Candidates’ North Korea policies are now coming into view
Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, who was recently nominated as the presidential candidate of the conservative opposition People Power Party (PPP), is leading all other candidates in the latest poll.
According to Realmeter on November 9, Yoon’s approval rating was 46.2 percent, up 11.8 percentage points from the previous week. Lee Jae-myung, former Gyeonggi Governor and presidential candidate from the ruling Democratic Party, recorded 34.2 percent, down 0.4 percentage points during the same period.
Various surveys have come out since Yoon won the PPP’s primary elections on November 5 and the results showed a clear trend in favor of the former prosecutor general. They showed that Yoon was leading Lee by 4 percentage points to 11.8 percentage points. Local political experts said that this could be reflecting the high expectations by the people from the recent PPP primary elections, as Yoon beat the former presidential candidate and current lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo by 6.25 percentage points.
Yoon and Lee have clear differences on how to approach the issue of inter-Korean diplomacy.
Lee Jae-myung argues that the current Moon Jae-in administration’s so-called policy of staying in the “driver’s seat” to achieve “peace” on the Korean Peninsula should be maintained.
“The best way to solve the current North Korean issue is to take a phased approach while applying so-called snapback measures,” said Lee. The snapback approach refers to easing sanctions at first and then toughening them once North Korea violates its obligations. “We need to ease sanctions when North Korea takes responsible measures regarding denuclearization.”
Lee said he will present this idea to U.S. President Joe Biden and meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un to solve the problem. He also argued that he will work on persuading the United Nations to temporarily ease sanctions related to connecting and modernizing inter-Korean railways, and will also push to reopen the Kaesong Industrial Complex.
Yoon Seok-youl’s views have some similarities to Lee Jae-myung’s, which concern many conservatives in South Korea. Yoon said that he will expedite inter-Korean cooperation and help the North Korean economy once Pyongyang takes measures toward denuclearization. He said that he is not willing to take a role of a “mediator” like Moon Jae-in, but said that he will establish liaison offices that connect the two Koreas and the United States.
Surprisingly, Yoon said over the weekend that he is willing to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. “I will always leave it open, but I won’t do it for show,” Yoon said in an interview with the Yonhap news agency. “Doing something for show ahead of local elections doesn’t suit me. If you’re not honest, it’s bound to show soon. When you can fully expect there to be actual progress, then you can have a summit.”
This is interpreted as an attack on the Moon administration, which has been accused of using summits with the North to score domestic political points and win elections. While Yoon appears to be willing to engage in diplomacy with the North, if he takes a tough security posture and strengthens the U.S.-ROK alliance, it is unlikely that Kim will agree to a summit.
Yoon said that he is not in favor of South Korea developing its own nuclear weapons. Instead, Yoon said that he will work on persuading the United States into deploying its strategic assets such as the B-52 bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), and submarine launched ballistic missiles. He also previously said that he supports redeploying American tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea, but walked that claim back recently after American officials questioned it. “The United States’ firm policy is that it will not deploy nuclear forces to our country,” he told Yonhap, signaling that he is willing to change his policies to suit the needs of the alliance.
Yoon also argued that he will cooperate with the international community to resolve humanitarian issues such as the reunion of divided families, prisoners of war from the Korean War who are still in North Korea, and abductees.
On the great power competition in Northeast Asia, the two candidates have quite different stances. While Yoon argues that he needs close cooperation with the United States, Lee Jae-myung maintains that South Korea should not be so dependent on Washington. Lee argued that “we do not have to choose one side and narrow our options.” He added that “the best diplomacy is to make the United States and China choose to cooperate with South Korea.”
