"Crisis and Opportunity" Trump's 2nd Response, Hears from Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun

■ Host: Lee Se-na, anchor Na Kyung-chul
■ Video broadcast: Yoon Sang-hyun, lawmaker of the People's Power,

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN New Square 2PM] when quoting.

[Anchor]
As U.S. President-elect Trump returns to the White House for the first time in four years, attention is being paid to the impact on Korea, including security and the economy, and the government's response to it. Various uncertainties will increase, but there are also opinions that we should use this as an opportunity. Let's talk in detail by connecting Yoon Sang-hyun, a former chairman of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee.

[Yoon Sanghyun]
Hello, this is Senator Yoon Sang-hyun.

[Anchor]
Following a phone call with President Yoon, President-elect Trump, he promised to meet him as soon as possible, and after a long time, President Yoon has resumed golf practice. Senator, what do you think about the chemistry between the two?

[Yoon Sanghyun]
First of all, it's called your chemistry in English. I think we'll have a good chemistry. First of all, if there is anything in common between the two in their careers, President Yoon Suk Yeol became the president after being a prosecutor. President Trump is also a person who became president after doing business. That's why he has guts and a fighting spirit. They also have similar leadership styles. So, when the two of you meet, you can solve any practical difficulties because of your outspoken style and the style that can be negotiated widely without being left or right. So I think the chemistry will go well together.

[Anchor]
Some point out that in addition to exchanges between the two leaders, it is necessary to establish a reliable hotline between close aides. What do you think about this?

[Sanghyun Yoon]
is correct. There is a need for us to build a hotline on the diplomatic and security lines around President Trump. For example, today's secretary of state is Marco Rubio, a senator from Florida. Also, today's national security adviser is Mike Walls. He also served as German ambassador to Germany Richard Grinnell around President Trump. And White House aide Robert O'Brien. For example, when I went to Congress, I met James Lissy several times.Ma will be chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The one who was originally the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and then secretary to the Foreign Affairs Committee, but became the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when the Republican Party took control of the Senate again. Mike Callie from Pennsylvania, who has been co-chair of the Republican Korea Caucus on Korean Peninsula policy since 2011, has been an eight-term lawmaker. I think it's very important to build a human network with these people.

[Anchor]
President-elect Trump, aren't you constantly talking about the defense cost of U.S. troops in Korea? He referred to Korea as a money machine and said it could raise up to $10 billion. What do you think are our government cards to deal with here?

[Yoon Sanghyun]
In fact, I will raise $10 billion, what does President Trump think about the cost-sharing of defense? First of all, he joined the Republican Party and first started politics in 1987. He was in his early 40s, and the first thing he did in politics was that he spent his personal money on the New York Times to advertise. What the advertisement says is that each country's defense expenses, so-called defense expenses, should be shared by each country. I'm telling you not to give it to the United States. Therefore, the issue of defense cost-sharing has a firm principle.

In 2019, when I was chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, the defense cost was less than $1 billion. But all of a sudden, he told me to pay 5 billion dollars. So I couldn't negotiate at that time and went to the Biden administration. So what matters is the importance of the Korea-U.S. alliance, the importance of the Korea-U.S. alliance and the importance of sending an envoy to Yoon Suk Yeol as soon as possible, and the Republic of Korea is one of the most important key partners in drawing up a global strategy, not a money machine.

And last year alone, we invested the most in the United States. It invested the largest amount of $21.5 billion among foreign countries, and this is how much we invest and create jobs. You have to let them know like this. However, renegotiations will come again in the matter of defense cost negotiations. When renegotiations come in, a special ambassador for defense contributions, James Hart of the United States, said to me in 2019. Shouldn't Korea pay for the deployment of strategic assets? We refused then.Ma formed the NCG, the Nuclear Consultative Group with President Biden last year in Yoon Suk Yeol.

By doing so, U.S. nuclear assets come to Korea. Then we'll have to pay for the deployment of nuclear assets. In that case, let's do this actively, and I think we should go out like this, we should pay for it, revise the Korea-U.S. nuclear agreement, and transfer nuclear-powered submarine technology.

