How Lee Jae-myung’s adviser thinks Seoul can restart dialogue with North Korea
In interview, Yang Moo-jin suggests trilateral ties with US and Japan can promote peace, proposes toning down drills
Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies, speaks to NK News at his office in Seoul’s Samcheong-dong | Image: NK News (April 17, 2025)
South Korea’s upcoming presidential election in June could bring major changes to ROK policy toward North Korea, with former opposition leader Lee Jae-myung the early favorite as parties finalize their candidates.
But while Lee once made inter-Korean peace a pillar of his political identity, his pivot toward the center has raised questions about how he will approach a dramatically reshaped security landscape — marked by Pyongyang’s increasingly hostile stance toward Seoul and deepening military ties with Moscow.
South Korea’s upcoming presidential election in June could bring major changes to ROK policy toward North Korea, with former opposition leader Lee Jae-myung the early favorite as parties finalize their candidates.
But while Lee once made inter-Korean peace a pillar of his political identity, his pivot toward the center has raised questions about how he will approach a dramatically reshaped security landscape — marked by Pyongyang’s increasingly hostile stance toward Seoul and deepening military ties with Moscow.
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