The Puzzle of South Korea’s Foreign Policy: Can You Have It All?

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s ambition to position South Korea as a ‘global pivotal state’—an active middle power—was constrained by domestic polarisation and the enduring division of the Korean Peninsula, where North Korea operates as a de facto nuclear power. Middle power agency generally relies on a stable and predictable international environment to exercise greater autonomy and influence; however, heightened policy volatility and transnationalism during the second Trump administration have seriously undermined this enabling context. In this shifting landscape, President Lee Jae-myung, elected in June 2025 following the impeachment of Yoon, faces two critical strategic challenges: calibrating regional hedging to navigate intensifying US-China competition and strengthening South Korea’s strategic partnership with the European Union. Achieving the latter requires moving beyond declaratory alignment toward measurable outcomes through supply chain resilience, climate cooperation, and integrated implementation mechanisms.