[Anchor]
I'm very interested in how the relationship between North Korea and the U.S. will change, but it was a top-down method during Trump's first term. Do you think it will remain the same during the 2nd season?

[Yoon Sang-hyun]
North Korea is now behind the priority of U.S. foreign and security policy. The war in Ukraine, the Taiwan issue, and the Middle East conflict are the most important. But what's the atmosphere like in America? Increasingly, it is going from dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons to freezing North Korea's nuclear weapons, to managing North Korea's nuclear weapons. Recently, there was a Democratic and Republican presidential election.According to Ma's party platform, North Korea's denuclearization is missing. Because he's out of it, President Trump will quit when he finishes his next four years.

In the meantime, North Korea will try to be recognized as a de facto nuclear power both in name and reality. So, whether it is Chairman Kim Jong-un's flirtation or provocation, a meeting between the leaders of the two countries will be achieved through a big deal. What is a big deal is that North Korea is sending troops to Russia, right? In return, for example, if you receive ICBM re-entry technology, nuclear-powered submarine technology, and military reconnaissance satellite technology, you will really become a game changer on the Korean Peninsula. Then what happens? North Korea can hit New York or LA in the United States at any time. In that case, the United States has no choice but to go to negotiations. All right, dismantle the ICBM, let's stop with the North Korean nuclear freeze. You can go like this. Then it effectively becomes a nuclear power. North Korea is very likely to become a de facto nuclear power within four years.

[Anchor]
In this regard, isn't lawmaker Yoon insisting on our limited nuclear armament theory? Please explain the details and feasibility of it.

[Yoon Sanghyun]
When North Korea receives the intercontinental ballistic missile technology I mentioned earlier and can attack New York or LA at any time, the U.S. has no choice but to recognize North Korea as a de facto nuclear power, and then it becomes a game changer on the Korean Peninsula. What do we do then? If we actually become a nuclear power, we should have something. Limited conditional nuclear armament. We will also be armed with nuclear weapons. However, the nuclear armament will be scrapped at the same time as the North's nuclear weapons are destroyed.

So you can convince President Trump. For example, President Trump did this during the first presidential election in April 2016. He said it would be better if South Korea and Japan had nuclear weapons if there was a North Korean nuclear problem. Elbris Colby, I met him when I came to Korea recently.Deputy Defense Minister Ma Elbridge Colby also said, "Let's not rule out South Korea's nuclear armament." Mike Pompeii also said this. So Trump is also a negotiator, so depending on whether we negotiate, we can even go to nuclear armament in a limited sense as we want. It's a military option that's fully possible, I say.

[Anchor]
Finally, there are concerns that the Trump administration will strengthen protectionism, so what are the solutions for our government?

[Yoon Sanghyun]
In fact, being an ally of President Trump is viewed from a transactional and profitable perspective. The alliance has changed from a community of interests, from a community of values to a community of interests, not from a value alliance of the past. That's why we don't have this because the Republic of Korea is a military alliance. Protectionist tendencies are bound to increase. It's America's first priority, as you know. So he said he would hit 60% of universal tariffs on China and 10-20% on Korea.

It's the IRA law, the chips law, the semiconductor law, and the semiconductor law, and they're going to reduce what they give to Korean companies for subsidies. The renegotiation of the Korea-U.S. FTA will definitely come in. What are we going to do about these difficulties? As we know, as I told you, Korea is not a money machine, it is really a key partner of the United States. And the amount we invested in the United States last year alone is $21.5 billion, the top investment country.

You have to persuade them that they are also economic allies that create your jobs. And we need to strengthen the competitiveness of our domestic industry. In particular, the bargaining power should be increased through economic cooperation dialogue between Korea and the United States. For example, for the Korea-U.S. FTA negotiations, we need to import U.S. crude oil and gas. We also have to share information jointly with private organizations. So the IRA Act, the Chips Act, for example, is in the Republican congressional district. So, from the perspective of lawmakers like us, I think there are various ways to expand exchanges at the parliamentary level.

[Anchor]
I see. So far, we have looked at how Korea should respond to the second Trump period with Representative Yoon Sang-hyun, the power of the people. Senator, thank you very much.

[Yoon Sanghyun]
Thank you.