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You have warned that South Korea could be the next Venezuela under the Korean Democratic Party. Was this just rhetorical or a serious concern?
“There is a specific risk. We know that the Democratic Party of Korea does not really believe in the Republic of Korea. We have seen this from the party’s leading figures. What they think of is Korea. That means no North Korea or South Korea. But one unified Korea. There is nothing wrong with that theoretically, but the problem is that we have seen the Democratic Party figures see to North Korea. They have supported the North Korean regime, and they do not actually stand up for Democracy. So we have got to be concerned that their vision of a unified Korea is an authoritarian or even totalitarian state, essentially run by Pyongyang. There have been leftist figures who have been president in South Korea before. But they have more or less respected democratic norms. The problem is that Democratic Party figures today are ruthless. I think they would do everything possible to take down South Korea’s democracy and merge into a totalitarian Korean state.”
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Do you mean that the Democratic Party of South Korea could shake not just South Korea but the Korean peninsula itself?
“Yes, because we know the Democratic Party’s position. For instance, when Moon Jae-In was the president. He did not talk about the Republic of Korea, rather, he mentioned ‘Korea.’ When he went to Pyongyang, there was no South Korean flag flying, which is a regular diplomatic protocol. Instead, there were the unification flag and the North Korean flag. So this is a concern for anybody who believes in democracy on the Korean peninsula. President Moon, although he had terribly misguided ideas, nonetheless respected democratic norms. What I am concerned about is the current corrupt Democratic Party leaders. Specifically, Lee Jae-Myung, who will very likely be the next president of the Republic of Korea. He is ruthless. We have seen this with his attack on former President Yoon Suk-Yeol and the way he went after other government figures, trying these impeachment motions. Thus, this guy is relentless, ruthless, and from what we can tell, he is as communist as Moon Jae-In was.”
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How do the Democrats in South Korea diminish the power of the state?
“Former President Moon certainly diminished the South Korean army’s ability to resist the North Korean invasion, while not insisting that North Korea also reduce its ability to attack the South. This position is extremely concerned. Also, we know that Moon did his best to take down the alliance with the United States. The States does not want to be on the Korean peninsula. President Trump does not want to be there. However, that alliance is inevitable to protect South Korea. South Korea wants the alliance, hoping that the U.S. troops remain in the territory to protect democracy. When Moon was president, he did all that he could to undermine the alliance. We have got to be concerned that he wants North Korea to have the ability to coerce South Korea. I am not saying that Lee Jae-Myung would destroy South Korea or turn it into a communist paradise. But I am saying that there is an unacceptably high chance that he would try to accomplish that, and succeed. Remember, we have all sources of the country, such as Venezuela, that look like a prosperous democracy that turned into an authoritarian haul. The same thing could easily happen in South Korea.”
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Compared to Venezuela, South Korea is a highly developed industrial nation with a strong economic foundation. Do you actually think that the country could become like Venezuela, merely a shift of the five-year presidency?
“Yes, especially Lee Jae-Myung does not respect democratic norms. The Korean Democratic Party, for instance, can amend the constitution. He could just amend South Korea out of existence. There are many countries used to being prosperous and democratic that have fallen into authoritarianism and even totalitarianism. This is not inconceivable, and I am very afraid of the future of South Korea.”
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The early presidential election in South Korea is coming. Is there any chance that the right wing will win the upcoming election?
“Nothing is inevitable; conservatives can win. However, I do not think they will from my scant knowledge of internal Korean politics. We’ve got to be concerned, particularly since conservatives do not look like united right now. Compared to that, leftists do appear united. If the Democrats can control all branches of the government, I am afraid that Lee Jae-Myung would be able to take down democracy in South Korea. We know that he is very pro-China, pro-North Korea, and very anti-U.S. People in the United States are not aware of the danger that would occur.”
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What are the main reasons behind the political shift to the left in South Korea?
“South Korean electors have always been more or less evenly divided. We have seen political winds shift where you have a conservative president followed by a leftist one, a progressive president followed by a right-wing government. Fortunately, former left-wing presidents followed democratic norms, but I am not sure that Lee Jae-Myung will. We have seen how he ruthlessly attacked President Yoon and his government. Using impeachment not as a means of punishing wrongdoers, but to enforce his views on the government.”
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Were the past elections in South Korea fair?
“The last three national elections in South Korea, general elections in 2020 and 2024, and the presidential election in 2022, are marred by fraud. In those elections, we saw results that did not actually match polling. That is an indication of fraud, and it is extremely concerning. We have also heard of instances of improper ballot security and have seen very unusual voting patterns. Certainly, the 2020 and 2024 elections were, and the 2022 election when Yoon won, but he won by a much thinner margin than everyone had predicted. That indicates there was a ballot switch at the last moment. The other thing is that the National Election Commission of the Republic of Korea (NEC) seems not to be doing its best to protect election integrity. It said how the system cannot be hacked, but we know that the National Intelligence Service hacked it, we perceive that North Korea hacked the balloting system, and we have seen unusual voting shifts between preliminary election days and the voting day. The problem is that NEC seems like they do not want to look into those matters; in other words, the election watchdog is covering up the election fraud.”
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Then, can the presidential election on June 3rd be trusted?
“There will be extensive ballot rigging, and it will change the result.”
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What should the right party do to regain its power?
