South Korea has elected a new president – liberal opposition candidate Lee Jae-myung – which represents a change in political direction for the country after the ouster of his conservative predecessor.
Tuesday’s national election follows months of turmoil after Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached for briefly imposing martial law in a move that sent shockwaves through its democracy.
Lee won by a comfortable margin over his main conservative rival, Kim Moon Soo, raising questions about relations with South Korea’s key ally, the United States, and its main adversary North Korea.
Lee has repeatedly stressed Washington as the foundation of Seoul’s foreign policy, as Yoon did, but he’s expected to take a softer approach toward Pyongyang.
During the campaign, Lee promised active engagement with North Korea, unlike Yoon, but the big question is whether North Korea is interested in resuming dialogue.
RFA Korean’s Jaewoo Park looks at whether it’s possible for South Korea to revive the spirit of 2018, when there was a high level of engagement between North and South and U.S. President Donald Trump held historic summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The high-level diplomacy ultimately failed to prevent the North advancing its nuclear weapons program. Pyongyang has since hatched closer ties with Moscow and sent troops and weapons to assist Russia’s war against Ukraine.
