According to Yonhap news on October 13, South Korean President Li Jae-myeong said during a state council meeting held at the Blue House that South Korea should adopt a foreign policy that safeguards national interests, avoiding any signs of submission or chauvinism in its foreign relations.
Lee Jae-myung said that South Korea's basic foreign policy is pragmatic, focusing on national interests. South Korea is an independent country, and national interests are of utmost importance.
Yonhap believes that this statement seems to take into account the recent exposure of "disagreements" between South Korean and American intelligence agencies, as well as the spread of the theory that there are cracks in the South Korean-American alliance within political circles.
Lee Jae-ming said that the South Korean-US alliance is very important and constitutes the main axis of South Korea's diplomacy, and it should continue to develop. At the same time, managing relations with neighboring powers remains important. He pointed out that differences inevitably arise between nations, and therefore continuous discussion and coordination are needed. It is necessary to minimize these differences and keep them within manageable limits.
Li Zaiming emphasized that in the face of differences between countries, it is important to coordinate and compromise based on the interests of the government and the nation. If handled improperly, this could lead to a loss of national interests in international competition.
In March this year, the United States protested South Korea's statement by its Minister of Unification, Chung Dong-yung, which identified Kaesong in Pyongnan Province of North Korea as a nuclear facility. The U.S. also restricted the sharing of certain North Korean-related intelligence with South Korea. Since then, reports of tensions between South Korean and American intelligence agencies have frequently appeared in the media. South Korean Ambassador to the United States, Kang Kyung-hee, stated on the 12th that issues arose during the South Korean-U.S. foreign ministers' meeting held on May 18th regarding cooperation between the two countries' intelligence agencies. As for the U.S. requests, the issues have not yet been fully resolved, and the expectations of the U.S. have not been met.
