Lee Sang Hyun

(shlee@sejong.org)

President, the Sejong Institute

​English Abstract 

 The U.S. began to regard the Quad as an important cooperative mechanism for regional security in addition to the Indo-Pacific Strategy. The Trump administration had first introduced the Quad as an important cooperative system within the Indo-Pacific Strategy that can both keep China in check and establish regional order. In the first joint statement of the Quad summit, the Quad was described as "a flexible group of like-minded partners dedicated to advancing a common vision and to ensuring peace and prosperity". Some experts in South Korea believe that the Quad will turn into an anti-China military alliance and that South Korea's participation in the Quad will cause retaliation from China and thus uncontrollable damage on South Korea. However, there is almost no possibility that the Quad will develop into an anti-China military alliance. If South Korea continues to maintain strategic ambiguity instead of choosing its position in the aspects of zero-sum conflicts between the U.S. and China, then South Korea will be left out in the cold instead of receiving love calls from both the U.S. and China. The Quad is one such issue. For South Korea, it will be wise to take an open stance on the Quad and show South Korea's willingness to cooperate on issues that promote regional stability, peace, and common prosperity.​​

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