Chapter 12
Korea’s Strategic Clarity
Lami Kim
If one does not know to which port one is sailing,
no wind is favorable.
– Seneca, 65 CE
Introduction
The Indo-Pacific is entering a moment of compression: trade relies on China’s scale, security on the United States’ reach, and middle powers are expected to pick—or be picked apart. For the Republic of Korea (South Korea or ROK), that choice has long oscillated between strategic ambiguity and strategic clarity. Ambiguity preserved economic access to China while hedging against coercion. Clarity promised firmer alignment with the rules-based order but invited near-term costs.
President Yoon Suk-yeol’s 2022–25 term tilted decisively toward clarity, anchored by Seoul’s first Indo-Pacific Strategy. Yet his 2025 impeachment, followed by the election of progressive successor Lee Jae-myung, reopens the debate. This chapter argues that strategic ambiguity is losing value faster than its risks are receding. Clear alignment is now the lower-cost option—if Seoul matches words with capabilities and if public opinion anchors policy beyond partisan swings.
