- President Lee Jae-myung's recent inauguration, following a period of political turmoil including his predecessor's impeachment, signals South Korea's return to democratic normalcy. His participation in the G7 Summit, emphasizing "unity," "people's livelihood," and "pragmatic" foreign policy, aims to restore international trust and diplomatic engagement.

- The Lee administration faces a complex global landscape, particularly with a shift in US foreign policy under the Trump administration towards isolationism and a "might makes right" approach, threatening the rules-based international order. This, coupled with the collapse of the free trade system and intensifying US-China rivalry, presents significant challenges for South Korea's export-dependent economy.

- A key challenge for President Lee's "pragmatic foreign policy" will be balancing alignment with the US-ROK alliance, which may involve contributing to US deterrence against China, while also maintaining open engagement and closer ties with China, a crucial trading partner. The need to avoid being seen as unprincipled or opportunistic in this delicate balancing act is paramount.

Coming Back as Democracy

South Korea has recently undergone a dramatic change in leadership, with President Lee Jae-myung taking office after a period of intense political upheaval, including the impeachment of his predecessor and an early presidential election. As the new administration seeks to both heal domestic divisions and reposition South Korea’s foreign policy, it will be interesting to see how it will differ from its predecessor, Yoon Seok-yul, on key foreign and security issues.

President Lee Jae-myung took his first step in pragmatic diplomacy by attending the G7 Summit held in Kananaskis, Canada, June 16-17, as his first overseas engagement since taking office. The G7 Summit is a consultative body where the leaders of the seven major countries—the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Canada—along with the EU, gather to discuss global political and economic issues. It was launched in 1975. Originally known as the G8, Russia was expelled in 2014 due to its forced annexation of Ukraine, reducing the group back to the G7.

This year's G7 Summit marked its 50th anniversary and focused on topics such as global security, energy security, and artificial intelligence (AI). On the first day, June 16, President Lee held bilateral meetings with key leaders from non-member invited countries. On June 17, he participated in an expanded session that included both G7 member states and invited nations. During the summit, President Lee spoke twice, addressing the diversification of energy supply chains and the integration of AI with energy.

In many ways, President Lee Jae-myung’s attendance at the G7 summit is seen as a signal to the international community that South Korea has returned to ‘normalcy’. South Korea has experienced a period of turmoil and crisis in its deeply divided domestic politics, from the attempted imposition of martial law by former President Yoon Seok-yul late last year, to the impeachment and June 3 presidential election. President Lee’s participation in the G7 Summit was, first and foremost, his first international stage to announce to the international community that ‘democratic Korea is back,’ but it also marked the beginning of the restoration and resumption of normal diplomacy, which had been suspended for the past six months. Most of the domestic media also evaluated the G7 Summit as an opportunity to actively pursue pragmatic diplomacy based on the restoration of democracy, diplomacy, and economic and trade.

If we were to summarize the content of President Lee Jae-myung’s speech after taking the oath of office, three keywords outstand particulalry: ‘unity’, ‘people's livelihood’ and ‘pragmatic’. ‘Unity’ or integration is all about restoring democracy and overcoming the impeachment crisis to alleviate the country’s deep divisions. Lee emphasized communication and dialogue, stating that there would be no conservative/progressive distinction in the future, and that both Park Chung-hee and Kim Dae-jung policy would be used if necessary. ‘People’s livelihood’ is the key to navigating the domestic and international economic challenges facing South Korea. It is in this context that President Lee Jae-myung ordered the formation of an emergency economic inspection task force in his first executive order. South Korea has been hit hard by the Trump administration’s tariff war. ‘Pragmatic’ aims to strengthen South Korea-Japan cooperation based on the solid foundation of the U.S.-ROK alliance, promote pragmatic diplomacy with neighboring countries, and achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula through communication and dialogue while preparing for North Korea’s military provocations.

Foreign Policy Environment for the Lee Administration

However, the foreign policy environment in which pragmatic diplomacy has to navigate is not easy. Firstly, it is important to note the changes in the United States under Trump. In the 20th century, the United States built its role identity as a benevolent hegemon that pursued the familiar ‘rules-based international order’ or ‘liberal internationalism’ doctrine. Today, however, in the post-unipolar era, America’s self-image is in the midst of a transition to an inherently non-liberal and coercive hegemonic role, and Trump and his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement are leading the way. At the outset of Trump’s second term, the most visible manifestations of a 19th-century imperialist or great power identity are evident. Trump’s references to annexing Canada as the 51st state, purchasing Greenland, and taking back control of the Panama Canal suggest that, a ‘golden age’ ideal to which U.S. must return to rebuild a ‘Great America’, is regressing to the late 19th century-style great power politics. Taken together, this suggests that, in the future, U.S. will be both isolationist, pursuing a grand strategy of offshore balancing, and expansionist, overtly consolidating its sphere of influence.

