South Korea: President Eun Suk-yol takes office

South Korea, which began its five-year term by calling on North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, was sworn in as its new president on Tuesday.

The 61-year-old Conservative takes office, and combat North Korea conducted 15 missile tests since January, including two missile tests last week. Seoul and Washington suspect they may want to restart nuclear weapons testing soon. At midnight on Tuesday, he attended his first conference as army chief with top officials of the civil service in a bunker located under the Presidential Palace.

After taking office at a grand ceremony in the National Assembly in Seoul, Eun Suk-yol in his inaugural address called for the disarmament of North Korea, which he says poses a threat to world security. He said Pyongyang would be ready to put forward a “bold plan” to revive the North Korean economy if it “truly promises a complete nuclear disarmament process.”

“Today we are facing a number of crises,” he added, adding that Kovit-19 “casts a huge shadow over us”, citing epidemics, supply chain issues and global conflicts.

Eun-suk-yol, a former lawyer who was new to politics, was elected in a short time in March with just 41% of the popular vote, one of the lowest in the history of South Korean democracy. Gallup poll.

The president has pledged tough foreign policy to his country, the 10th largest economy in the world, following the failure of reconciliation efforts with the North, which marked the beginning of his predecessor Moon Jae’s mandate. Following his election victory, Eun-suk-yol promised to “deal toughly” with Kim Jong Un’s regime’s threat.

During his election campaign, he called Kim Jong Un a “rude guy” and said to voters: “If you give me a chance, I will teach him good manners.” Eun-suk-yol called for a stronger relationship with his US ally and spoke with President Joe Biden, especially pledging to maintain “close integration” with North Korea. Joe Biden is expected to arrive in South Korea at the end of May.

Domestically, growing public frustration with Moon Jae-in’s liberal government appears to have been behind his political adversary’s rise to power. Moon Jae-in won the 2017 presidential election, promising to implement a plan based on equal opportunities after the sacking of his predecessor, Park Geun-hye, who was embroiled in corruption.

But then he was accused of taking bribes with his own collaborators. He was also criticized for his economic policies, accusing him of expanding rather than reducing inequality.

Eun Suk-yol is expected to propose reforms that are completely different from his predecessor. About 40,000 people have been invited to the inauguration ceremony, the most expensive ever organized on a budget of 3.3 billion won (2.5 million euros). Selected slogan: “Once again, Republic of Korea! The new country of the people ”.