Oh Se-hoon and Han Dong-hoon attend Kim Gi-hyeon's 'diplomacy seminar'... launch full-scale offensive against Lee Jae-myung administration's foreign policy

[Financial News] Political figures from the conservative camp, including People Power Party lawmaker Kim Gi-hyeon, Seoul Metropolitan City Mayor Oh Se-hoon, and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, agreed on the need for the South Korean government to redefine its diplomatic strategy in response to rapidly shifting global conditions on the 25th. They also voiced concern that "serious worries are being raised that the Lee Jae-myung administration may have lost diplomatic initiative," while hinting at fears that the South Korea-U.S. alliance could be weakening.
The Korea Future Innovation Forum held a seminar titled "U.S. Grand Strategy and South Korea's Choice" at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 25th. Hong Tae-hwa, a researcher at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) who is known as a conservative camp's "diplomatic strategist," delivered the lecture.
Kim Gi-hyeon, chairman of the Korea Future Innovation Forum, said, "We are entering an era in which the basic values and concepts that upheld the existing international order are being thrown into chaos," adding that "for South Korea, a divided country that faces nuclear-armed North Korea, this is a critical issue."
Kim said, "Concerns are growing that the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East are not limited wars," and added, "We need to pay closer attention to U.S. foreign policy and diplomacy, and find our own survival strategy."
He then cited the recent reduction in South Korea-U.S. joint military drills and pressure to raise tariffs again, saying, "During the Moon Jae-in administration, they promoted the 'driver theory' on the Korean Peninsula, but they ended up not even becoming a passenger," and criticized the current government by saying, "The Lee Jae-myung administration claimed it would be a pacemaker, but it became a 'pace loser.'"
Seoul Metropolitan City Mayor Oh Se-hoon said, "The security environment surrounding the Korean Peninsula is far from normal. With U.S. President Donald Trump publicly declaring that he would meet Kim Jong Un, it is impossible to predict how North Korea-U.S. nuclear talks will unfold," adding that "the recent Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS), a South Korea-U.S. joint exercise, was cut by nearly half and ended early."
Oh said, "If North Korea sits down with the United States, it is highly likely to seek recognition as a nuclear power and demand greater rewards," adding that "the idea of a freeze on North Korea's nuclear program and sanctions relief being negotiated directly between Washington and Pyongyang without South Korea is no longer far-fetched. South Korea could be reduced from a negotiating party to a mere object of the talks."
He also argued, "Peace with a nuclear weapon on one's head is fake," and said South Korea should push to revise the Korea-U.S. nuclear agreement in order to secure nuclear deterrence potential, just like Japan, by obtaining capabilities for spent fuel reprocessing and uranium enrichment.
Han Dong-hoon said, "There was a time when diplomacy meant simply hiding behind the United States, but that era is over," adding, "I argued for an 'economic NATO' during the last presidential election, which means we must actively pursue diplomacy under the banner of opposing hegemony in East Asia."
Han said, "There is a lot to worry about regarding the Lee Jae-myung administration's diplomacy. Principles are collapsing, domestic and internal-use rhetoric like 'a basement-room hero' is being overused, and in the process, South Korea is being misunderstood by allies such as the United States," adding, "Wang Yi, China's foreign minister, recently referred to South Korea and North Korea as 'the two countries' in front of Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Special Advisor to the President on Foreign Affairs, Diplomacy and National Security Wi Sung-lac in South Korea. President Trump made remarks effectively accepting North Korea's nuclear weapons, but they did not correct him."
He added, "In the end, diplomacy can also be set right when conservative politics is rebuilt and properly checks the Lee Jae-myung administration," and said, "South Korea's diplomacy is security, economy, and everything."
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