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There might have been some wins, but there have been quite a few big blunders during her time in office, too.
1) After a few meaningless summits between the US and NKorea, NKorea has effectively stopped talking to SKorea. They literally blew up the Inter-Korean Liaison Office. https://twitter.com/YonhapNews/status/1358680881972473859
1) After a few meaningless summits between the US and NKorea, NKorea has effectively stopped talking to SKorea. They literally blew up the Inter-Korean Liaison Office. https://twitter.com/YonhapNews/status/1358680881972473859
2) Relations with Japan is the worst that it has been in decades.
3) China's views toward SKorea has cooled. In fact, what we hear most coming out of Beijing regarding SKorea is to tell us to not be a good ally to our only ally, the United States.
3) China's views toward SKorea has cooled. In fact, what we hear most coming out of Beijing regarding SKorea is to tell us to not be a good ally to our only ally, the United States.
4) Relations with the US has been tumultuous and testy for the past few years. We can blame Trump for a lot of it. But relations between the US and Japan didn't get that bad during the same time.
5) Relations with the US might be improving now under the Biden administration, but that appears to be only because the US is returning to normal, and that has little to nothing to do with what SKorea has done.
6) Relations with New Zealand could have been better. Way better. And Foreign Minister Kang deserves a large share of the blame for that.
7) SKorea has repeatedly failed to stand up for human rights. Even if SKorea can be forgiven for being silent about Hong Kong and the Uyghurs due to SKorea's need to defend its own economic interests, refusing to even mention NKorea's human rights abuses is unforgivable.
8) SKorea's defense of its anti-leaflet bill (which also bans the sending of USBs and even money to NKorea) also made a mockery of civil liberties. But FM Kang went on CNN and said that free expression is not "absolute" and can be limited if it threatens the security of people.
8(continued) As though the security of the SKorean people is not defended by the combined might of the Republic of Korea and the United States Armed Forces. As though the leaflets would somehow lead to war and death and that we're completely helpless to NKorean aggression.
Now, it wasn't all bad. SKorea's foreign relations with other countries vis-a-vis COVID-19 was stellar. The SKorean government's distribution of masks to developing countries, countries that aided SKorea during the Korean War, and their veterans was commendable.
But we should be honest about Foreign Minister Kang's record and, by association, the Moon administration's. SKorea's foreign policy blunders should be called out whenever possible; and there have been huge blunders, indeed.
