Marco Rubio Cancels South Korea Visit, Attends ASEAN Forum Instead

U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio was seen in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on July 10-11, after canceling his planned visit to South Korea just five days prior. A diplomat present remarked that Rubio looked even more impressive in person than in photographs. Despite the cancellation, Rubio attended the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), marking the first visit by a U.S. Secretary of State to Asia since the Trump administration began.

During Rubio's attendance at the ARF, a trilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of South Korea, the U.S., and Japan took place on July 11. South Korean journalists also traveled to cover this significant meeting, which was the first of its kind under the new administration of President Lee Jae-myung.

There were initial doubts about whether the trilateral meeting would occur due to the ongoing appointment process for South Korea's Foreign Minister nominee, Park Jin. However, Deputy Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo represented the South Korean government at the ARF, and the U.S. and Japan agreed to hold the trilateral meeting with her.

According to high-ranking officials from the Foreign Ministry, the U.S. had originally proposed the trilateral meeting in conjunction with the ARF, highlighting the importance the U.S. places on the South Korea-U.S.-Japan relationship.

The meeting lasted for 40 minutes, during which Deputy Minister Park discussed hard issues such as North Korea's nuclear program and economic security. Towards the end of the meeting, she inquired if Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi were familiar with the animated series K-Pop Demon Hunters (케이팝 데몬 헌터스), which features a popular K-pop girl group that acts as demon hunters outside of their superstar personas. The series, which premiered last month, has gained significant popularity, even reaching the top of Netflix's movie section.

Park explained that K-Pop Demon Hunters was produced by Japan's Sony Pictures, focusing on Korean K-pop, and distributed globally through the American OTT platform Netflix. The success of this collaboration among the three countries served as an example of trilateral cooperation.

Rubio responded that he had not yet seen K-Pop Demon Hunters but had watched Squid Game (오징어 게임), asking if the two were similar. He expressed that he found Squid Game to be very entertaining. Hayashi also mentioned his fondness for K-pop.

Rubio, a close ally of Trump, currently holds dual roles as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor. Reports indicate that he spends more time at the White House than at the State Department, as Trump frequently seeks his counsel. As a Cuban-American and staunch anti-communist, Rubio is a prominent Florida senator and a potential candidate for the next Republican presidential nomination. The influence of Squid Game has evidently reached the highest levels of the Trump administration.

Sources suggest that Rubio's cancellation of his trip to South Korea was not his decision but rather a directive from Trump, who required him to attend an urgent meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

As a result, no members of the Trump administration have visited South Korea since the inauguration of President Lee Jae-myung. National Security Office Director Wi Sung-lak visited Washington and met with Rubio, but they only reached a mutual understanding about holding a summit without setting a specific date.

Reflecting on the ease with which past South Korean presidents, such as Kim Young-sam, Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, Lee Myung-bak, Park Geun-hye, and Yoon Suk-yeol, were able to visit the U.S. and hold summits with U.S. presidents, it becomes clear that such high-level exchanges are not guaranteed and require significant diplomatic effort.

Currently, diplomatic and security advisors are working tirelessly to navigate these challenges, and it is hoped that their efforts will yield results soon.