Archives South Korea - Page 12 of 17 - New Eastern Outlook

We continue our series on the South Korean president’s trip to Eastern Europe. After concluding his visit to Vilnius for the NATO summit on July 12, Yoon proceeded to Warsaw for a three-day official visit, the first in 14 years since former president Lee Myung-bak. The President was also accompanied by a business delegation of 89 people. On July 12, in an article for the Polish daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita, Yoon Suk-yeol announced that South Korea would continue to support Ukraine through close cooperation with Poland, as “the partnership between South Korea and Poland extends…

On July 17, 2023, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol returned home after completing an eight-day overseas trip that took him to Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine. President Moon Jae-in of South Korea attended the NATO summit in Vilnius, where he “stressed Seoul’s commitment to deepening cooperation with the military alliance through a new special partnership program and the ROK’s participation in the military information sharing system with NATO member states.” Yoon Suk-yeol next traveled to Warsaw…

Although the rule of President Yoon Suk-yeol began with declarations of national unity, by late June or early July 2023, there have been a number of actions that hint to a rightward tilt. These actions go beyond the appointment of a new unification minister, which the author has already discussed. Recall that when Kim Yung-ho was selected for the ministerial position, he stated that human rights in North Korea should be a top priority in Seoul’s inter-Korean policy and that pressure must be exerted on the North. On June 28, 2023, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol stated that “anti-state forces with a distorted view of history and an irresponsible view of the state begged for the lifting of UN Security Council sanctions…