South Korea’s new Foreign Minister Cho Hyun has set the pursuit of peace on the Korean Peninsula — through the resumption of inter-Korean dialogue in close coordination with the United States — as the Foreign Ministry’s foremost objective in a turbulent geopolitical climate.
The first top diplomat in the Lee Jae Myung administration also began his term with a public apology for the Foreign Ministry’s role under the previous Yoon Suk Yeol government, dismissing its diplomacy as driven by “domestic political purposes” and marked by “binary approaches.”
“We must coolheadedly assess the rapidly shifting realities of international politics and implement pragmatic diplomacy centered on the national interest,” Cho said Monday in his inauguration speech delivered in Korean.
“First and foremost, in this time of deepening geopolitical instability and tension, establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula is the top priority.”
Cho underscored, “South Korea must ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula and create a path for dialogue with North Korea in close coordination with the US to that end.”
“Through a phased and pragmatic approach, we must make substantive progress in achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula and resolving the North Korean nuclear issue,” Cho added.
Top diplomat rebukes Yoon’s legacy
Cho opened his inauguration speech with a pointed critique of the Yoon administration’s diplomacy, after emphasizing the growing weight of the foreign minister’s role amid Seoul’s increasingly fraught diplomatic and security environment and a rapidly transforming international order.
“We must pursue strategic and pragmatic diplomacy, placing the national interest at the center and grounding it in rationality, moderation and efficiency — all the more in times like these. Bipartisan support from the National Assembly is also essential,” Cho said.
Cho remarked that diplomacy was at times not guided by pragmatism or the national interest in recent years.
"Diplomatic issues were used for domestic political purposes, and there were many binary approaches in areas of diplomacy that should have been led by pragmatism and the national interest."
In his inauguration speech, Cho listed examples of diplomatic missteps under the Yoon administration.
"There were also inappropriate remarks made about foreign countries. Even when the chance of success in the Expo bid had become slim, we went all-in until the very end," Cho said.
"The Foreign Ministry’s lawsuit against MBC was clearly wrong. On behalf of the Foreign Ministry, I offer an apology to MBC," Cho added.
The Foreign Ministry filed a lawsuit against local broadcaster MBC in December 2022 over its broadcast of a hot mic moment of then-President Yoon, with subtitles suggesting he used abusive language to criticize the US Congress during the UN General Assembly in September that year.
Cho also criticized Yoon for declaring martial law on December 3, 2024, “in an attempt to subvert democracy not long after hosting the Summit for Democracy” in March of the same year.
“On behalf of the Foreign Ministry, I sincerely apologize to the public for the Foreign Ministry’s failure to meet the expectations of the people throughout this entire process,” Cho said.
Win-win, not zero sum with US
Before the inauguration ceremony, Cho commented on pending issues, including tariff negotiations with Washington, during a doorstep interview at the Foreign Ministry building in Seoul.
Asked about his plans to visit the US, Cho responded, “We are comprehensively coordinating with the US side to determine the most appropriate timing.”
“It hasn’t been decided yet. I’ve heard that ministers from other ministries who have been directly involved in other negotiations may also go,” he added, suggesting the need for interministry coordination.
Cho was sworn into office less than two weeks before the Aug. 1 deadline for US “reciprocal” tariffs on countries including South Korea, imposed by US President Donald Trump.
National security adviser Wi Sung-lac departed for the US again on Sunday, just 11 days after returning from a trip to Washington on July 9, in an effort to strike a comprehensive package deal with the US covering issues from tariffs to security.
On the Foreign Ministry’s role in the comprehensive package deal, Cho said the ministry should find a “win-win solution with the US side.”
“The Foreign Ministry, which needs to look at the Korea–US alliance in a broader context from a diplomatic perspective and work to develop the future of the alliance, should take a more macrolevel view in examining all such package deals and also offer its input,” Cho said.
“Based on my experience with negotiations, a non-zero-sum, win-win proposal always emerges. The Foreign Ministry can make that happen.”
dagyumji@heraldcorp.com
