By Choi Jong-kun
When Mikhail Gorbachev came to Washington D.C in December 1987 for a summit meeting with Ronald Ragan, both leaders posed for a photo session. And the U.S. President cited his favorite Russian proverbs, "doveryai no proveryai," which literally means "trust but verify." The phrase inevitably became what we now know as the flagship policy stance of Ronald Ragan for ending the Cold War.
"Trustpolitik" is well known as President Park Geun-hye's iconic policy stance symbolizing the administration's efforts to bring peace and stability to the Korean Peninsula and to implement her presidential campaign commitments such as tailored employments and welfare. Although still blurred, her grand strategy seems to recognize the importance of trust for fostering cooperative platforms in inter-state relations.
Trust is essentially a belief that the other side is willing to reciprocate cooperation. States that trust each other sufficiently can cooperate without much transaction costs. Trust and mistrust can make the difference between peace and war. Trust is not given. It has to be earned through tortuous verification processes especially in international politics.
As a critical military ally of the U.S., South Korea is also one of the thriving trading partners with China. More than a quarter of Korea's total trading volume takes place between the two countries, and is bigger than our trading volume with the U.S. and Japan put together. And we live right next door to presumably the rising great power of the world. This means that South Korea needs to forge a very cooperative relation with Beijing. For that, we need to gain China's trust, because, after all, we are the small neighbor facing a proliferating rogue state, North Korea which is also China's pseudo de facto ally.
The President's visit to China this time may mark a critical juncture whether South Korea can earn China's trust for the upcoming Post-American era. The summit has signaled that the both neighbors are heading in the same direction ― denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula through peaceful means and enhancing the bilateral economic and social relations. Park and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to push for the removal of nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula by reviving the Six Party Talks. But the case in point is that the combined U.S. and South Korea's non-engaging policy to North Korea policy has left little space for Park to gain credible and tangible commitment from China than a rhetorical joint statement that China and Korea does not accept a nuclear Korean Peninsula.
The lesson from last spring's security crisis on the Korean Peninsula is that although the alliance with the U.S. may deter North Korea from venturing military adventures on the Korean Peninsula, it cannot intrinsically resolve North Korea's nuclear problem. We need to not only work with North Korea but also be able to utilize China's leverage on Pyongyang. In short, South Korea needs to be a smart dolphin between two gigantic whales in securing South Korea's national interest. In doing so, we need China's cooperation. For that, we need to earn China's trust.
How do we bolster the mutual trust between Seoul and Beijing? It is simple. Remember this: There are some things that China wants from us that we will do only if China does some things that we want. Put this in China's perspective: there are some things Korea wants from China that China will do only if Korea does some things that China cares about. Trust has to be earned. While earning it, China will put us on the test to verify how trustworthy we are as a neighboring state for the times to come. The message of this summit is clear. Park's Trust Politik now faces a key test for earning China's trust.
Prof. Choi Jong-kun is associate dean of the Graduate School of Public Administration at Yonsei University.
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| Prof. Choi Jong-kun |
"Trustpolitik" is well known as President Park Geun-hye's iconic policy stance symbolizing the administration's efforts to bring peace and stability to the Korean Peninsula and to implement her presidential campaign commitments such as tailored employments and welfare. Although still blurred, her grand strategy seems to recognize the importance of trust for fostering cooperative platforms in inter-state relations.
Trust is essentially a belief that the other side is willing to reciprocate cooperation. States that trust each other sufficiently can cooperate without much transaction costs. Trust and mistrust can make the difference between peace and war. Trust is not given. It has to be earned through tortuous verification processes especially in international politics.
As a critical military ally of the U.S., South Korea is also one of the thriving trading partners with China. More than a quarter of Korea's total trading volume takes place between the two countries, and is bigger than our trading volume with the U.S. and Japan put together. And we live right next door to presumably the rising great power of the world. This means that South Korea needs to forge a very cooperative relation with Beijing. For that, we need to gain China's trust, because, after all, we are the small neighbor facing a proliferating rogue state, North Korea which is also China's pseudo de facto ally.
The President's visit to China this time may mark a critical juncture whether South Korea can earn China's trust for the upcoming Post-American era. The summit has signaled that the both neighbors are heading in the same direction ― denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula through peaceful means and enhancing the bilateral economic and social relations. Park and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to push for the removal of nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula by reviving the Six Party Talks. But the case in point is that the combined U.S. and South Korea's non-engaging policy to North Korea policy has left little space for Park to gain credible and tangible commitment from China than a rhetorical joint statement that China and Korea does not accept a nuclear Korean Peninsula.
The lesson from last spring's security crisis on the Korean Peninsula is that although the alliance with the U.S. may deter North Korea from venturing military adventures on the Korean Peninsula, it cannot intrinsically resolve North Korea's nuclear problem. We need to not only work with North Korea but also be able to utilize China's leverage on Pyongyang. In short, South Korea needs to be a smart dolphin between two gigantic whales in securing South Korea's national interest. In doing so, we need China's cooperation. For that, we need to earn China's trust.
How do we bolster the mutual trust between Seoul and Beijing? It is simple. Remember this: There are some things that China wants from us that we will do only if China does some things that we want. Put this in China's perspective: there are some things Korea wants from China that China will do only if Korea does some things that China cares about. Trust has to be earned. While earning it, China will put us on the test to verify how trustworthy we are as a neighboring state for the times to come. The message of this summit is clear. Park's Trust Politik now faces a key test for earning China's trust.
Prof. Choi Jong-kun is associate dean of the Graduate School of Public Administration at Yonsei University.
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