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IFANS Focus One Month of Trump 2.0 and the Indo-Pacific Geopolitics: Progress and Prospect BAN Kil Joo Upload Date 2025-03-06 Hits 19033
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1. Introduction 
2. Trump 2.0 in Speedy Battle: What’s All the Rush?
3. One Month into Trump 2.0: What Has Been the Focus?
4. Trump 2.0 and the Indo-Pacific: Is it Time to Shift Policy Priority?
5. What Security Challenges Does South Korea Face Based on the Assessment of the First Month of Trump 2.0?

1. Introduction   
 
  The second Trump administration has embarked on a speedy race to implement policies, such as signing an unprecedented number of executive orders. Notably, in the past month, the country witnessed President Trump’s accelerating actions, driven by his self-confidence, concerns about becoming a lame duck prematurely, and tenacious pursuit of building his legacy. On the national front, borders are operationalized to crack down on illegal immigration; on the economic front, a tariff war has been initiated; and lastly, on the security front, the maximum pressure campaign is imposed through hard power. Meanwhile, in its security approach, Trump 2.0 leverages the mechanisms of (1) expansion, (2) ambiguity, and (3) confusion to complicate the counterparts' preparation of a defense. Also, the administration presses ahead with an aggressive foreign policy in the direction of maximizing the country’s strengths, which is a departure from the existing formula. Yet, contrary to his pledges during the election campaign, the Indo-Pacific policy was not relatively pronounced in the first month. Meanwhile, signs of Washington's efforts to shift its focus toward the Indo-Pacific region as a geopolitical center are becoming evident in several areas: (1) the perception of Europe, (2) the defense budget, (3) the inclusion of China in the first round of tariff war, (4) the U.S.-Japan Joint Leaders’ Statement, and (5) the stance against North Korea. Against this backdrop, South Korea needs to effectively offset Trump’s transactional approach and induce an effective prevention of Pyongyang’s misjudgment by preserving the bonds of the ROK-U.S. alliance through Korea’s leverage assets against the U.S., such as the bilateral cooperation in shipbuilding. This requires Korea’s thorough analysis of the first 30 days of Trump 2.0. 
 
*Attached File #Trump #NorthKorea #IndoPacific #NuclearProgram #Geopolitics
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IFANS FOCUS 2025-04E(반길주).pdf
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