Nancy Pelosi vs. Lee Jun-seok

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks at a meeting with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (not pictured) at the presidential office in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday. Reuters-Yonhap

Pelosi's Taiwan visit, Lee's Ukraine trip generated different reactions in their respective home countries; why?

By Kang Hyun-kyung

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's arrival in Taiwan on Wednesday, despite China's furious reaction which materialized in a menacing military show of force, has made some Koreans like me want to revisit Lee Jun-seok's week-long trip to war-torn Ukraine two months ago, shortly after the June 1 local elections.

The two high-profile visits to the regions with high levels of security risk ― albeit of very different types ― generated contrasting reactions in each of the figures' domestic political contexts. Pelosi is seen as a determined and principled politician who risked her own safety for her life-long mission to protect democracy and human rights, whereas Lee's Ukraine visit left some of his party members and society more broadly cynical of his motives.

Pelosi, 82, and Lee, 37, are two extremely different politicians with few similarities. As the difference in their ages implies, Pelosi is a seasoned politician with a three-decade political career in the House of Representatives as its first female speaker. Lee's experience in politics is much shorter than that of the longtime California Democrat. He drew nationwide attention briefly last year after rising to power in the ruling People Power Party (PPP) following his stunning victory in the party's primary to select its leader. His stardom, however, was short-lived as seen in the PPP's ethics committee's decision in June to suspend him from his position and party affairs for six months for allegedly receiving sexual services as bribery for political favors twice, as well as destroying evidence.

Pelosi's determination to go ahead with her visit to Taiwan amid China's armed display to intimidate her, and Lee's Ukraine visit from June 3 to 9 are very different in their natures as well.

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The U.S. speaker risked her own safety and that of her accompanying staff, and her high-profile visit to the island which China claims as part of its territory could inflame tensions further between the U.S. and China. Lee's Ukraine visit, while also risky, was not comparable to Pelosi's Taiwan visit when it comes to its political repercussions.

The differences between Pelosi and Lee certainly don't end there. There seems to be a consensus in the U.S. about her trip as it is portrayed as her mission promoting democracy and human rights in the face of autocracy in the region. A New York Times article described her as a politician who doesn't give in to bullies. "Her current clash is just the latest in a more than three-decade career of challenging the Chinese government on human rights and other issues. And it was another example of a time when the most powerful woman in Washington did not shy away from what she considered a worthy fight," it read.

U.S. President Joe Biden was reportedly wary about Pelosi's trip but has not openly opposed it and let the speaker make her own decisions. The U.S. increased its military presence in the Indo-Pacific region all throughout her Asia trip.

The supportive reactions from the U.S. government, media and fellow lawmakers with regard to Pelosi's Taiwan visit stand in stark contrast to what happened in Korea after Lee's Ukraine trip.

Lee's sudden visit to Ukraine caused a stir. Some senior PPP members revealed their resentment toward what they called his "politics for himself."

Rep. Chung Jin-suk, a five-term lawmaker of the PPP, said that foreign policy and security officials opposed Lee's plan to visit Ukraine. "I was told that key government officials in charge of foreign policy and security were against Lee's planned visit to Ukraine," he wrote on social media. "I think a ruling party politician should have been cautious about such a trip that was not welcomed by the government… His trip to Ukraine was nothing more than politics for his own sake, hence the problem."

Lee hit back at the five-term lawmaker on social media, saying that he didn't care much about how others reacted to his trip. "I tell you that here in Ukraine, some politicians are angry because some Koreans tried to curry favor with Russia," he wrote.

The contrasting reactions to Pelosi's Taiwan visit in the United States and Lee's week-long Ukraine visit among Korea's ruling party members can be explained in many different ways. But one thing that seems apparent is that Pelosi's record on issues such as civil liberties, democracy and human rights certainly played a part behind the public support for her Taiwan trip. Her visit to Beijing in 1991, two years after the Tiananmen Square massacre, and her history of activities standing in support of democracy in China are being revisited after her Taiwan trip.

Compared to the U.S. House speaker, Lee's Ukraine trip was seen by many as a decision that came out of the blue, partly because he lacked any reputation in humanitarian work. It is no surprise that his abrupt Ukraine trip triggered various interpretations about his motives, with some seeing it as his way of doing politics for himself abroad in order to influence domestic opinion in his favor, as his party was gearing up for another leadership contest to be held the following year.