The 2020 United States presidential election is scheduled for Tuesday, November 3, 2020. With Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) ending his presidential candidacy on April 8, 2020, former Vice President Joe Biden is the sole remaining candidate for the nomination of the Democratic Party. Since then, the significant members of the party, including former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senator Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have all endorsed Biden. While it is unclear who Biden’s running mate may be, Biden recently reconfirmed that he would pick a woman for his Vice President.
On the Republican side, President Donald Trump signaled his intention to run for a second term by filing with the FEC within a few hours of assuming the presidency. Since February 2017, Trump has held several rallies and fundraisers for this campaign. On November 7, 2018, Trump confirmed that Mike Pence would be his vice-presidential running mate in 2020. On June 18, 2019, Trump held an official campaign launch event at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.
For this issue of the KAGC Newsletter, we compared Joe Biden and Donald Trump’s position on the Korean peninsula and U.S.-ROK alliance, which is directly related to one of the Korean American policy priorities: namely, 2020 Korean American Policy Priorities – promote stronger alliance between U.S. and Korean military forces and 2020 Korean American Policy Priorities – foster peace, stability and security on the Korean Peninsula.
U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in had a bilateral discussion in New York, Sept 2018. CREDIT SHEALAH CRAIGHEAD / WHITE HOUSE
Joe Biden
- Has an extensive foreign policy background
- Served as a Chairman (traditionally, the majority party member with the greatest seniority on a particular committee serves as its chairman) for two terms (2001-2003, 2007-2009) of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which has been instrumental in developing and influencing United States foreign policy, and considered, debated, and reported important treaties and legislation
- Was one of 77 senators to authorize the use of military force in Iraq, Oct 2002
- Helped formulate U.S. policy toward Iraq through the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq, Nov 2011, especially working as vice president during the Obama administration
- Negotiated the historic Iran nuclear deal, and blocked Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. It was a comprehensive, long-term deal that will verifiably prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, made in July 2015
- Supported the Obama administration’s policy on North Korea (2009-2016)
- “Strategic Patience:” a policy waiting out for the isolated state to change while holding on to sanctions
- Supports continued negotiations with North Korea, but says they would depend on Kim [Jong Un] taking concrete steps toward dismantling his nuclear program, with a final goal of a fully denuclearized North Korea. He would not continue direct personal diplomacy with Kim
- Pledges to reinvigorate the United States as a Pacific power by increasing the U.S. naval presence in the Asia-Pacific and deepening ties with countries including Australia, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea to make it clear to Beijing that Washington “won’t back down.”
- Would seek to deepen Washington’s relationship with Seoul and does not agree to start withdrawing American troops from the Korean Peninsula
More on events and actions during Biden’s Vice Presidency (2009-2016):
| Date | Event | Action |
|---|---|---|
| April 2009 | North Korea launched a rocket over the Pacific. | President Obama reconfirmed his support on working through the Six-Party Talks, multilateral negotiations aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons program (participating countries were South Korea, U.S., China, Japan, Russia, and North Korea, and it started in August 2003) despite North Korea's missile launch. |
| May 2009 | North Korea carried out its second nuclear test. | |
| June 2009 | UN Security Council condemned North Korea’s nuclear test conducted in May. | |
| December 2009 | President Obama's special envoy, Stephen Bosworth, delivered the president's letter while visiting Pyongyang for three days of discussions with officials. The letter was sent to North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il to persuade him to return to nuclear disarmament talks. | |
| March 2010 | North Korea sank South Korean warship Cheonan near sea border, killing 46 sailors. | |
| May 2010 | An international team of investigators (South Korean, U.S., Swedish, British and Australian civilians and military, 24 in total) concluded that North Korea is responsible for the Cheonan sinking. | |
| November 2010 | North Korea reportedly showed an eminent visiting American nuclear scientist (Siegfried Hecker) a new secretly-built facility for enriching uranium at its Yongbyon complex. Three days later North Korea fired dozens of shells at a South Korean island (Yeonpyeongdo), killing two South Korean marines and two civilians. It was the first direct artillery attack on South Korean territory since the Korean War ended in an armistice. | |
| February 2012 | In the Leap Day Agreement, North Korea promised a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests, and to open itself to new international inspection, for food aid from U.S. in return. | |
| April 2012 | North Korea made an attempt of Satellite launch but failed (was successful later in December). | |
| February 2013 | North Korea launched its third nuclear test. | |
| April 2014 | President Obama said the United States "will not hesitate to use our military might" to defend allies and raised the possibility of further sanctions if a [nuclear] test goes ahead. | |
| December 2015 | U.S. imposed new sanctions on North Korea, designating a number of individuals and entities. | |
| January 2016 | North Korea launched its fourth nuclear test. | |
| February 2016 | The North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016 (H.R. 757Pub.L. 114–122) was passed which requires the President to sanction entities found to have contributed to North Korea's weapons of mass destruction, arms trade, human rights abuses, or other illegal activities. |
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| September 2016 | North Korea launched its fifth nuclear test. |
Donald Trump
- Hardliner in his first year but loosened up sanctions to North Korea in later years
- Signed in 1953 at the end of the Korean War, the U.S.-ROK Mutual Defense Treaty commits the United States to help South Korea defend itself, particularly from North Korea and the alliance helps the United States promote its interests in East Asia and around the globe. Approximately 28,500 U.S. troops are currently based in South Korea.
