The South Korean Challenges

Both countries maintain that the drills are purely defensive. Further sanctions against North Korea or Chinese companies still conducting business across the border will take time to put in place, and longer still to take effect. Meanwhile, a power vacuum has opened in Seoul following a freaky corruption scandal that toppled president Park Geun-hye last week, leaving the country in caretaker mode until elections in May. But it is unclear how the new president would enforce this.

These unprecedented escalations even prompted China into action, first by announcing it would not import any more North Korean coal – the regime’s main export – for the rest of the year, and then with a statement on March 8 by Foreign Minister Wang Yi (王毅 ), who urged Pyongyang to “suspend nuclear activity”, likening the escalation to an impending train collision.

The United States began to deploy the system a week ago, a day after North Korea launched its latest four missile tests.

In Seoul, tens of thousands of people occupied a downtown boulevard on March 10 to celebrate Park’s ouster, while, in a nearby square, what was said to be a larger crowd of Park’s supporters vowed to resist what they called a “political assassination”.

It remains to be seen what new ideas the Trump administration will bring. They definitely differed on Japan, and a joint North Korean approach has to be developed yet. The administration’s dislike of the Iran deal raises questions about how Tillerson would adopt this approach to the Trump era.

President Donald Trump’s rise to power has raised anxiety in Asian capitals. These provocative tests followed the assassination in Malaysia of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s half-brother Kim Jong Nam in February using the deadly nerve agent VX and the disclosure that the North tried to sell nuclear material to worldwide buyers past year.

What does “America First” mean for Trump’s ties with South Korea? Indeed, it’s possible that Pyongyang will go “ballistic” – or worse – during Tillerson’s time in Asia.

Watching North Korea’s behavior from a distance, it feels like one is watching a cheap Hollywood thriller, except that this one is real and potentially perilous.

These are just assumptions depending on how President Trump would respond after the new government is formed in Seoul. The deployment of the drones, which are capable of carrying Hellfire missiles, comes just a week after the US began assembling its advanced anti-missile system known as THAAD, which is created to protect South Korea from missiles launched by Pyongyang.

A senior South Korean government official who spoke to Yonhap on the condition of anonymity said the annual exercises “Key Resolve and Foal Eagle 2017 are bigger this year than in previous years”.

The Seventh is the largest forward-deployed USA naval fleet. The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States would be facing the same challenge.

Stop No. 2 – South Korea: You’d think the only thing to talk about in Seoul these days would be naughty North Korea and its nefarious nuclear and ballistic missile programs. South Korea has yet to restore the wartime operation control of its troops from the USA, a legacy from the 1950-53 Korean War.

“Lotte, leave China! Boycott Korean goods!”

In fact, China and Russian Federation believe that its placement is part of a larger American plan to establish a fence of anti-missile systems around them.

South Korea will hold a presidential election by May 9 after the impeachment and dismissal last week of its former president, Park Geun-hye, and policy on North Korea and the THAAD system are likely to be contentious issues in the campaign.