Moolenaar urges Rubio: scrutinize South Korea's China ties — SkimNews
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- John Moolenaar, Republican chair of the House Select Committee on the CCP, sent a letter Tuesday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling for 'heightened vigilance' on South Korea's warming relationship with Beijing, citing 'significant risks' to the United States.
- Moolenaar flagged three specific concerns: South Korean semiconductor operations in China (Samsung's Xi'an plant, SK Hynix facilities in Wuxi and Dalian), allegedly unequal treatment of US firms like Coupang versus Chinese platforms AliExpress and Temu, and Seoul's refusal to back a regional response to Chinese action against Taiwan.
- Moolenaar warned of a 'widening gulf' between the allies, quoting South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's 2024 campaign remark that Taiwan Strait issues 'don't matter to us' and Lee's January NHK interview calling for 'avoiding unnecessary involvement.'
- Moolenaar described leader-level engagement as 'unprecedented,' noting Xi Jinping's first South Korea visit in 11 years and Lee's first China trip by a South Korean president since 2019.
- South Korea's foreign ministry declined to detail-comment on the letter but said the US alliance remains 'the cornerstone' of its foreign policy and that regulatory authorities treat all companies operating in Korea fairly; Coupang declined to comment and other named companies did not immediately respond.
- Moolenaar requested a State Department briefing on South Korea-China relations by October 31, the same week Trump is expected to announce a roughly $54 billion Alaska LNG project funded through South Korea's strategic investment fund.
Why it matters: Moolenaar's letter lands while Seoul is simultaneously pledging hundreds of billions in US investment and deepening ties with Beijing. By tying the concern to Seoul's refusal to engage on Taiwan and framing a potential 'structural shift' in alignment, the letter forces the State Department to reconcile an ally's economic courtship with its strategic hedging — with a concrete October 31 briefing deadline.
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