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7. Yoon Byung-se

President Yoon's bold diplomacy for the future

President Yoon Suk Yeol has just completed his milestone visit to Japan. Fierce debates are underway about the resulting balance sheet. Each has its own yardstick. I asked my imaginary ChatGPT about the key themes: 12 years, normalization, future cooperation, new era/chapter, past history and mutual trust were some words that popped up on my screen.

2023-03-19 20:42

Will President Yoon follow in de Gaulle's nuclear footsteps?

Just two years ago, a very unusual report was released by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (CCGA) titled, “Preventing Nuclear Proliferation and Reassuring America's Allies.” It was a product of a special task force comprised of 16 former top policymakers - prime ministers, foreign and defense ministers including myself, national security advisers as well as a former NATO commander and heads of global think tanks (IISS, MSC, FRS and CCGA).

2023-02-16 17:00

Democracy in retreat and Korea's timely co-hosting of 2023 Democracy Summit

Quo vadis, democracy? In August, then U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR) Michelle Bachelet revealed a grim picture of the current state of democracy in her speech titled, “Crisis and fragility of democracy in the world.”

2022-12-15 16:00

Korea faces triple challenges in decisive yet dangerous decade

Whether by coincidence or not, three major powers - The U.S., China, and Russia - speak with one voice on one thing despite the ongoing tensions and competition. That is, the coming ten years will be a “decisive decade” for the international order. President Joe Biden used this term in his 2022 National Security Strategy Report.

2022-11-17 17:08

Agenda for humanity in high season of diplomacy

To many top policymakers around the world, the remainder of this year will be a most hectic time. It is the high season of diplomacy - both regionally and globally. This year, it will be more so than ever, due to the war in Ukraine, supply chain disruptions and economic security issues, energy and food crises, the pandemic, the U.S.-China competition, the climate crisis and the nuclear threat - to say the least.

2022-09-08 15:09

ROK-US alliance well on track, but real tests yet to come

Three months into the presidency, the Yoon Suk-yeol government is in full swing with its foreign and security policy agendas, in contrast to the turbulent domestic political situation.

2022-08-11 17:00

Global pivotal state vision and Korea's new multilateral diplomacy

”The attendance of the South Korean president at the NATO summit for the first time has historical significance at the NATO level,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said during his meeting with President Yoon Suk-yeol in Madrid last week.

2022-07-07 16:25

Be on the side of peace, human rights, democracy

Just two days ago, a new South Korean government led by President Yoon Suk-yeol set sail with a new vision and resolve for the next five years. The preceding Moon Jae-in government had to hand over the baton to a successor with a starkly different orientation on both domestic and foreign policy, leaving various daunting challenges behind.

2022-05-11 16:20

North Korea's nuclear annihilation threat and Biden's timely 2022 Nuclear Posture Review

Recently, we had both good news and bad news on the nuclear postures of nuclear-armed states. Good news, the long-awaited Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) of the Biden administration will soon be released as its classified version was sent to Congress last month.

2022-04-14 16:29

Winston Churchill's advice for new Korean leadership

“Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it,” said Winston Churchill, former British Prime Minister and a foremost role model for the Korean President-elect, Yoon Suk-yeol. Among the many good lessons from Churchill, this maxim seems to be a quite fitting reminder and advice for the new Korean leader at this juncture.

2022-03-17 17:49

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