With South Korea now set to hold presidential elections within the next two months following the ousting of President Yoon Suk Yeol, early polling reportedly shows a lead for the opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) according to Reuters and other news outlets.

As such, observers including the Fox News outlet in the US are now suggesting that the removal of Yoon may align with Beijing’s broader strategy to extend its regional influence in Northeast Asia.

Anna Mahjar-Barducci, project director at the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), was one such individual, reported by Fox on April 5 as saying that Yoon’s stance on foreign and security policy had put him at odds with individuals in South Korean politics perceived as sympathetic to China. These positions, she claims, ran counter to Beijing’s long-term efforts to cultivate a pro-China faction in Seoul – itself a long-time close political ally of the US.

According to Mahjar-Barducci, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has, over an extended period of time, employed a range of tactics to influence politics in neighbouring South Korea. These are said to include economic partnerships, political funding and even illegal activities aimed at weakening South Korea’s alliance with Washington, while also consolidating Chinese influence on the Korean peninsula.

In speaking to Fox News Digital, the MEMRI director also cited claims from a South Korean activist who, on the day Yoon left the presidential office, alleged that election manipulation had been conducted in the past in collaboration with Chinese actors. On the streets of Seoul meanwhile, following the April 4 court ruling in Seoul, demonstrations broke out both against and in support of the former president.

During his limited tenure, Yoon had maintained a hardline approach to North Korea while also pursuing closer defence cooperation with the US in a policy swing that had long drawn criticism from Pyongyang and Beijing alike.

Pointing to the Chinese state media’s enthusiastic coverage of Yoon’s removal, Mahjar-Barducci interpreted it as a sign of satisfaction within Beijing. However, she barely made mention of Japan in the Fox report, seemingly missing the relationship Yoon had worked to build with Tokyo over the past three years.

Over in Tokyo, and in response to Yoon’s confirmed impeachment, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was quoted by The Japan Times as saying "regardless of what will happen (at the election), close cooperation between Japan and South Korea is paramount," during a parliamentary committee.

Ishiba’s somewhat restrained comments come just a fortnight after foreign ministers from Japan, South Korea and Seoul met for the first time since 2023 to discuss regional security and economic issues.

At the meeting, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was reported as saying by Reuters that “Our three nations have a combined population of nearly 1.6 billion and an economic output exceeding $24 trillion. With our vast markets and great potential, we can exert significant influence,” Wang said, although he tempered it with a routine slant on Japan’s WWII aggression by adding that only by Tokyo “sincerely reflecting on history can we better build the future.”

Fast-forward two weeks and with Yoon Suk Yeol no longer the South Korean president, Mahjar-Barducci added that two pro-American presidents, Park Geun-hye and Yoon, have now been removed from office in recent history.

As such, and with Japan, South Korea and China now working closer than ever to address damaging US tariffs on three of the world’s leading economies, anti-American agents in Asia are undoubtedly working behind the scenes to further reshape the regional balance of power away from a reliance on or trust in anything related to the United States.