South Korea seems to be bending over backward to impress the next U.S. administration, which, as recent election results suggest, might very well be under Trump again. They’re already eager to build what they’re calling a “perfect” security partnership. It as if Seoul was waiting by the phone, breathlessly anticipating a call from the president-elect.
South Korea remains one of America’s key allies in Asia, with roughly 28,500 U.S. troops stationed there to keep North Korea’s nuclear ambitions in check. This alliance has been a bedrock of U.S. foreign policy, and for years, no one in Washington has dared question it. Yet, Trump’s previous presidency was full of accusations that South Korea wasn’t pulling its weight demanding as much as $5 billion a year from Seoul for American troop deployment. That sentiment might just make a comeback, considering how Trump operates.
Despite the ongoing U.S. vote count, Trump has already gone ahead and claimed victory, with Fox News calling the race in his favor against Kamala Harris. This, if confirmed, would mark an almost cinematic political comeback. In typical Trump style, it looks like he’s trying to seize the moment before the results are fully in, showing his disregard for convention.
Meanwhile, a South Korean official let slip an interesting information—North Korean troops haven’t yet been fully active against Ukrainian forces. There’s also talk of South Korea possibly sending a monitoring team to Ukraine, a move that apparently wouldn’t even require National Assembly approval, given its “limited purpose.” It’s almost as if South Korea wants to assert its influence wherever it can, staying relevant in global conflicts by any means necessary.
But looking at the U.S. election process, you can’t help but marvel. It’s astonishingly organized and calm compared to the chaos we see in places like Nigeria, where elections often mean ballot boxes go “missing” courtesy of unknown gunmen, or local thugs(Agberos )chase voters away, and results magically change. Perhaps it’s time some countries learned how to hold an election that doesn’t look like a battle scene.
