Conservatives voice concern over Lee's diplomacy amid growing security uncertainties

Conservative politicians on Tuesday voiced concerns over the Lee Jae Myung administration’s diplomacy amid the rapidly changing security environment on the Korean Peninsula, calling for stronger defense capabilities.

During a seminar at the National Assembly, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon raised concerns that South Korea could be sidelined in potential negotiations between the United States and North Korea.

“A direct deal between the US and North Korea involving a freeze of North Korea’s nuclear issue and sanctions relief, with South Korea excluded, is no longer an unrealistic scenario,” he said, noting that US President Donald Trump has recently raised the possibility of meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

“Peace with nuclear weapons hanging over our heads is false peace,” Oh added.

The Seoul mayor, a longtime member of the main opposition People Power Party, criticized the Lee administration over the reduction of the allies’ recent military exercise, saying the fact that the US decision to scale back the drills was made without prior notice to Seoul shows the growing strains in their relations.

He also underscored the need for South Korea to strengthen its own defense capabilities.

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, a former PPP leader, pointed out that South Korea should take a more active diplomatic approach, saying the era in which Seoul could actively rely on Washington has ended.

Han also criticized the government for failing to protest Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s recent reference to the two Koreas as “two countries.”

During a meeting with National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac in Seoul last week, Wang expressed hope that the “two countries” would move toward peace and coexistence, prompting some to question whether it signals a shift in China’s stance toward inter-Korean relations.

In late 2023, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared inter-Korean relations as those between “two states hostile to each other.” (Yonhap)