President-elect Yoon: "We must broaden diplomacy befitting our status... Pursuing a strong alliance with the US"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol emphasized on the 14th (local time) that South Korea should move away from diplomacy focused solely on North Korea policy and strengthen diplomatic policies befitting its economic and cultural status, while pursuing a stronger alliance with the United States.

According to an interview article released by The Washington Post (WP) on the same day, President-elect Yoon stated, "South Korea and the United States have maintained an official status relationship, but substantive and close discussions on military and intelligence issues have weakened. We should not only focus on North Korea relations but also expand the scope of diplomacy based on the Korea-US relationship to the European Union (EU) and across Asia."

WP also reported that President-elect Yoon expressed the position that as the world's 10th largest economy, South Korea should demonstrate a responsible attitude to the international community, such as providing overseas official development assistance (ODA). In the interview, he mentioned that he instructed his aides to consider ways to increase support for Ukraine while expressing the view that South Korea should join the international pressure campaign against Russia.

Regarding Korea-China economic issues, he emphasized that "they are important trading partners to each other" and "economic issues are important to both countries." However, WP reported that he pointed out that South Korea needs to strengthen its military alliance with the United States to take a stronger political stance toward China. This statement highlights that while China is economically close to South Korea, it is allied with North Korea on political and security issues. Concerning North Korea, WP noted that President-elect Yoon used the term "main enemy," expressing concerns about North Korea's long-range missile test launches and the withdrawal of the nuclear test moratorium, while maintaining a "two-track" approach of dialogue and humanitarian aid.

President-elect Yoon also stated that before deciding whether to join the Quad (a consultative group of the United States, Japan, Australia, and India), South Korea will support and cooperate with working groups addressing global issues such as vaccine distribution and climate change.

Regarding the deteriorated Korea-Japan relations, President-elect Yoon expressed the view that it backfired on Korean companies and ordinary Koreans who enjoy traveling to Japan, and hindered South Korea's ability to coordinate with Japan and the United States. He said, "The Korean public has shocking memories of Japan's colonial rule, and although most citizens did not experience direct rule themselves, the memory of colonial rule has been widely passed down from the parental generation," but added, "I strongly believe that South Korea should not seek domestic political gains through anti-Japanese sentiment when diplomatically dealing with Japan in the future."

On gender issues, President-elect Yoon said that compared to the United States and European countries, the promotion of equal opportunities for Korean women has been slower but has made progress over decades, and that the government should guarantee legal rights for both genders. He also stated that ensuring opportunities for women should conform to global standards.

WP reported that President-elect Yoon cited the legacy of former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln as a defender of federalism, and the charm and civil rights legacy of former President John F. Kennedy as his role models as president.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.