The national government, which had been at a standstill due to martial law and impeachment, is quickly recovering with President Lee Myung's inauguration. The new government is putting all its efforts into ‘setting the national government straight’ to the point that even the presidential office staff collapsed from overwork during a cabinet meeting. It has been barely two weeks since its inauguration. From domestic affairs to summit diplomacy, it is proceeding breathlessly.
The foreign policy of the Lee Jae-myung government is “pragmatic diplomacy centered on national interests.” Its security policy is “winning without fighting.” President Lee made his first phone call with the leaders of major interested parties, led by the United States. He then jumped into multilateral summit diplomacy even before the personnel for foreign affairs and security were finalized.
He is known to have attended the G7 Plus Summit in Canada (15-17) and is also carefully considering attending the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Summit in the Netherlands. The background is that there is no reason to avoid economic and security multilateral diplomacy that is helpful to the national interest.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the division and the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. In his message on the 25th anniversary of the June 15 Joint Declaration, President Lee diagnosed, “Unfortunately, over the past three years, the clock on the Korean Peninsula has rapidly regressed to the cold past before June 15.” Inter-Korean relations have been severed, and tensions have heightened in the border region. However, signs of peace are now sprouting on the Korean Peninsula again.
When our military stopped broadcasting through loudspeakers toward the North on the 11th, North Korea responded by stopping broadcasting noise toward the South. There are also signs of dialogue between the US and North Korea, which was halted in February 2019 with the Hanoi No Deal. North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un temporarily refused to receive a personal letter from President Trump. However, the White House announced, “Communication with North Korea will remain open.”
The Korean Peninsula peace process promoted by the Moon Jae-in government began during the nuclear crisis in 2018. When President Trump hinted at a nuclear attack by talking about “fire and fury,” Chairman Kim Jong-un responded in his New Year’s address that year, saying, “There is a nuclear button on my desk,” heightening tensions. To resolve this crisis, the government pushed forward a project for the Pope, the “Apostle of Peace,” to visit North Korea.
Former Korean Ambassador to the Vatican said this in his book “I Will Go, Sono Disponibile,” which contains the story behind the incident. “Pope Francis sought to build an ark of peace on the Korean Peninsula, and to do so, he sought to build a ‘bridge of peace’ between Pyongyang and Seoul, and between Pyongyang and Washington.”
The Vatican’s diplomatic tone remains the same regardless of the change in the Pope. The first words the resurrected Jesus spoke to his disciples when he met them were “Peace be with you!” (John 20:19). Pope Leo XIV’s first blessing message was also “peace.” He appealed for “a humble and patient peace that disarms without arming.” This president also said during his candidacy, “I expect the new pope to play a big role in peace on the Korean Peninsula.”
From weak countries to superpowers, top leaders of each country rush to the Vatican to meet the pope. Why do they visit the Vatican, which has zero physical power, including economic power and military power? It is because it possesses the unique ‘superpower’ that can realize universal values, such as peace, justice, and human rights.
Except for former President Yoon Seok-yeol, whose term was short due to impeachment, all previous Korean presidents visited the Vatican and met with the pope. It was to seek support for peace on the Korean Peninsula and request mediation.
Peace comes when we prepare and act. As this president said, if peace is shaken, the economy, security, and daily life will also be shaken. Pope Leo XIV was a ‘Korea expert’ who visited Korea five times when he was the head of the religious order. In particular, he visited the DMZ and witnessed the division of the Korean Peninsula with his own eyes.
He hopes the President will meet Pope Leo XIV and restore the diplomatic lines between Seoul and the Vatican, and between the Vatican and Pyongyang that were in operation in 2018, and that the unfinished ‘Pope’s visit to North Korea project’ will be successful.
