Yoon signals tougher line on the North

SOUTH Korea’s new president, Yoon Suk-yeol, said yesterday that North Korea’s weapons programmes posed a threat but that he was ready to provide an “audacious” economic plan if the North was committed to denuclearisation.

Yoon spoke during his inauguration after being sworn in at a ceremony in Seoul. He won a tight election in March for the main conservative People Power Party, less than a year after entering politics following a 26-year career as a prosecutor.

Yoon, 61, has signalled a tougher line on North Korea, warning of a pre-emptive strike if there is a sign of an imminent attack and vowing to strengthen the South’s deterrent capability. But his speech was seen as focused more on his willingness to reopen stalled denuclearisation talks with Pyongyang.

Yoon won the election on a platform of fighting corruption and creating a more level economic playing field amid deepening public frustration with inequality, as well as simmering generational rivalry.