Fred Fleitz / Captured from America First Policy Institute website
WASHINGTON — A former senior U.S. official warned Thursday that a dispute over South Korea's treatment of e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. could strain the Seoul-Washington alliance amid intensifying security challenges, including North Korea's evolving military threats.
Fred Fleitz, who served as chief of staff of the National Security Council during President Donald Trump's first term, issued the warning in an opinion piece on Newsmax, a U.S. news outlet, a day after the House Judiciary Committee released a report accusing South Korea of "discriminatory attacks" on Coupang and other U.S. firms.
Noting a set of pressing security issues, including North Korean threats, he called for Seoul and Washington to address the commercial matters "head-on" and demonstrate that their partnership prioritizes "strategic imperatives" over "parochial" disputes.
"The bigger risk lies in how this dispute could strain the broader U.S.-South Korea alliance. As I argued (in a past article), this vital partnership -- forged over seven decades and strengthened by (the) personal rapport between Presidents Trump and Lee (Jae Myung) — is worth far more than these trivial conflicts," Fleitz said.