“Generally, the declaration of martial law seems to be unpopular, so that does not argue well for the conservatives’ victory. Also, the conservatives look disunited. They cannot sit behind a single candidate. If all sources of the right wing come together, that would expel the victory of the progressives. Plus, the conservatives should come up with a message that South Koreans would accept, and they have to explain it in clear terms. Specifically, they need to pass the declaration of martial law with acceptable narratives.”
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Do you think the behavior of conservative politicians in South Korea has been shown rationally or irrationally to the public recently?
“I think it was irrational. I do not think that they have adopted the right tactics to ensure victory in the next election. Additionally, there is infighting among the conservatives, which is very hardening. I cannot say what the conservatives in South Korea should do or not, but I hope that the right wing would be unified behind a single candidate.”
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If Lee Jae-Myung wins the election, will he move closer to China? How does that affect South Korea’s relationship with China and North Korea?
“North Korea could become more aggressive, especially when the leftist candidate wins the election, they will try to take advantage of South Korea, which the right wing of South Korea would not permit. We have seen, for instance, even when South Korea had progressive presidents, they did not receive great applause from Pyongyang for several reasons. When we talk about the Sunshine policy of Kim Dae-Jung, the Peace and Prosperity policy of Roh Moo-Hyun, North Korea has been very suspicious. The leftist president would not try to defend the nation’s territory and integrity. We know that the Chinese are threatening those notions, such as the Yellow Sea. We also know that the leftist presidents have put pressure on the South Korean Chaebols to reveal trade secrets and valuable information that the Chinese would take advantage of. Any president from whatever party should protect the nation’s territory and integrity: defend against North Korea and protect South Korean companies’ valuable technologies. These things are just elemental.”
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How would Lee Jae-Myung’s pro-China agenda affect Trump’s foreign policy, especially his Indo-Pacific strategy?
“South Korea would become a communist state and a threat to Japan and the United States. Any country that is a friend or ally of China is a great concern. Unfortunately, there have been presidents in South Korea who were more interested in submitting to China than in defending South Korea’s rights. For instance, Moon Jae-In’s infamous ‘3NO’ essentially gave up South Korean sovereignty to the Chinese. That was not defensible, and I am worried that Lee Jae-Myung would follow that path. China has always treated Koreans as vessels. This goes back hundreds of years. Whether you are a communist or a democrat, nobody wants to be treated as a vessel. Yet, that is the way of China towards Korea, unfortunately, leftists in South Korea are willing to accept it. If I were Korean, regardless of how I felt about politics, I would not want the Chinese to blow the country. Unfortunately, leftists in South Korea opened the door to that possibility.”
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If the Democrats win the presidential election, how would they affect the relationship between the United States and Japan?
“We know that the leftists have traditionally used the hatred of Japan for political purposes. Koreans have to look at the map. It would be very hard for the United States to protect South Korea from Beijing if Japan were hostile to South Korea. I can understand how Koreans feel toward the Japanese. Nonetheless, if Japan is being uncooperative, it would just make it difficult for anybody to defend South Korea. Thus, whether you like Japanese or not, it does not matter. You should be concerned about who is threatening you today. It is not Japan, but China, North Korea, and perhaps Russia as well. That’s the reality.”
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President Trump met Kim Jong-Un several times during his first administration. Would he meet Kim again, and could South Korea be able to side between the two countries?
“I do not think there is a likelihood of another meeting between President Trump and Kim. The world has changed. The meeting attempt by President Trump to woo Pyongyang in his first administration was not a good idea. It was misguided and did not help South Korea. President Trump suspended large-scale military exercises, which are required to keep South Korea at a high state of readiness. I think the second Trump administration would be different. Kim Jong-Un, North Korea, and China are all different than before.”
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Could the high tariff realistically restore the States’ manufacturing strength?
“It is possible. If there is a high tariff, the government keeps the tax rates low and enacts an investment tax credit. Then, the U.S. manufacturing flourishes behind the tariff wall. I am not saying that it will happen, but it can happen. It has happened in the past. Many countries built up manufacturing behind a high tariff wall.”
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What are the main pros and cons of Trump’s current tariff policy?
“China has increasingly engaged in predatory trade practices. I guess that what the Trump administration is trying to do is rearrange the global trading order so that other countries can trade with the United States, not China. The important factor is that the U.S. consumer accounts for 38~39% of the global consumer spending. This fact would make President Trump easily convince countries with different trade relationships since everyone needs access to American consumers. Another crucial fact is that we allow maintaining a non-tariff barrier. President Trump emphasized that the trade has to be reciprocal. Many Americans, including me, would accept that message. However, the problem is that President Trump has not quickly and effectively come to new trade agreements with other countries. We have heard from those states that they do not know what the United States wants, and that makes it difficult to come to the table. In other words, the U.S. government is not effectively using its leverage to negotiate with other countries, and that is a little perplexing from my perspective.”
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What would be the biggest success and failure of Trump’s second administration until now?
“Trade policy, which is a work in progress, is the biggest success and failure of President Trump until now. It has been good that President Trump decided to change American trade policy towards China, which was deeply misguided for three decades. Rearranging those policies would cost American consumers, but it is a necessary action to re-justice the American trade relationship with others. I give President Trump high marks for taking on the issue, which we had to do. There were many presidents, especially Former President Obama, who promised to protect American workers, but did nothing to do so. Nevertheless, I do not give him high marks for his mechanics in implementing the matter. I believe that it will get better as time goes on.”
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Would President Trump really seek his third term?
“Constitutionally, the United States is very clear. He cannot have the third term. No question about it. The constitution can be amended, but it will not be amended to permit him to run a third term.”
