Oh Se-hoon calls US-South Korea alliance 'on thin ice,' urges Lee to hold diplomats accountable

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has challenged President Lee Jae Myung with a pointed question: "Does this government believe in the US-South Korea alliance?"

Oh posed the question Sunday in a Facebook post, adding that "if it does, it must first restore discipline within the foreign policy and security line, and hold accountable those whose remarks have shaken the alliance."

Oh said the alliance is "standing on thin ice," noting that the US ambassador to South Korea had publicly used the word "turbulence" to describe the relationship.

"It is a word an allied nation's ambassador rarely uses toward the host country," Oh said. "It more than suggests how Washington currently views Seoul."

Oh cautioned against the assumption that things would improve on their own once the US midterm elections passed. "Two years ago, right after President Donald Trump was elected, I said that America First had become the new normal for the United States," Oh said.

Oh went on to say that no matter which party controls Congress, "the calculus of 'America first' does not change," warning that simply watching another country's election and waiting would amount to nothing more than wishful thinking.

Oh said self-reliance is only possible when the fence of the US-South Korea alliance is solid, and called on the government to present a concrete schedule for remaining investment commitments to the United States and to move ahead of Washington rather than react to it. "The golden hour will not wait for us," Oh said.