South Korea’s president-elect wants tougher stance on North
South Korea's president-elect Yoon Suk Yeol says he will solidify an alliance with the United States, build up a powerful military and sternly cope with North Korean provocations.
His pledge came hours after he won the country's hardfought election to become its next leader.
Mr Yoon, whose single fiveyear term is to begin in May, said during his campaigning he would make a boosted alliance with the United States the centre of his foreign policy.
He has accused outgoing liberal President Moon Jae-in of tilting toward Pyongyang and Beijing and away from Washington.
He's also stressed the need to recognise the strategic importance of repairing ties with Tokyo despite recent bilateral historical disputes.
Some experts say a Yoon government will probably be able to reinforce ties with Washington and improve relations with Tokyo but can't really avoid frictions with Pyongyang and Beijing.
"I'll rebuild the South Koreaus alliance. I'll [make] it a strategic comprehensive alliance while sharing key values like a liberal democracy, a market economy and human rights," Mr Yoon told a televised news conference.
"I'll establish a strong military capacity to deter any provocation completely," Mr Yoon said. "I'll firmly deal with illicit, unreasonable u by North Korea in a principled manner, though I'll always leave door for South-north talks open."
After his election win, he spoke to US president Joe Biden on the phone. According to a White House statement, Mr Biden congratulated Mr Yoon on the election and emphasised the US commitment to the defence of South Korea. The statement said the two also committed to maintain close coordination on addressing the threats posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.
North Korea has not made any comments on Mr Yoon's election. In recent weeks, it's launched a spate of sophisticated,nuclear-capableballistic
missiles in what experts call an attempt to modernise its weapons arsenal and pressure the Biden administration to making concessions like sanctions relief amid stalled diplomacy.
Last week, North Korea said it tested cameras and other systems needed to operate a spy satellite. Its state media yesterdaycitedleaderkimjongunas sayinghiscountryneedsreconnaissance satellites to monitor
"the aggression troops of the US imperialism and its vassal forces".
On Japan, Mr Yoon said that Seoul and Tokyo should focus on building ties. "The focus in South Korea-japan relations should be finding future paths that would benefit the people of both countries," he said.
The two countries are both key US allies and closely linked to each other economically and culturally, but their relations sank to post-war lows during Mr Moon's presidency over disputes related to Japan's 1910-45 colonisation of the Korean Peninsula.
Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida yesterday expressed a desire to communicate with Mr Yoon to bring back good ties. But he still said Tokyo will stick to its position that all compensation issues have been settled by a 1965 bilateral treaty.