New Analysis
South Korea-U.S. economic ties are changing amid supply chain worries, high-tech competition, and concerns over national security.
Having China as its largest trading partner, South Korea had, for over a decade, managed to mostly maintain balanced economic ties between the two powerhouses.
However, recently, Seoul has made a clear shift in cementing a business partnership with Washington over Beijing.
The shift appeares to be driven by the destabilized global supply chains caused by the pandemic and growing threats to its economic and national security.
Such a shift comes as the country has a new conservative leader, President Yoon Suk-yeol, a former prosecutor who is considered to be pro-United States. Yoon was sworn in on May 10. During his campaigning, Yoon vowed to shift the country’s economic policies from “government-led growth” to “private sector-led growth.”…