However, on the campaign trail, he moderated his stance, repeatedly calling the alliance with the U.S. a key pillar of Korean diplomacy. Despite that, he also called for “pragmatic diplomacy” with China, North Korea and Russia.
Lee has signaled readiness to resume economic cooperation with Russia, which could make him susceptible to “bullying” from Moscow, said Alexander Lipke, Asia program coordinator at the European Council on Foreign Relations, a pan-European think tank.
But given South Korea’s decades-old alliance with the U.S. and its reliance on the Pentagon for security guarantees against its belligerent northern neighbor, Seoul will ultimately continue to take cues from Washington in its engagement with Europe and Ukraine, said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a professor of international relations at King’s College London.
Lethal aid to Ukraine is off the table — at least until a ceasefire is reached — but other cooperation is not. Lee, for example, expressed an interest in contributing to Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction, hoping South Korean companies can benefit from potential investment.
To work with South Korea, however, Europe may now need to look past Lee’s rhetoric, and match his “more pragmatic, more interest-based style,” Lipke said.
Lipke explained that would open the possibility of Europe harnessing Seoul’s booming defense industry to boost its own military preparedness.