Yoon to redirect Korea's diplomacy with US, China, Japan

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition conservative People Power Party delivers a speech at the National Assembly on Seoul's Yeouido, Thursday, March 10, hours after he was elected as the country's next leader in the 2022 presidential election held the day before. Joint Press Corps

President-elect calls for stronger Korea-US alliance, mutual trust-based Korea-China ties, future-oriented relations with Japan

By Jung Da-min

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition conservative People Power Party (PPP) said he would make the Korea-U.S. alliance stronger, improve Seoul-Beijing ties based on mutual trust and bolster future-oriented Korea-Japan ties.

"I will respond decisively to the illegal and unreasonable behaviors of North Korea based on principles, while always keeping the door for inter-Korean dialogue open," Yoon said, during a news conference at the National Assembly on Seoul's Yeouido, Thursday. His speech came hours after he was elected as the country's next leader in the 2022 presidential election conducted a day before.

Earlier in the morning, Yoon also had a phone conversation with U.S. President Joe Biden, where the two leaders vowed to strengthen the ROK-U.S. alliance.

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition conservative People Power Party speaks to U.S. President Joe Biden over the phone at his residence in Seoul's Gangnam District, Thursday, hours after he was elected as the country's next leader in the 20th presidential election held the day before. Courtesy of People Power Party

"I will rebuild the ROK-U.S. alliance and strengthen the comprehensive strategic alliance, while sharing the core values of liberal democracy, a market economy and human rights. I will develop bilateral relations of mutual respect between Korea and China and create a future-oriented Korea-Japan relationship," he said.

Diplomatic experts said that South Korea and the U.S. are expected to be in sync in their policies on regional and global issues, such as those regarding North Korea.

"(The) Alliance (between South Korea and the United States) will generally be in sync, run more smoothly on North Korea, China, regional or global issues. Some advisors (to Yoon) will want maximum pressure on North Korea, to normalize the U.S.-ROK drills, and to strengthen the U.S. extended deterrence. North Korea will raise a fuss and justify (the weapons) tests it'd do anyway under Lee," Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at Washington-based think tank Center for a New American Security, wrote on her Twitter account, Thursday, following the announcement of the election results.

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Another expert, Leif-Eric Easley, an associate professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, said South Korea will need to develop what he called "democratic resilience" at home after the divided electorate has produced a divided government, at this time when the country's international role is growing in dealing with global challenges such as the pandemic or the climate crisis.

The professor said that South Korea should work together with the U.S., its longtime ally, as well as with Japan, another East Asian ally of the U.S.

"With challenges simultaneously escalating in Europe and Asia, U.S. allies South Korea and Japan can contribute to defense of the international order by speaking up at the U.N., participating in sanctions enforcement, and helping secure supply chains," Easley said, in an email to reporters, the same day.

He said that the countries can also work together to increase pressure on Russia through sanctions against it, and that doing so would also work for Seoul's interests, as the Kim Jong-un regime of North Korea is also closely watching the situation in Ukraine.

"The more that Seoul and Tokyo do to hold Moscow accountable, the more North Korea will be deterred from nuclear adventurism," he said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un makes a closing address at a meeting in Pyongyang, Feb. 28, in this photo provided by the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency a day after. AP-Yonhap

"The Kim regime is watching the situation in Ukraine, but it isn't historically accurate to draw negative lessons from Kyiv 'giving up nukes' because it didn't actually have operational control of Soviet nuclear weapons. In fact, the U.S. substantially helped Ukraine and Russia with their loose nukes problem. But that won't prevent Pyongyang from adding Ukraine to its list of excuses to avoid denuclearization," he said.

As for the growing U.S.-China rivalry, the professor said, U.S.-China relations are more complicated than the U.S.-Russia relations, which have long been in a Cold War frame.

"U.S.-China relations are more intertwined with the future of globalization ― involving trade, climate change, and the ethics of technology ― as well as any hope for the peaceful denuclearization of North Korea," he said.

Political watchers expect that Yoon will take rather a confrontational stance toward the North, as he has been saying that he would strengthen the military's three-axis air defense system ― consisting of the Kill Chain preemptive strike system, the Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR) plan ― to counter potential nuclear threats posed by the North better.

Meanwhile, North Korea conducted nine rounds of missile launches since the beginning of this year, including those involving intermediate range and hypersonic missiles.

On Thursday, the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the country's leader, Kim Jong-un, had visited the country's space agency, laying out a plan to launch a large number of reconnaissance satellites within the next five years. The KCNA report came days after North Korea fired a ballistic missile in the second such test in less than a week, which Pyongyang claimed was for developing a reconnaissance satellite.

But many experts said that such missile launches could be a prelude for a long-range rocket launch after the North made a threat in January that it could suspend its self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests to counter growing exterior threats.