South Korea's relationship with the North, always strained, seems to be going through a particularly hostile patch in recent weeks. Last month, Seoul accused North Korea of planting a mine on the southern side of the heavily fortified border. The device exploded, injuring three South Korean soldiers.
Pyongyang refused to apologize and insisted this was a false-flag incident designed to tarnish the isolated nation. The North Korean regime has since conducted multiple weapons tests, held its first-ever exhibition of military drones attended by Kim Jong Un, brought up self-propelled artillery units to the border and started preparing loudspeaker systems that will blast propaganda into the South. On Thursday, North Korea also fired around 10 short-range ballistic missiles towards the Sea of Japan just before a scheduled visit to South Korea by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
On top of South Korea's issues with its arch rival, many in Seoul are growing increasingly wary of their most important ally, the United States. South Korean politicians are worried that the US could push for a diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea at the cost of ignoring South Korea's security, or even leave it exposed to Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal. US President Donald Trump famously claimed he and Kim Jong Un "fell in love" during Trump's first term.
More recently, Trump has indicated he would like to resume talks . There have been suggestions that a meeting could take place on November 18 in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, where Trump is expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The North Korean side has made no official response to Washington's hints, although South Korea's National Intelligence Service informed a closed-door meeting of Seoul's intelligence committee on Thursday that Kim Jong Un discussed the possibility of meeting Trump when he met with senior members of China's politburo in Dandong on Saturday.
Seoul's fears were also fueled by the US proposing three-way talks with Russia and China on the fate of Ukraine without inviting a representative of Kyiv to attend. The worry in Seoul is that President Donald Trump may conduct a similar bypass manoeuvre on the Korean Peninsula. "Right now, there is a problem of trust between the two governments," said Kim Sang-woo, a former politician with the left-leaning South Korean Congress for New Politics and now a member of the board of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Foundation.
A security and trade relationship that was previously considered secure has been rocked by tariffs, trade restrictions and demands from Washington that the South pay more for the US troops stationed in the country, Kim told DW. President Lee's diplomats have lost access to key decision-making personnel in this White House, he added. "I do not think this US administration is thinking long-term in the relationship with South Korea," Kim said.
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