Japan, South Korea and the US Elections - by Dr. Alon Levkowitz

It will influence the US military presence as well as the balance of power in the region, and will affect the economies of the Asian countries. [...] Joe Biden’s decision to leave the race and the elevation of Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party candidate have forced Tokyo and Seoul to recalculate their policies towards Washington and the region. [...] The health of the Camp David spirit will depend on the identities of both the new Japanese prime minister following Fumio Kishida’s retirement and the new US president following the election. [...] From the point of view of Seoul and Tokyo, the new administration in Washington – whether Trump’s or Harris’s – will have to deal with current issues in Asia that Japan and South Korea see as security and economic threats: the North Korean 1 nuclear and ballistic threat, the cost of the US deployment in Asia, and the Chinese threat. [...] China poses a military threat to US allies in the region and is trying to change the regional balance of power between Washington and Beijing in Asia and the balance of power with its allies.