Seoul: With President Lee Jae Myung set to mark 100 days in office, he has built a reputation over his pragmatic approach to state affairs and diplomacy, but such a reputation is facing a challenge amid shifts in the global trade order and tensions with North Korea. Lee was sworn in on June 4 after an election triggered by the ouster of former President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed martial law bid in December, with the urgent task of restoring political stability and achieving national unity.
According to Yonhap News Agency, although U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened to impose 25 percent "reciprocal" tariffs on South Korean goods, a last-minute deal reduced the U.S. tariffs to 15 percent in exchange for a US$350 billion investment pledge and other commitments. While the final agreement is still under negotiation, experts say Seoul averted the worst-case scenario by securing tariff levels comparable to Japan and the European Union, while resisting U.S. pressure to further open its agricultural market.
Lee's first summit with Trump in late August set a positive tone for the South Korea-U.S. alliance, but areas of contention still remain, including Washington's move to readjust the role of American troops in South Korea, analysts said. His prior stop in Tokyo for talks with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba signaled his commitment to enhancing the bilateral ties and the trilateral cooperation with Washington. Ishiba recently decided to resign over an election setback, but Lee's office has said South Korea expects to keep positive relations with Japan.
On both trips, Lee stressed his foreign policy priorities: bolstering the U.S. alliance, and strengthening ties with Japan amid North Korea's evolving nuclear program and its deepening military ties with Russia. Yet challenges lie ahead under the Trump administration's protectionist "America First" agenda. Tariff talks are not finalized, leaving the 25 percent tariffs on Korean autos in place, while Japan secured 15 percent duties after signing a formal agreement last week.
Washington is also pressing Seoul to boost defense spending and grant greater "strategic flexibility" for the 28,500 U.S. troops in Korea, amid its regional strategy to counter an increasingly assertive China. Relations were further tested by the detention of more than 300 South Korean workers in Georgia last week during a U.S. immigration raid at the construction site of an electric vehicle battery plant run by Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution. The crackdown sparked public anger at home, forcing Korean firms to reassess risks and the broader political climate for doing business in the United States.
On North Korea, Lee has pursued a conciliatory approach, halting cross-border loudspeaker broadcasts and vowing not to pursue "unification by absorption." At his summit with Trump, he proposed resuming dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, offering to act as a "pacemaker," while encouraging Trump to play the role of "peacemaker." Prospects, however, remain bleak amid Pyongyang's closer alignment with Beijing and Moscow. Kim joined Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a vast military parade in Beijing last week to mark 80 years since the country's victory over Japan in World War II, the first such gathering in 66 years.
The show of diplomatic unity underscored shifting geopolitics, complicating Lee's efforts to ease inter-Korean tensions while managing Seoul's ties with China amid an intensifying U.S.-China rivalry. Further uncertainty looms in Japan amid an impending leadership change, with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party set to choose Ishiba's successor next month.