The Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate Rep. Lee Jae-myung has promised to take a national interest-driven approach to foreign and trade policies and pursue a fairer economy through an even distribution of prosperity.
In a breakdown of his top policies, Lee's campaign said Monday that the Democratic Party candidate, if elected, would make his policy decisions to "serve national interests" on diplomatic and trade fronts.
The keyword defining Lee's approach to foreign relations is "pragmatism," by which he means his policies will "not be bound by progressive or conservative ideologies in the traditionally understood sense," his campaign said.
Pursuing national interests would include restoring ties with neighboring countries, including Russia and China, and resuming exchanges with North Korea while continuing efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, his campaign explained.
The alliance with the US will remain strong. At the same time, retrieving wartime operational control of South Korea's own military, as Lee's chief adviser Rep. Ahn Gyu-back told The Korea Herald in an April 24 interview, will be one of his policy objectives, his campaign said.
For South Korea to survive the global trade order being rewritten under the second administration of US President Donald Trump and the escalating US-China rivalry, Lee said he will turn South Korea into a global power in artificial intelligence.
An important aspect of Lee's vision for the economy is to achieve a better distribution of wealth across society.
Lee's signature policy from his time as Gyeonggi Province governor, universal basic income, is being rebranded in the form of what his campaign has termed "guaranteed income across all stages of life." Care for the elderly will be expanded to institute home care and improve the quality of nursing homes. Child support will be government-funded.
Lee also promised to pave the way to make progress in labor issues. Creating fairer and safer working environments and corporate interests are not mutually exclusive, his campaign added.
Workers in precarious employment such as platform workers will be eligible to receive pension benefits. Workplace flexibility will be enhanced to expand the adoption of a shorter workweek.
To even out growth across the country, key government infrastructure will be relocated to cities outside Seoul. More specifically, Sejong will increase its role as the "capital of government administration," Lee's campaign clarified.
"A return to normal" after three years under the previous President Yoon Suk Yeol is a key theme that Lee's administration will be based on, his campaign said.
Reforming the military will be one of the more urgent tasks under his administration. Lee pledges to have a defense minister who is not from a military background for the first time in the country's history.
To tackle climate change, Lee's administration would hasten the transition to renewable energy, his campaign said.
Women's policies, which were central in Lee's last presidential campaign in 2022, did not stand out in the outline of his policy items unveiled Monday.
arin@heraldcorp.com
