South Korea’s brand-new president Yoon Suk- yeol isn’t going to “have much of a honeymoon period,” stated Kathleen Stephens, president and CEO of the Korea Economic Institute of America and previous U.S. ambassador to South Korea.
“I think he said the right thing as he is inaugurated, about his desire to see Korea play a larger role in the global stage. I think that’s shared across party lines in Korea, he’s intended to address the challenges of North Korea and the economy,” Stephens stated.
“But I think no one in Korea and … others around the world are under the illusion about how difficult this is going to be.”
Speaking on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” after Yoon’s inauguration on Tuesday, Stephens discussed what to anticipate from Yoon’s management as he takes workplace.
“He’s beginning workplace with what has [been a] traditionally low approval ranking prior to he has actually even taken workplace. He won an extremely, really by an extremely narrow margin of less than 1% in the election,” she included.
Calling Yoon a “political neophyte,” Stephens stated that regional politics will be a “big challenge.”
“He’s dealing with regional elections taking place on June 1, where his competitor in the governmental election is running for the National Assembly seat … [which] is controlled by the other celebration.”
She was describing Lee Jae- myung, who was Yoon’s challenger from the DemocraticParty Yoon beat Lee with 48.6% of the vote.
Navigating a ‘geopolitical flux’
Yoon has neither political experience nor diplomacy experience, stated Stephens.
“He is a lifelong prosecutor and lawyer. What he has done is recruit a team … many of them worked for previous conservative president Lee Myung-bak,” she included.
“I think what we will see is a tougher rhetorical line on North Korea … a more robust effort to have things like military exercises to demonstrate deterrence against North Korea, to build up South Korean military capacity, to make sure the U.S. Korea security alliance is very, very strong.”
However, Stephens stated that Yoon will be watching out for possibilities to open “space for dialogue” with North Korea, something which has actually been “true of previous conservative presidents.”
Other jobs that Yoon deals with consist of handling a “fractious relationship with China” while growing better to the United States, she included.
Tom Rafferty, Asia local director at The Economist Intelligence Unit, had actually formerly shown CNBC that Yoon has actually indicated he would pursue closer relations with the UnitedStates However, that might impact Seoul’s relations with China, South Korea’s biggest export market.
With this “geopolitical flux” in mind, Stephens stated that Yoon’s space for maneuver is relatively little, specifically given that he is “untested as a leader.”
“But at the very same time, there is a strong sort of bipartisan-based technique that has actually worked for [South] Korea for a long period of time.”
Biden and Yoon’s very first conference
U.S. President Joe Biden will be going to South Korea and conference Yoon for the very first time on May21 Stephens stated that’s a “very gracious and graceful sign.”
“The American president and the Washington facility acknowledges that [South] Korea is a democracy … which the alliance goes beyond ideally, partisan divides,” she included.
“This will be our first chance to see really how President Yoon operates in the international environment.”
Biden had actually formerly revealed seriousness in passing the Bipartisan Innovation Act, a multibillion dollar financial investment in the U.S. semiconductor market. That makes the conference “even more important,” Stephens stated, considered that South Korea is an important worldwide gamer in the market.
“I think that will be an important element of their discussion of how the United States and South Korea … can work together for secure technology, secure supply chains,” she included.
