Preparation for US Republican candidate Trump

Real estate millionaire Donald Trump has become the de facto presidential candidate of the U.S. Republican Party on Tuesday local time. As Trump triumphed in the race in Indiana and second runner Sen. Ted Cruz took himself out of the race, the Republican leaders concluded that Trump will be the presidential candidate. There are still scheduled races between the Republic and the Democratic parties until June, but the confrontation composition for the presidential election in November has been narrowed down to Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Trump has made radical remarks such as building a fence in the border area with Mexico and prohibiting Muslims from entering the U.S. His intemperate comments containing racial, religious, and gender discrimination have made many question his qualifications. Politicians, economists, and scholars as well as the mainstream media turn their back on Trump. Nevertheless, he is now the Republican presidential candidate, which can be attributable to Trump's populism that advocates US patriotism and protectionism. Trump has many supporters in Caucasian groups below the middle class and lower-income groups who do not feel secure in their jobs and lives due to globalization, evolution of technology, and rapid growth of minor racial groups in the U.S.

Many speculate that even if Trump wins the ticket to the presidential election in his party, he would not defeat Clinton. However, the Rasmussen poll showed that Trump gained 41 percent of support, outrunning Clinton (39 percent) even considering a margin of error. No one can deny that Trump has become a big player in the race. "The public opinion is that Trump has better understanding of economics than Clinton," said an official from the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency in Washington. Clinton has a good reputation of having extensive experience in diplomatic security and governance, but also has a strong image of a politician who does not get along with "changes."

The international community is concerned about Trump being the U.S. presidential candidate. Especially, Korea might be directly impacted by his protectionist economic policy and isolationist foreign policy. He declared that he would re-examine all FTAs including the Korea-U.S. FTA and impose high tariff on main trade partners such as China, Mexico, and Korea. He also stated that in order to cut down military expenses, he would raise Korea's share of the defense expense and allow Korea and Japan to have their own nuclear weapons.

Regardless of the result of the presidential election in November, we learned that the U.S. public is changing their ways of thinking by putting a political outsider on the presidential election. Korea has to study and prepare for Trump's policy and his advisors that could completely shake Korea's foundation of security and economy.

송평인기자 pisong@donga.com