Biden will visit South Korea next month or invite South Korea to join the blockade camp against China

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to travel to Japan next month for the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) and to South Korea. It has been disclosed that Biden may invite South Korea to join the US blockade camp against China. In this regard, South Korean President-elect Yoon Sek-yue made a statement.

According to the latest news from South Korea’s foreign ministry, U.S. President Joe Biden will visit South Korea on May 21 before going to Japan for the four-party talks in late May. This is only 11 days since Yin Xiyue took office as the President of South Korea on May 10. It has become the fastest meeting between the previous South Korean presidents and the U.S. president after taking office. Therefore, it has attracted great attention from all walks of life in South Korea.

Shin Sung-bum, a former member of the New National Party of South Korea, said: "In the past, the US president's visit to Asia was usually in the order of Japan, South Korea, China, or Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines. This time, he visited South Korea first, and then went to Japan, of course, is of great significance. In addition to paying attention to the current unstable factors on the Korean Peninsula, Russia, China and North Korea are forming a new Cold War bloc, so the first visit to South Korea is to emphasize the importance of the US-South Korea alliance and the current South Korea should pay attention to matters, such as strengthening South Korea-Japan cooperation, etc.”

Regarding the quadrilateral talks held in Japan in late May, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said: "The quadrilateral mechanism is full of outdated Cold War zero-sum thinking, with a strong military confrontation, which goes against the trend of the times and is destined to be unpopular."

According to the information of the US-South Korea summit released by the White House, Biden's trip to Asia is aimed at calling for the promotion of Indo-Pacific strategic cooperation around the China issue. Therefore, some South Korean analysts believe that South Korea may be invited to join the blockade of China at that time.

Kim Jong-ok, a professor at the School of Administration at Dongguk University in South Korea, pointed out: "South Korea is inclined to the United States in terms of security and China in terms of economy. With deglobalization and the intensifying conflict between China and the United States, a new Cold War pattern is gradually taking shape. South Korea is in the Asia-Pacific region. The location of the region is very important. Biden's visit is intended to strengthen the alliance between the United States and South Korea, and even invite South Korea to join QUAD. However, if South Korea joins QUAD, it will face strong countermeasures from China, just like China's countermeasures during THAAD. Therefore, South Korea needs to make sufficient advance explanations to China in order to minimize South Korea's losses. This is probably a major issue that the Yoon Seok-hye government will face."

During the campaign, Yin Xiyue announced that he would develop the US-ROK alliance into a comprehensive strategic alliance, and said that "the vague strategy of the Moon Jae-in government has come to an end." Therefore, it is predicted that South Korea will be on the US-China issue at this summit. The stance will be more inclined towards the United States.

Regarding whether to join the four-party talks, Yin Xiyue said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on April 24, "If there is an opportunity, we will actively review the participation."

It is reported that Biden will visit Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor factory during his visit to South Korea. In March, the United States proposed that 64 semiconductor companies from the United States, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan jointly set up the "Chip 4 Alliance" to control the global semiconductor industry chain and strengthen global control over China's semiconductor and chip research and development. In this regard, the Korean media "Seoul Economy" once issued an article expressing that it is difficult to accept the proposal of the United States, because China and South Korea cooperate closely in semiconductors. Mainland China is the world's largest semiconductor market that cannot be ignored, and a large part of the raw materials for South Korea's semiconductor industry also comes from China. .

However, during the epidemic, the closure and control trend of Shanghai and other cities gradually began, causing the South Korean semiconductor industry to suffer huge losses in terms of raw material supply and sales. Therefore, if Biden’s visit to South Korea again mentions the “Chip 4 Alliance”, it remains to be seen whether South Korea will join.