Every South Korean liberal president, including Lee, has built their North Korea policy on three assumptions. None of them still holds true.
Five months into his term, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has articulated a concrete foreign policy vision and is determined to put it into practice. Lee maintains amicable relations with Japan despite anti-Japan sentiment from the South Korean left. He continues anchoring South Korea’s foreign policy, including its North Korea policy, on the alliance with the United States. However, the South Korean president is ready to say no to the United States’ demands that South Korea contribute in a Taiwan contingency. Lee does not want to antagonize China as he also needs both Beijing’s help with re-engaging North Korea and access to the Chinese market.
The most ambitious of all is Lee’s policy toward Pyongyang. He envisions an era of peaceful coexistence built on his “Exchange, Normalization, and Denuclearization” initiative, or END.
Lee thought he would get his first major diplomatic victory when there were rumors of a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un during Trump’s visit to South Korea for the APEC summit.
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