The decadeslong alliance between South Korea and the United States is expected to remain “very solid” regardless of the outcome of the American presidential election in November, the vice president of the conservative Washington think tank Heritage Foundation said Tuesday.
“In many ways, it will stay very, very solid, and there will be a continuity,” Derrick Morgan, executive vice president of the foundation, said in an exclusive interview with Yonhap News Agency in Seoul when asked of any possible changes in bilateral relations after the U.S. election.
He added, “It’s on a very strong footing now and was, for particularly the second half of President Trump’s first term. And that carried over into the Biden administration, where the importance of South Korea, Japan the U.S. all working together has been a huge step forward for the alliance.”
Morgan, who previously worked at the White House under U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney during the George W. Bush administration, was visiting South Korea at the 카지노 invitation of the Korea International Trade Association.
“I think the biggest question mark is probably how trade policy unwinds, or how it advances,” Morgan assessed, adding, “It’s just a matter of how President Trump wants to be more aggressive in competing with China (if elected).”
On economic ties between the two countries, Morgan said there was “huge growth” in the U.S. market for Korean products.
“I think, particularly as you look at Kia, Hyundai and Genesis, they’re just exploding in their market penetration (in the U.S.),” Morgan said.
He highlighted that South Korea’s strong investments in the U.S. manufacturing infrastructure in particular is helping American consumers feel even better about Korean products, as they know that Korean brands, such as Hyundai Motor Group vehicles, are actually manufactured in America.