Will The U.S. Give Northeast Asia The Attention It Requires?

While tariffs, Ukraine, Gaza and Greenland (and even Canada) dominate the policy-media cycle, one of the most important areas of the globe – both strategically and economically – is seemingly going (once again) ‘underserved’, despite the Secretaries of State and Defense and the National Security Advisor attesting to the region’s importance. And a stated reason for ending the Ukraine War is to allow the United States to shift efforts to the Indo-Pacific.

However, aside from the visit of Japan’s PM Ishiba to the White House, relatively little attention seems to have been placed on Northeast Asia – Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has only just now made an official visit to Japan. This is despite the fact that the region is arguably one of the world’s most important crisis zones, includes two formal U.S. treaty allies (and one ‘near ally’) and several hubs of key future technologies. The three countries are also a major source of direct investment into the U.S. – Japan is the #1 foreign investor in the U.S. while South Korea represented 14% of the overall total and Taiwan’s TSMC is making the biggest single investment ever in the history of the United States.

The timing is all the more critical because the three are in throes of their own domestic political crises. With ruling parties confronting parliaments that are controlled by the opposition, they are poorly prepared to respond to any new U.S. initiatives related to trade, regional security, or defense spending.

Japan is going through another period of lackluster leadership under Prime Minister Ishiba’s minority LDP government while the economy is essentially flat. Ishiba is desperately trying to shore up his and the LDP’s position in preparation for upper house elections in summer. But he may be forced to resign even before the elections, and likely will step down if the LDP performs poorly, thus forcing an early general election and the prospect of another weak government.

Read more HERE.