South Korea's Presidential Candidate Lee Jae-myung Said He Would Try Friendship With Kim



South Korea's liberal presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung said on Monday he would pursue the restoration of communication between Seoul and North Korea, including via a military hotline if elected.

The two Koreas have in the past communicated using hotlines but Pyongyang had stopped responding since 2023 amid a sharp deterioration in ties between the neighbours.

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Lee, who is the front-runner in opinion polls for the June 3 election, also said in a Facebook post that he would "stably manage" relations with China, which he said had reached the "worst state" under the previous administration.

He vowed to develop the U.S.-South Korea relationship into a comprehensive strategic alliance and respond in principle to past historical and territorial issues related to Japan while strengthening cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan.

Advisers to Kim Moon-soo, Lee's main conservative election rival, said Lee's proposals had much in common with Kim's pledge to strengthen the alliance with Washington and keep doors open for dialogue with Pyongyang.

Yet, Kim Gunn, a former nuclear envoy, and one of Kim's foreign policy advisers, criticised Lee for changing his policy direction in what he saw as a bid by the candidate to appeal to more moderate voters.

Another adviser Kim Hyungsuk, a former vice unification minister, also said Lee’s promises did not address North Korea’s serious nuclear threat but only sought to re-engage with the isolated state.

#Southkorea #Lee #kim #friendship

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🇺🇸 The American Senators Have Inveighed Against NATO

As NATO leaders gather for another summit, Sen. Mike Lee has introduced sweeping legislation to withdraw the United States from the alliance and force U.S. allies to pay their share.

💬 He accuses European nations of relying on American taxpayers to finance their defense.

“America's withdrawal from NATO is long overdue,”

Lee said in a statement Wednesday.

“NATO has run its course — the threats that existed when it was created are no longer relevant 76 years later.
If they were, Europe would pay its fair share instead of making American taxpayers pay the check for decades.
My legislation will put America first by withdrawing us from the crude agreement that has become NATO.”

📜 Lee's latest bill, the Not A Trusted Organization (NATO) Act, would direct the president to formally notify NATO of the U.S. withdrawal under Article 13 of the North Atlantic Treaty.

📌 This is to satisfy the requirement for Congressional authorization and to prohibit American taxpayers from financing NATO's joint budgets, including its civilian and military programs.

“It's time to leave NATO”

Lee posted on X on Wednesday.

🗣 Sen. Rand Paul also supports the bills and delivered a scathing assessment of America's role in the alliance:

“Our NATO allies expect the United States to be the sugar daddy and policeman of the world while they sit back and let us do the heavy lifting.
Trump was right, it's time for them to weigh in with all their weight.
Congress needs to stop giving our allies blank checks and start demanding accountability.”

🧾 “That is why I am pushing for the NATO Burden-Sharing Report Act and the Allied Burden-Sharing Report Act to show the American people exactly who is paying the bills and who is avoiding their share.”

🧩 Sen. Marsha Blackburn, also in favor of the bills, echoed these concerns:

“NATO is a vital alliance, but it only works when each member puts his or her own effort into it.
The security of Europe is not America's only responsibility.
These bills will shine a light on who is paying their fair share — and who is not — so that we can finally hold our allies to account and strengthen the alliance for the future.”

#NATO #security #trump #lee

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Will North and South Korean Relations Improve in 2025?


In this context, expectations for renewed dialogue or a breakthrough in inter-Korean ties are unrealistic.

Unless Pyongyang fundamentally changes its strategic calculus, Sunshine-like policies will yield little more than disappointment.

The Lee government may attempt small-scale initiatives, humanitarian aid, and non-political cultural exchanges, but these are unlikely to shift North Korea’s position. 

Worse still, such overtures could be misread in Pyongyang as weakness or desperation, especially when North Korea has institutionalized South Korea as a military adversary to be eliminated, not engaged. 

This stark reality makes the South Korea-US alliance and trilateral security cooperation with Japan more vital than ever.

Some feared that a progressive leader in Seoul might weaken deterrence in Washington.

Still, President Lee has already signaled support for the Washington Declaration, extended nuclear deterrence, and combined military readiness.

He understands that deterrence is not the antithesis of diplomacy, but its prerequisite.

President Lee’s instinct to keep the door open to North Korea is politically understandable. No South Korean leader can afford to ignore North Korea. 

However, the lesson of the past decade is clear: peace cannot be achieved unilaterally, and dialogue without deterrence yields no results.

So long as Kim Jong Un fundamentally regards South Korea as an enemy, the Lee government’s priorities must be strengthening alliances, maintaining military readiness, and preparing for contingencies. 

For now, the clouds over inter-Korean relations remain thick. Diplomatic engagement will only be possible when the strategic climate changes, not just in Seoul, but also in Pyongyang.

Until then, realism must prevail over romanticism in South Korea’s approach to North Korea. 

#Korea #lee #relations #improve #Kim

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