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Why Carney’s ‘middle powers’ strategic option won’t work for South Korea
The hard truth is its potential partners are either militarily too weak or too toxic.
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcoming visiting South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun at the State Department in Washington on Feb 3.
PHOTO: AFP
For South Koreans, used to seeing their country as a “shrimp among whales”, January was a particularly brutal month.
On Jan 26, US President Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs on goods from South Korea from 15 per cent to 25 per cent, citing a delay in the country’s legislature approving an investment deal agreed in July 2025.
