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South Korea’s New President Has Big Plans, but Can He Keep the Peace?
- Lee Jae-myung was inaugurated as South Korea’s president on June 4, 2025, in an official event held at the National Assembly building in Seoul.
- His election followed political turmoil, including former President Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment and a shift from Yoon's pro-US policies toward Lee's pragmatic diplomacy.
- Lee plans to balance South Korea’s economic ties with China against maintaining the US alliance amid challenges like US tariff pressures and possible troop redeployments.
- He was elected with a 49.42% mandate and emphasized a “national interest-centered pragmatic diplomacy” to preserve strategic autonomy and security commitments.
- This approach tests South Korea's alliance resilience and suggests a delicate foreign policy balancing act amid intensifying US-China rivalry in East Asia.
15 Articles
15 Articles
A ‘Pragmatic’ Foreign Policy Agenda: What’s Next for South Korea’s New President? • Stimson Center
How will new South Korean President Lee Jae-myung implement his ‘pragmatic’ foreign policy agenda? The post A ‘Pragmatic’ Foreign Policy Agenda: What’s Next for South Korea’s New President? appeared first on Stimson Center.
How Lee Jae-myung should prepare for the first meeting with Trump
On June 3, Koreans elected Lee Jae-myung as president, ending the country’s six-month political crisis that began with former President Yoon Seok Yeol’s ill-fated martial law declaration. Swiftly inaugurated without a transition period, Lee’s presidency is now tasked with leading the country to overcome multiple domestic and international challenges, such as economic stagnation, political polarization and regional geopolitical tensions. A major …
As opposition leader, Lee Jae Myung has stood for dialogue with China, more independence from the US and distance from Japan. Now he wants to emphasize the US alliance. Is his turn only rhetorical or permanent?
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- 33% of the sources lean Left, 33% of the sources are Center, 33% of the sources lean Right
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