In the wake of rapprochement between Korea and Japan, much of the focus has been on the strengthening trilateral relations among Korea, Japan, and the United States. However, in our increasingly interconnected world, Korea and the United States should aim to deepen cooperation with partners based on shared issues rather than limiting themselves to regional alliances. Within this framework, the European Union emerges as a promising partner.

Traditionally, foreign and economic policies have been viewed through a bilateral or regional lens, with the goal often being to strengthen bilateral ties on security or economic issues or to deepen cooperation among regional groupings. The evolution of U.S.-Korea relations over the last decade, which now encompasses issues beyond security, exemplifies this bilateral approach to foreign policy. Although the United States and Korea may coordinate on certain international issues, the primary driver of their cooperation remains the deepening of bilateral ties.

At the regional level, we’ve seen the Quad evolve during the pandemic to include closer cooperation in healthcare, climate change, and emerging technologies and the development of the CHIPS 4 grouping to coordinate semiconductor policies among key countries in Asia. But these are ultimately initiatives focused on the Indo-Pacific.

However, policy coordination between the United States, Korea,........

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