The view from South Korea, which will hold its own presidential elections in December, is that a second Obama term won't sharply diverge from his first, reports Peter Ford from Beijing (Read his Monitor piece: Obama win Asia sees key prize.)
“We don’t expect any changes in Obama’s foreign policy toward North Korea or Northeast Asia,” says Kim Dae-joong, a conservative columnist with the Chosun Ilbo, a Korean daily newspaper.
Not that Mr. Kim is especially happy with that, since neither the US, nor any of the regional powers involved in six-party talks to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, has had any tangible success so far.
Obama’s second term “will just be a continuation of his first-term policy” toward the Korean peninsula, says Kim. “And I don’t think he has any greater chances of success than he did in his first term.”
Still, South Korea's popular English language news service Yonhap reported that Obama's reelection will likely have a positive impact on the Korean economy because it would help ease uncertainty over the future of US policy:
The results of the election have been closely watched as any change in policy direction in the U.S. could have a significant ripple effect on other countries, especially at a time when the world is faced with eurozone debt problems and worries over a global slowdown.
"In times of crisis, it is most meaningful in that uncertainty over policy change has eased," said Choi Sang-mok, the head of the finance ministry's economic policy bureau.