The change in American identity is immediately leading to the dismantling of the rules-based international order, or the regression of the liberal international order. A new era of international order is dawning in which money and power, rather than international norms, institutions, and rules, will dominate. Trump and Putin are driven by the belief that ‘might makes right,’ which is leading to the decline of values diplomacy, which was once the guiding principle of U.S. diplomacy. The U.S. veto of a resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations General Assembly, and voting along with Russia, Hungary, North Korea, Iran, Nicaragua, and others on the same side, symbolizes the decline of U.S. values diplomacy.

The retreat of the rules-based international order heralds the rise of a multipolar order, Yalta 2.0, or great power politics. Ultimately, the world envisioned by Trumpism is one in which the three major powers—the U.S., China, and Russia—build their respective spheres of influence, presumably creating a stable 19th-century balance of power through geopolitical deals and coordination. Reflecting this reality, the Munich Security Report 2025 indicates that, in one form or another, the international order will move towards multipolarization.

The collapse of the free trade system and the retreat of globalization are as much of a challenge for South Korea as the decline of the rules-based international order. The trade environment for the new South Korean government is fraught with adverse factors, including tariff wars, Chinese oversupply, and the collapse of multilateral trading norms. The source of the triangular wave hitting Korea is the US-China hegemonic competition, and the restoration of the multilateral system is unlikely in the near future. In the short term, the challenge is to cope with the external shocks of Trump’s tariff war and China’s manufacturing rollback. In the long term, the national challenge is to overcome the disruption of the global trade order and strategize how to respond to the new trade paradigm. Trump’s erratic and all-encompassing tariff wars are wreaking havoc on the global economy. The economic prosperity and free trade environment that the world has built through free trade as the foundation of the liberal international order has reached a fundamental inflection point. For export-dependent countries like South Korea, tariffs are an urgent and significant factor affecting companies’ investment and production decisions.

Challenges for ‘Pragmatic Foreign Policy’

Recently, several signs have emerged regarding a possible change in the size and role of the U.S. military in South Korea. Proposals to redeploy approximately 4,500 U.S. troops to other parts of the world and the ‘One Theatre’ concept being discussed between the U.S. and Japan suggest that the nature of the U.S. Forces in Korea, which was mainly intended to be a deterrent to North Korea, could change dramatically to be a deterrent to China. Given the Trump administration’s stance, several scenarios are conceivable, including a reduction, withdrawal, or strategic flexibility for U.S. forces in South Korea to be used for deterring China. The Trump administration’s pivot to the People’s Republic of China is changing U.S. alliance policy. The Lee administration must find a way to contribute to U.S. deterrence of China and complement finite U.S. defense resources as an ally without undermining South Korea’s security. A key question is how and to what extent South Korea will be involved in U.S. containment of China.

President Lee Jae-myung has made it clear since his candidacy that he is willing to forge closer ties with China. Economically, of course, this makes sense, as China is a significant trading partner for South Korea. However, given the Trump administration’s focus on China as an adversary of the United States, this stance could be seen as contrary to U.S. interests. It is worth considering the implications of the White House’s initial reaction after the South Korean election, which described the election as ‘free and fair’ but noted that it was ‘concerned about and opposed to China’s interference and influence in democracies around the world.’

For Lee’s government, the key challenge will be to align with Trump’s America First policy while appropriately moderating Washington’s excessive demands. President Lee’s basic position is that there is no better security path than alignment with the United States. His support for the U.S.-South Korea alliance is a pragmatic measure to enhance security rather than ideology or values. Furthermore, for true pragmatic diplomacy to be possible, South Korea must demonstrate an openness to engage with countries that have hostile relations with the United States, such as China, Russia, and North Korea. While this represents a shift away from Yoon’s value and ideological diplomacy, pragmatic diplomacy must also be wary of being read as unprincipled and opportunistic. Finding a genuinely pragmatic path between the U.S. and China will be the biggest challenge in Lee’s diplomacy.