[US elections and Korea] Trump vs. Biden: Key advisers give clues on future foreign policy

US voters this week will choose the leader of the world’s largest economic and military power, faced with the starkly different choices of incumbent President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

The election could be a turning point for South Korea -- a key Washington ally in security, trade, and North Korea diplomacy -- which will face either Trump’s “America First” approach or Biden’s pledge to strengthen the alliance over the next four years. 

The experts advising the candidates on these issues could have unique influence in how the next president steers foreign policy. This coterie of advisers could be tapped to fill in the next administration’s national security team, or in Trump’s case, keep their jobs for a second term.

Here’s a look at some of the people that are part of each candidate’s foreign policy brain trust.


Team Biden

Antony Blinken, who served as the deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser for President Barack Obama, is Biden’s top foreign policy adviser and has worked closely with him for two decades.

Having served in the Obama administration, Blinken is likely to favor the Obama-era foreign policy of restoring US-led multilateralism and opting for “strategic patience” in dealing with North Korea.

Though the dynamics on the Korean Peninsula have significantly changed in the four years under Trump, Blinken would likely push for tighter sanctions on Pyongyang, with more focus on coordinated efforts with allies and working-level talks, and less on summit diplomacy, when it comes to solving the denuclearization issue.

“We have to work closely with allies like South Korea and Japan and press China to build genuine economic pressure to squeeze North Korea to get it to the negotiating table,” Blinken said during an interview on CBS News in September. “We need to cut off its various avenues and access to resources -– something we were doing very vigorously at the end of the Obama-Biden administration. That takes a lot of time, a lot of preparation, a lot of hard work. But again, it could pay off.”

Blinken added Biden would likely approach North Korea similar to how US did with Iran in striking a nuclear deal in 2015, though was later scrapped by Trump.

Observers speculate he could be tapped to either be a national security adviser or secretary of state if Biden is sworn into office.

Another Obama administration figure advising Biden on foreign policy is Jake Sullivan, who is the campaign’s senior policy adviser and succeeded Blinken as Biden’s national security aide during his vice presidency.

Sullivan also served as deputy chief of staff and director of policy planning for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and was a senior foreign policy adviser to Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. He was widely touted as a potential national security adviser if Clinton had won.

He also played a leading role in forging the Obama’s Iran nuclear deal in 2015, secretly meeting with Iranian counterparts several times.

According to him, Biden will work closely with allies if he becomes the president. 

Sullivan said that one of the main differences between Biden and Trump is their view of America’s allies, during an interview with Atlantic Council Executive Damon Wilson. While Trump “sees allies as a liability more than as an asset,” Biden “believes that the US is stronger when it is working alongside like-minded democratic allies to achieve common objectives.”

Former National Security Adviser and UN Ambassador Susan Rice, who was reportedly in the running to be Biden’s running mate, is also a likely choice for secretary of state, observers say, citing her long, amicable relationship with the vice president, as well as decades of experience.

Also in Biden’s policy orbit is Brian McKeon, who served as principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy during the Obama presidency. In an interview with Yonhap News, McKeon said Biden’s approach to North Korea would be different from Trump’s, adding that the issue is “pretty complicated, and you can’t just solve it with a couple of leader-to-leader summits.”

“I think (Biden) would be willing to meet with (Kim) if it was part of an actual strategy that moves us forward on the denuclearization objective,” he was quoted as saying.


Team Trump

Should Trump secure a second term, the president is expected to double down his “America First” policy, while continuing policies and priorities to establish his presidential legacy before leaving the White House.

With that goal in mind, there could be quite a turnover of officials after the election.

Unlike Biden, it is difficult to pinpoint who Trump gets advice from on foreign affairs. The president even once said he was his own foreign policy adviser.

However, it appears some of Trump’s current top national security figures, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser Robert O’Brien, are the president’s key aides. Both are widely expected to keep their posts if Trump was to be reelected.

Pompeo started out as Trump’s first CIA director and has been one of the most loyal and longest surviving members of Trump’s cabinet. A hardliner on security issues, the top US diplomat has been vocal on defending the president’s key foreign policies, including its trade battles with China and imposing sanctions on Iran.

Pompeo recently said Trump’s diplomacy with Pyongyang has proven to be “absolutely” successful, despite stalled denuclearization talks between the two countries.

Noting the North has not conducted missile tests over the past two years, he touted North Korea diplomacy as Trump’s policy win despite Pyongyang’s unveiling of new strategic weapons during its latest military parade.

O’Brien, who has been Trump’s special envoy for hostage affairs, became the White House’s top security official last September, replacing hawkish predecessor John Bolton. Seen as Trump loyalist, he has advised several Republicans and presidential candidates on foreign policy in the past.

Earlier this month, O’Brien said that there may be a chance to resume stalled denuclearization talks with North Korea next summer around the time of Tokyo Olympics, while adding the Trump administration will continue to put “maximum pressure” on North Korea.

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley could also be given a senior post in the Trump administration as well, pundits say.

Many also say Trump will make sure to be surrounded by his confidants in the second administration, including family members. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and his senior adviser, who is said to be one of president’s closet advisers, could be tapped as national security adviser or secretary of state in the second term.

From early on, Trump put Kushner in charge of Arab-Israeli peace efforts. He spearheaded the US’ brokering of the historic Abraham Accords in October, which normalized relations between Israel and two Gulf states, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)