- Considered withdrawing American troops partially from South Korea in May 2018, arguing that the United States is not adequately compensated for the cost of maintaining them, that the troops are mainly protecting Japan and that decades of American military presence had not prevented the North from becoming a nuclear threat.
- Considered withdrawing up to 4,000 troops from South Korea in Nov 2019, if Seoul would not agree to a U.S. demand to contribute more to the cost of stationing troops in the country. The U.S. broke off talks with South Korea the past week after demanding Seoul raise its annual contribution for U.S. troop costs to $5 billion.
- Asserted that South Korea can and should contribute more of its fair share for the Special Measures Agreement (SMA), a type of burden-sharing agreement, is the mechanism by which the Republic of Korea shares the costs of U.S. forces to defend the Republic of Korea,
- U.S.-ROK SMA expired at the end of 2019, and subsequent negotiations have failed to reach a compromise
- The Trump Administration has demanded Seoul increase its payments by 400%, and Trump publicly said it is debatable whether the U.S. troop presence is in U.S. interests.
- South Korean negotiators reportedly offered a 13% increase in contributions, but this fell far short of the Trump Administration’s proposal for a five-fold increase in ROK payments
- The SMA needs to be approved by the ROK National Assembly, and the ROK public is strongly opposed to meeting the U.S. demand.
More on events and actions during the Trump presidency (2017-Current):
| Date | Event | Action |
|---|---|---|
| July 2017 | North Korea carried out Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests twice within this month. ICBMs can deliver a weapon, like a nuclear warhead to another continent. Unlike other military missiles, ICBMs are feared for their long range. Some experts believe North Korea can reach U.S. states of Alaska and Hawaii and perhaps the U.S. Pacific Northwest. | |
| August 2017 | In response to President Trump’s “fire and fury” statement, North Korea threatened to fire ballistic missiles near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. | President Trump threatened to unleash “fire and fury” against North Korea if it endangered the United States. |
| September 2017 | North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test. | Few weeks after North Korea's nuclear test, President Trump issued Executive Order 13810 allowing the United States to cut from its financial system or freeze assets of any companies, businesses, organizations, and individuals trading in goods, services, or technology with North Korea. Also, any aircraft or ship upon entering North Korea is banned for 180 days from entering the United States. "Foreign financial institutions must choose between doing business with the United States or facilitating trade with North Korea or its designated supporters,” (White House) |
| June 2018 | Singapore Summit: President Trump met with Kim Jong Un, and both leaders signed a document saying that North Korea would work toward ‘complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. It was a first of its kind between a sitting American president and a leader of North Korea. President Trump suspended U.S.-ROK military exercises on the Korean Peninsula after the Singapore Summit. The annual exercises have been an integral part of the alliance with the United States that forms the bulwark of South Korea’s defenses against North Korea. |
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| February 2019 | Hanoi Summit: President Trump met with Kim Jong Un, but President Trump left with no deal after Kim insisted all U.S. sanctions be lifted on his country | |
| June 2019 | DMZ Summit: President Trump met with Kim Jong Un and ROK President Moon Jae-in, but Kim and Trump also had a private meeting. The Demilitarized Zone is established by the provisions of the Korean Armistice Agreement to serve as a buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea and is a border barrier that divides the Korean Peninsula roughly in half. |
Biden would seek to deepen U.S.-ROK alliance and opposes the withdrawal of USFK troops. Biden envisions a bigger presence of America in Asia. Trump, on the other hand, wants South Korea to pay more for its alliance and he is more open to withdrawing USFK troops.