AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP

“What Is Going On in South Korea?”: An Answer Ahead of the Gyeongju APEC Summit

Mr. President,

On August 25, 2025 you hosted President Lee Jae-myung at the White House and promises were made regarding the Government exchanges of benefits between the South Korea and the United States of America. In light of your question, “What is going on in South Korea?” posted on Truth Social just before the meeting at the White House, we would like to answer that question from our position as being an authentic and truthful conservative voice for the Korean people.

This opinion is from the Korea Conservative Political Action Conference (KCPAC)—the official Korean partner of the American Conservative Union (CPAC)—we extend our deepest respect and gratitude for your steadfast leadership in defending faith, freedom, and national sovereignty throughout the world.

KCPAC represents a growing movement of Korean patriots, scholars, pastors, and civic leaders who share CPAC’s mission: to safeguard liberty and expose the encroachment of global authoritarianism. We work closely with our American counterparts to uphold the principles that bind the Republic of Korea and the United States—truth, freedom, and the rule of law.

"What is going on in South Korea? A purge? A revolution?" you asked just before the U.S.-Korea summit last August. Your words captured global curiosity and concern following the impeachment of another Korean conservative president and the rapid political upheaval that followed.

From an insider’s view, what is happening in South Korea is not merely a domestic crisis. It is a profound Clash between two Civilizational Forces: the centripetal pull of ancient totalitarianism rooted in China’s Qin dynasty and the centrifugal push of liberal civilization born of freedom-seeking refugees who once fled that same totalitarian order. Korea’s present turmoil is the latest chapter of this two-thousand-year contest.

From Qin to Gyeongju

Korea’s earliest histories record that refugees from Qin’s totalitarian unification fled eastward to found Silla in Gyeongju, the ancient "city of light." Silla’s founding ideal was not subjugation under an emperor, but harmony between heaven and humanity within a moral order. This became the seed of Korea’s identity: a civilization built not on conquest but on conscience.

That heritage resurfaced in the Republic of Korea's modern rebirth. Founded with UN support and anchored in the liberal democratic order, the ROK embodied the conviction that human dignity, not centralized control, is the true foundation of progress.

The Gyeongju Summit: A Civilizational Crossroads

The Gyeongju Summit therefore symbolizes more than an economic meeting; it marks a Civilizational Crossroads. China, heir to Qin’s centralized order, now projects digital authoritarianism beyond its borders. The United States, though internally divided, still represents the liberal tradition of law and individual dignity. Korea stands between them, geographically and historically, as both frontier and bridge.

The challenge for South Korea is to reaffirm which side of that history it belongs to. Its struggle is not only about corruption or partisan rivalry but about the very soul of the Republic: whether it will remain a free democracy or drift back into the gravitational field of ancient totalitarianism.

The Time of Decision

Time, as history shows, favors freedom. The centripetal power of control can subdue but never inspire; it can silence but never create. Korea’s story, from Silla’s spiritual idealism to its modern democratic founding, testifies to the resilience of those who chose liberty over servitude.

As the world’s leaders gather in Gyeongju, the ancient capital where fugitives once built a new civilization, Korea again stands at the hinge of history. Whether it leads the liberal order forward or succumbs to the pull of tyranny will depend on its courage to remember its own origins.

In the end, the Republic of Korea, the child of the United Nations and the vanguard of liberal civilization, must and will stand on the side of freedom.

Mr. President, we share your belief that America’s leadership is vital in preserving this freedom. The outcome of Korea’s current struggle will shape the balance of liberty and tyranny across the Indo-Pacific for generations to come.

Sincerely,

Annie MH Chan
Honorary Chair and Founder
Korea Conservative Political Action Conference (KCPAC)