[Column] US and Korea: From an alliance of values to an alliance of extortion

In a shift from a values-based alliance to a transactional one, the United States and South Korea have entered into a controversial arrangement that has drawn concern. This change was highlighted in an interview with Andrew Yeo, the SK-Korea Foundation Chair in Korea Studies at the Brookings Institution, who expressed his doubts about the sustainability of South Korea's massive investments in the United States.

One of these investments, a US$50 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Alaska, was announced by US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, September 13, 2023. The project aims to build a 1,300 km pipeline to transport natural gas from northern Alaska to a port near Anchorage in the south.

The announcement came after a joint news release from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources and the US Department of Commerce, stating that the United States and Korea would start working on the Alaska LNG project based on commercial reasonableness and domestic legal requirements. However, doubts about the project's viability have been raised since 2014, when global energy giants like ExxonMobil and BP withdrew from the project due to the immense estimated costs and challenges of constructing the pipeline across Alaska's permafrost.

In a news release, the ministry reported that the final decision on proceeding with the project would be made after further reviews of its commercial feasibility. Despite this uncertainty, Trump made a unilateral promise that the project would bring groundbreaking change for Alaska residents. This unilateral decision raises concerns about the unequal nature of the bilateral alliance and whether it now qualifies more as an arrangement of extortion than a transactional one.

Critics argue that the US is imposing tariffs on absurd grounds and then demanding that Korea pour money into a venture that is expected to lose money in exchange. This situation not only highlights the power imbalance between the two nations but also raises questions about the future of such a bilateral relationship.