South Korean President Lee Jae‑myung used his New Year press conference at the Blue House on 21 January to set an assertive tone for his administration’s second year, pitching a dual domestic and diplomatic push. He framed recent summit-level engagement with China as a window to “redefine” bilateral ties and promised to translate that momentum into practical cooperation across multiple fields to rebuild mutual trust.
On the peninsula, Lee said Seoul would use diplomatic channels to press for the early resumption of talks between Washington and Pyongyang while also trying to create conditions for direct inter‑Korean dialogue to restart. The comments signal an effort to position South Korea as an active interlocutor between the United States and North Korea rather than a bystander, while pursuing near‑term steps to reduce tensions.
Domestically, Lee stressed that improving people’s livelihoods would remain the guiding principle of policy and described the year ahead as heavier with responsibility but ripe for a “national leap.” He pledged a pragmatic governing approach and reiterated a commitment to advance prosecutorial reform — a politically charged item that aims to curb the powers of prosecutors and reshape accountability mechanisms in Seoul.
Lee’s emphasis on a pragmatic, welfare‑oriented agenda complements his foreign policy pitch: stronger ties with China could help stabilise trade and investment, while a diplomatic push on the North could reduce security risks that weigh on the economy. But each objective carries trade‑offs: closer engagement with Beijing must be balanced against the U.S. alliance, and outreach to Pyongyang faces inherent limits given North Korea’s bargaining calculus.
Regionally, the president’s language reflects a broader South Korean desire to escape a binary choice between Washington and Beijing by seeking greater strategic autonomy. Beijing is likely to welcome warmer relations, which could yield economic cooperation and diplomatic goodwill; Washington will watch closely for signs that Seoul’s recalibrated ties undermine alliance cohesion or U.S. deterrence efforts.
What to watch next are the practical steps that follow Lee’s rhetoric: the substance of any new China‑ROK initiatives, whether Seoul secures a new channel for U.S.–North Korea talks, how quickly inter‑Korean contacts can be rebuilt, and the political dynamics around prosecutorial reform at home. Each thread will test the administration’s ability to convert a high‑level reset into durable policy outcomes amid complex regional constraints.