© ANTHONY WALLACE / POOL/AFP
South Korea’s new President, Lee Jae-myung, pledged on Wednesday to revive stalled talks with North Korea and strengthen the trilateral alliance with the United States and Japan, as he outlined his main policy objectives for his single five-year term.
Lee, who rose from childhood poverty to become South Korea’s leading liberal politician vowing to fight inequality and corruption, began his term earlier Wednesday, hours after winning a snap election that was triggered in April by the removal of then-President Yoon Suk Yeol over his ill-fated imposition of martial law late last year, News.Az reports citing PBS Online.
In his inaugural address at the National Assembly, Lee said that his government will deal with North Korean nuclear threats and its potential military aggressions with “strong deterrence” based on the South Korea-U.S. military alliance. But he said he would “open a communication channel with North Korea and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula through talks and cooperation.”
He said he’ll pursue pragmatic diplomacy with neighboring countries and boost trilateral Seoul-Washington-Tokyo cooperation.
“Through pragmatic diplomacy based on national interests, we will turn the crisis posed by the major shift in global economic and security landscapes into an opportunity to maximize our national interests,” Lee said.
News.Az
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