SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – Yun Suk Yel, a conservative political neophyte, took office as South Korea’s new president on Tuesday, pledging to negotiate a settlement of North Korea’s threatening nuclear program and a “bold plan” to improve Pyongyang’s economy if it gives up its nuclear weapons.
Yun promised a tougher stance on North Korea during his campaign, but avoided harsh words in his opening remarks amid growing concerns that the North was preparing for its first nuclear bomb test in nearly five years. North Korea has rejected similar past initiatives by some of Yun’s predecessors, who linked the incentives to progress in its denuclearization.
“While North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs are a threat not only to our security but also to Northeast Asia, the door to dialogue will remain open so that we can resolve this threat peacefully,” Yun told a crowd. Parliament in Seoul.
“If North Korea does begin a process of full denuclearization, we are ready to work with the international community to present a bold plan that will significantly strengthen North Korea’s economy and improve the quality of life of its people,” he said.
Yun also addressed South Korea’s growing economic problems, saying that crumbling labor markets and the growing gap between rich and poor are leading to a democratic crisis, fueling “internal strife and strife” and fueling the spread of “anti-intellectualism”. as people lose their sense of community and belonging.
He said it would stimulate economic growth to cure deep political divisions and income equality.
North Korea’s advanced nuclear program is an annoying security challenge for Yun, who won the March 9 election with a promise to strengthen South Korea’s 70-year military alliance with the United States and build its own missile capability to neutralize North Korean threats.
In recent months, North Korea has launched a series of nuclear-capable missiles that could be aimed at South Korea, Japan and the continent of the United States. Pyongyang appears to be trying to shake up Yun’s government as it modernizes its weapons arsenals and pressures the Biden administration to ease sanctions against it. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently warned that his nuclear weapons would not be limited to their main mission of deterring war if his national interests were threatened.
At a briefing earlier Tuesday, South Korean military leader Won In-Chul told Yun in a video conference that North Korea was ready to conduct a nuclear test if Kim decided to do so. Yun then ordered the military commanders to remain firmly prepared, saying “the security situation on the Korean Peninsula is very difficult.”
Other issues in the difficult mix of foreign policy and domestic challenges facing Yun include rivalry between the United States and China and strained ties with Japan over history and trade disputes. South Korea is also preparing for the consequences of Russia’s war against Ukraine on world energy markets.
Chung Jin-yong, a professor at Kyung Hee University, said South Korea must accept that it cannot force North Korea to denuclearize or ease opposition between the United States and China. He said South Korea should instead focus on strengthening its defense capabilities and the US alliance in order to “make North Korea never dare to think of a nuclear attack on us”. He said South Korea must also prevent deteriorating ties with Beijing.
Yun did not mention Japan during his speech. During his campaign, Yun repeatedly accused his liberal predecessor, Moon Jae-in, of exploiting Japan for domestic policy and emphasizing the strategic importance of Tokyo. However, some experts say Yun may find himself on the same political path as Moon, given the country’s deep differences over sensitive historical issues, such as the wartime mobilization of Korean workers and sex slaves in Tokyo.
Some of Yun’s main domestic policies may run into a dead end in parliament, which will remain under the control of liberal lawmakers ahead of the 2024 general election. Yun also needs to restore South Korea’s response to the pandemic months.
He was also denied a honeymoon. Surveys show that less than 60% of respondents expect him to do well in his presidency, an unusually low figure compared to his predecessors, who mostly received about 80% -90% before taking office. . The rating of his approval as newly elected president is 41%, according to a Gallup Korea poll published last week, which put then-President Moon’s rating at 45%.
Yoon’s low popularity is partly blamed on the sharp divide between conservatives and liberals and on controversial cabinet policies and elections. Some experts say Yun has also not shown a clear vision of how South Korea can move past foreign policy and domestic challenges.
Yun won the election by a historically small margin after largely worrying about public frustration with Moon’s failures in economic policies, which have been criticized for allowing housing prices and personal debt to spiral out of control and create enough jobs. . Yun focused much of his message on young men who are outraged by the loss of traditional privileges in a highly competitive labor market and their darkened prospects for marriage and parenthood, although his campaign has been criticized for ignoring the plight of women.
“Yun’s challenges at the beginning of his presidency are the most difficult and unfavorable” among South Korean presidents elected since the late 1980s, a period seen as the beginning of true democracy in the country after decades of dictatorship, he said. Choi Jin, director of the Seoul-based Presidential Leadership Institute.
In recent weeks, Yun has invited criticism – even from some of his conservative supporters – by moving his offices from the Presidential Palace to the Blue House. Yun said the move to the center of the capital aims to communicate better with the public, but critics are wondering why he has made it a priority, with so many other urgent problems he needs to address.
Yun, 61, was Moon’s attorney general before resigning and joining the main conservative opposition party last year after an internal feud with Moon’s political allies.
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