involvement as support for U.S. military operations.
For South Korea, this is an extremely difficult decision. Seoul must weigh its alliance with Washington against its own national interests, the safety of its people, and its diplomatic and economic relationships in the Middle East.
The same is true in the economic sphere.
Last year, South Korea agreed during trade negotiations with the United States to invest approximately $350 billion in U.S. manufacturing and other sectors. But as implementation of those investments has been delayed, President Trump has once again raised the possibility of higher tariffs.
There have also been reports of discussions involving more than $100 billion in additional investment projects in energy and AI infrastructure, although the South Korean government has said that the details have not yet been finalized.
If Washington says on security matters, “Join our war or we will scale back our military exercises,” and on economic matters, “Invest faster or we will raise tariffs,” can that truly be called a normal alliance?
To me, it looks like someone pointing a gun at the head of his closest friend and saying:
“If you really are my friend, do what I tell you.”
Of course, the United States has every right to make demands and pursue its own interests. Burden-sharing for defense can be negotiated. Trade imbalances can be discussed. South Korea, too, must fulfill its responsibilities as an ally.
But there is something more important in an alliance than negotiation.
Trust.
The moment security commitments become bargaining chips, tariffs become instruments of intimidation, and participation in a third country’s war becomes a test of loyalty, an alliance begins to change from a partnership into a transaction.
And when nothing remains but transactions, it is no longer a genuine alliance.
Trump says he wants to make America strong.
But America’s true strength does not come only from aircraft carriers, nuclear weapons, or the dollar. Another source of American power has always been the trust of countless allies around the world who have stood beside the United States.
If America intimidates its friends until it loses them, that is not strength.
South Korea must also be clear-eyed.
The U.S.–South Korea alliance must be preserved. But preserving the alliance cannot mean automatically complying with every demand from Washington.
The final standard for South Korea’s foreign and defense policy must always be South Korea’s national interest and the safety of its people.
And to the United States, I would say this clearly:
What a friend needs is not a gun, but a handshake.
The moment America points a gun at its closest friend, the damage is not limited to that friend. The trust America has built with its allies over decades—and with it, America’s global leadership—also begins to crumble.
If Trump’s America truly wants to make America great again, it must first remember one thing:
Great nations do not intimidate their friends.
They give their friends a reason to remain by their side.
김문교 대표기자 cambroadcast@naver.com
