Lee Jae-myung, the president of South Korea, kicked off his term by talking with the leaders of the United States, Japan, and China over the phone. The telephone calls were made less than a week after Lee won the June 3 presidential election, which was scheduled after the Constitutional Court’s removed Yoon Suk-yeol from office for his illegitimate declaration of martial law.
According to the spokesperson of the South Korean Presidential Office, Lee and Trump talked over the phone for 20 minutes on June 6, two days after Lee took office. It was the first call Lee made as president, a sign of the importance of the United States for South Korea. During the call, the two leaders shared the mutual idea of strengthening the bilateral South Korea-U.S. relations. They also confirmed both parties’ efforts to handle tariff negotiations in a timely manner and agreed to meet in person as soon as possible. As Lee will be heading to Kananaskis, Canada, to attend the G-7 meeting next week, he is likely to hold sidelines summits with a number of other world leaders.
During the presidential campaign, in which Lee was the heavy favorite, many reports emerged covering the concerns of policymakers and officials in Washington over Lee’s foreign policy approach. Compared with Yoon’s unconditional support to Washington and Tokyo, Lee’s stance on diplomacy centers on “pragmatism” – meaning he would not hesitate to oppose proposals or ideas from Washington should he deem them to run counter to the national interests of South Korea.
In this context, Lee repeatedly emphasized the bilateral alliance between the countries as the bedrock of the South’s diplomacy during the campaign. However, his approach to the tariff negotiations will likely be a clear demonstration to Washington that he is not a U.S.-friendly president like Yoon. If so, the chemistry between Lee and Trump may not work well compared with the so-called bromance between Yoon and then-U.S. President Joe Biden.
Three days after Lee talked with Trump over the phone, the South Korean president and Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru also shared their ideas on how to form fruitful bilateral relations between the two countries, according to the South’s Presidential Office. Over the 25-minute phone call, the two leaders affirmed the strategic importance of the trilateral cooperation between South Korea, the United States, and Japan in the region while vowing to enhance the communication channels between Seoul and Tokyo. Sensitive issues between the countries such as disputes over history were not mentioned during the call, according to South Korea’s read-out.
Amid growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and rising power of China in the region, Washington has reiterated the importance of trilateral cooperation between South Korea, the United States, and Japan to cope with the security challenges – including Pyongyang’s explicit efforts to strengthen ties with Moscow by sending soldiers and ammunition to Russia for its war against Ukraine. Lee seems to have agreed with the idea of strengthening ties with Japan, even though he is a hardline critic of Tokyo’s approach to sensitive issues like the wartime “comfort women” and Japan’s claim to South Korea’s Dokdo Island. As Lee once called Yoon’s previous approach to Tokyo to mend the bilateral ties “too submissive,” the new president will not be willing to downplay these problems.
Japan-South Korea relations could again be weakened if Tokyo continues to deliver inaccurate claims over the historical disputes. Considering Ishiba’s dovish stance on the historical disputes with South Korea, however, Lee and Ishiba may find room to cooperate on regional issues during their terms.
As a pragmatic leader of a middle-power country, Lee also completed a phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on June 10. Inviting Xi for the APEC summit that South Korea will host later this year, Lee said he hopes to promote the active exchanges and cooperation in various fields while both leaders confirmed their shared goal to make a peaceful Korean Peninsula.
A presidential spokesperson said Lee told Xi, “I hope Korea and China will actively pursue exchanges and cooperation in various areas, including the economy, security, culture and people-to-people ties.”
China remains South Korea’s largest trading partner, and Lee has been critical of the Yoon administration’s approach to the relationship. He accused Yoon of jeopardizing South Korea’s economy by “harassing” China and publicly questioned the need for Seoul to care about cross-strait issues. Such comments added to concern in Washington and among South Korea’s right-wing that the Lee administration would prove overly accommodating to China.
However, Lee is unlikely to meaningfully change South Korea’s longstanding alignment with the United States. While trying to improve relations with China, he will be conscious of the need to tread carefully – not only because of the U.S. administration’s uber-hawkish stance, but because China is deeply unpopular with the South Korean public. Lee’s comments on X after his call with Xi – that he hoped China-South Korea relations can “make a real contribution” to bettering people’s lives – suggest a pragmatic focus.