Yoon Suk Yeol
Biden and Kishida congratulate South Korea’s new president
South Korea’s new President Yoon Suk Yeol. Photo: Han Jong-Chan/Yonhap/AP/dpa
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The US and Japan reacted quickly to conservative Yoon Suk Yeol’s election victory. Biden wants to strengthen the alliance between the two countries, while Kishida wants to improve relations with South Korea.
South Korea’s newly elected President Yoon Suk Yeol and US President Joe Biden want to continue working closely together.
Biden congratulated Yoon on winning the presidential election and emphasized the determination of the United States to defend South Korea, the White House in Washington said on Wednesday (local time). The bilateral alliance is “the pillar of peace, security and prosperity” in the Indo-Pacific region.
Both also agreed to maintain close coordination to counter “the threats” posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs. South Korea relies on the US nuclear shield to deter its neighbors. The United States also has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea.
Conservative Yoon of the opposition People’s Power party won Wednesday’s election by a very narrow margin over left-liberal candidate Lee Jae Myung of the ruling Democratic Party. The 61-year-old was confirmed as the winner of the election by the election commission on Thursday. He will succeed President Moon Jae In on May 10.
The window of the dialogue «keep always open»
Yoon had accused the incumbent government of having allowed itself to be presented in the nuclear dispute with North Korea. Moon pursued a policy of rapprochement with Pyongyang, but also relied on a strong alliance with the United States. One day after his election, Yoon stressed in Seoul that he would react strictly to any “illegal or unreasonable behavior” by North Korea, but that he also wanted to “keep the window of dialogue open at all times”.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed his hope of improving relations with South Korea. A good relationship between the two countries is important for peace and stability in the world. The relationship between the two important US allies is heavily burdened by historical conflicts. Among other things, it deals with demands from South Korea to compensate former Korean forced laborers and victims of sexual enslavement by the Japanese military during Japanese colonial rule (1910-45) and the Second World War.