The Presidential Office has publicly rebutted a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) column by American conservative figures who labeled the Lee Jae-myung government "hard left" and raised concerns about the South Korea-U.S. alliance, calling it a "serious distortion."
Choi Sung-a, the Presidential Office's secretary for foreign media, made the remarks in a rebuttal column submitted to the WSJ on Wednesday, saying the original piece "not only fails to reflect Korea's reality but also risks undermining trust in one of America's closest allies."
Earlier, Nicholas Eberstadt, a researcher at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a U.S. conservative think tank, and Lawrence Peck, an adviser to the North Korea Freedom Coalition, contributed a column to the WSJ on Saturday titled "South Korea Takes a Hard-Left Turn on America."
Choi criticized the column, saying it "confused political disagreement with institutional decline, and routine diplomatic activity with a fundamental shift in commitment to the alliance." She added, "Such claims fail to reflect the reality of modern Korea and risk undermining trust in one of America's close allies."
"The facts also point in exactly the opposite direction," Choi said. "Since taking office, the Lee Jae-myung government has worked closely with the United States to strengthen and modernize the South Korea-U.S. alliance," she explained, adding that it has "broadened cooperation in security, economic recovery, advanced technology and strategic industries."
In particular, she said, "As senior U.S. officials have put it, Korea has emerged as a model ally that contributes to America's industrial revival through investment, strengthens joint technological competitiveness, and takes greater responsibility for common defense." She added, "The South Korea-U.S. alliance remains firm and indispensable. There should be no ambiguity about Korea's commitment to defending its constitutional order and the South Korea-U.S. alliance."
