OPINION:
The United States has many problems in Asia. South Korea should not be one of them. At a moment when North Korea is expanding its nuclear arsenal and China is increasing military pressure on Taiwan, Washington should be deepening cooperation with one of its most important allies.
Instead, Seoul is creating a wholly unnecessary dispute with the United States, and Beijing is the primary beneficiary.
The U.S.-South Korea alliance is one of the pillars of American strategy in Asia. South Korea hosts nearly 30,000 U.S. troops. It sits on the front lines of deterrence against North Korea. It is a technological powerhouse, a major industrial economy and an increasingly important partner in shipbuilding and semiconductor production.
Yet today, South Korea is disadvantaging American companies operating in its market while creating new opportunities for Chinese competitors. On its own, that would be concerning. What makes it alarming is that a commercial fight has become an alliance problem.
A recent House Judiciary Committee report says South Korean regulators have imposed barriers that affect American firms in cloud computing, digital platforms, mapping services and other strategically important sectors. U.S. cloud providers remain largely locked out of portions of Korea’s public sector market. Proposed regulations would place significant burdens on American technology companies while leaving many Chinese competitors comparatively untouched.
The most visible example is Coupang, the American-headquartered company that operates South Korea’s largest online marketplace. After a cybersecurity incident last year, South Korean authorities launched what critics describe as a whole-of-government campaign involving regulators, investigators, ministries and task forces. The heavy-handed response prompted investors to ask the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to investigate whether Seoul was unfairly targeting the company.
The episode leaves difficult questions unanswered. Why was an American company reportedly assisting South Korea’s intelligence services subsequently subjected to such extraordinary pressure? Was Seoul seeking to avoid provoking Beijing or accommodate Chinese sensitivities?
When a treaty ally appears willing to weaponize regulatory power against successful American firms, confidence begins to erode. Those concerns are already bleeding into the security realm.
South Korea’s national security adviser recently acknowledged that the Coupang controversy is affecting bilateral consultations involving national security cooperation. Those discussions reportedly touch on issues including shipbuilding, nuclear-powered submarines, uranium enrichment and spent-fuel reprocessing. That should alarm leaders in both Washington and Seoul. The two allies should be discussing how to counter China. Instead, they are arguing about how South Korea treats American companies.
What makes it more troubling is that it comes amid broader questions about Seoul’s political trajectory. President Lee Jae-myung has repeatedly sent signals that have unsettled American observers. During his presidential campaign, he questioned why South Korea should concern itself with a Chinese attack on Taiwan. More recently, senior officials explored avenues for military cooperation with China.
These developments do not mean the alliance is collapsing. They do, however, raise legitimate questions about whether Seoul fully appreciates the strategic environment it faces.
China certainly does. Beijing understands that economic influence and geopolitical influence are increasingly inseparable. The technologies that drive modern commerce — cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence, digital platforms, logistics networks and data flows — are also sources of strategic power.
Great-power competition is not fought only with warships and missiles. It is also fought through technology, capital, supply chains and the treatment of the companies that carry American influence abroad.
Barriers placed in front of American firms create opportunities for Chinese companies. Disputes that weaken trust between Washington and Seoul create opportunities for Beijing. Moments spent managing avoidable alliance friction are moments not spent strengthening deterrence in the Indo-Pacific.
South Korea has more to lose than most other countries from a deterioration in regional security. Its prosperity depends on open trade routes, stable supply chains, American security guarantees and a favorable balance of power in Asia. Those conditions do not maintain themselves. They depend on strong alliances.
South Korea remains one of America’s most important allies. The relationship is too valuable to be jeopardized by discriminatory treatment of American companies, needless regulatory fights or policies that inadvertently strengthen China’s position.
The United States does not need another dispute with Seoul. It needs a stronger alliance capable of meeting the challenges ahead. The question is whether South Korea’s leaders recognize the stakes before a preventable commercial dispute causes lasting damage to one of the world’s most important alliances.
• Cale Brown is a former deputy spokesperson at the U.S. State Department who serves as chair of Polaris National Security.
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