SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA -- South Korea鈥檚 president-elect Yoon Suk Yeol said Thursday he would solidify an alliance with the United States, build up a powerful military and sternly cope with North Korean provocations, hours after he won the country鈥檚 hard-fought election to become its next leader.
Yoon, whose single five-year term is to begin in May, said during his campaigning he would make a boosted alliance with the United States the centre of his foreign policy. He鈥檚 accused outgoing liberal President Moon Jae-in of tilting toward Pyongyang and Beijing and away from Washington. He鈥檚 also stressed the need to recognize the strategic importance of repairing ties with Tokyo despite recent bilateral historical disputes.
Some experts say a Yoon government will likely be able to reinforce ties with Washington and improve relations with Tokyo but can鈥檛 really avoid frictions with Pyongyang and Beijing.
鈥淚鈥檒l rebuild the South Korea-U.S. alliance. I鈥檒l (make) it a strategic comprehensive alliance while sharing key values like a liberal democracy, a market economy and human rights," Yoon told a televised news conference.
鈥淚鈥檒l establish a strong military capacity to deter any provocation completely,鈥� Yoon said. 鈥淚鈥檒l firmly deal with illicit, unreasonable behaviour by North Korea in a principled manner, though I鈥檒l always leave door for South-North talks open.鈥�
After his election win, he spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden on the phone. According to a White House statement, Biden congratulated Yoon on the election and emphasized the U.S. commitment to the defence of South Korea. The statement said the two also committed to maintain close coordination on addressing the threats posed by North Korea鈥檚 nuclear and missile programs.
North Korea hasn鈥檛 made any comments on Yoon鈥檚 election. In recent weeks, it鈥檚 launched a spate of sophisticated, nuclear-capable ballistic missiles in what experts call an attempt to modernize its weapons arsenal and pressure the Biden administration to making concessions like sanctions relief amid stalled diplomacy.
Last week, North Korea said it tested cameras and other systems needed to operate a spy satellite. Its state media on Thursday cited leader Kim Jong Un as saying his country needs reconnaissance satellites to monitor 鈥渢he aggression troops of the U.S. imperialism and its vassal forces.鈥�
On Japan, Yoon said that Seoul and Tokyo should focus on building future-oriented ties. 鈥淭he focus in South Korea-Japan relations should be finding future paths that would benefit the people of both countries,鈥� he said.
The two countries are both key U.S. allies and closely linked to each other economically and culturally, but their relations sank to post-war lows during Moon鈥檚 presidency over disputes related to Japan鈥檚 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday expressed a desire to communicate with Yoon to bring back good ties. But he still said Tokyo will stick to its position that all compensation issues have been settled by a 1965 bilateral treaty.
Yoon, who ran on the ticket of the main opposition People Power Party, had previously served as Moon鈥檚 prosecutor general. But he left the Moon government and joined the opposition last year after high-profile infighting over his investigations on some of Moon鈥檚 allies.
Wednesday's election was largely a two-way showdown between Yoon and liberal ruling party candidate Lee Jae-myung. The two spent months slamming, mocking and demonizing each other in one of the most bitter political campaigns in recent memory, aggravating the country鈥檚 already severe domestic division.
Lee and his allies attacked Yoon over his lack of experience in foreign policy and other major state affairs.
They said Yoon鈥檚 hardline stance on North Korea would unnecessarily provoke the North, and picking a side between Washington and Beijing would pose greater security threats to Seoul. Yoon has accused the Moon administration of being 鈥渟ubmissive鈥� to Pyongyang and Beijing at the expense of Seoul鈥檚 70-year alliance with Washington.
Yoon鈥檚 razor-thin victory against Lee was partly seen as a referendum on the liberal government, whose popularity waned in recent years over failures to deal with stark economic inequalities, decaying job markets and soaring house prices that paint bleak financial futures for many people in their 20s and 30s.
Yoon during the campaign focused much of his message on vows to create more jobs and restore social mobility by creating a fairer, competitive environment for young people. He fiercely criticized Moon鈥檚 government over the policy failures and high-profile investment scandals surrounding Moon鈥檚 allies that he said exposed hypocrisy and disregard for law.
On domestic agendas, Yoon faces urgent tasks to suppress a record-breaking COVID-19 surge, ease widening economic inequalities and runaway house prices and heal a nation sharply split along regional antagonism, ideologies, age and gender.
Yoon was criticized during the campaign for stoking gender animosities by promising to abolish the country鈥檚 Gender Equality and Family Ministry, which he accused of pushing policies unfair toward men.
While he was apparently trying win the votes of young men who decry gender equality policies and the loss of traditional privileges in a hyper-competitive job market, exit polls released after Wednesday鈥檚 election indicated that his gains in male votes were largely cancelled out by young women who swung toward Lee.
During Thursday鈥檚 conference, Yoon rejected accusations that his campaign raised gender tensions but repeated a view that the country no longer had structural barriers to women鈥檚 success.
鈥淩egarding gender issues, laws and systems are pretty much in place now,鈥� he said. 鈥淚nstead of approaching the issue as a matter of equality and fairness between groups, I think the government should provide stronger response and protection regarding individual cases of unfairness.鈥�
Yoon said building a better pandemic response would be a priority for his power transition committee, which will have a dedicated team designing plans to reinforce the country鈥檚 medical capacities and more effective financial packages to help devastated service sector businesses.
