New Korean Reality: Observation and Analysis of Lee Jae-myung’s Diplomacy to Solve the North Korean Nuclear Issue

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_77How to use a DOI?

Keywords

North Korean nuclear issue; Foreign Policy in South Korea; Geo-Political Environment

Abstract

This article is a comparative analysis of the diplomatic efforts of Northeast Asian countries that South Korea faced and its responses in Northeast Asia, examining the diplomatic maneuvers and strategic interests of the Lee Jaemyung administration in the North Korean nuclear conundrum. From a realist theoretical perspective, this article analyses South Korea's approach to the nuclear issue with North Korea and compares it with those of past ROK regimes. The purpose of the report is to provide information that can contribute to an improved security environment in the region by outlining the motives and behaviors of states in making decisions. The research claims that Lee Jaemyung’s administration employed a number of conceptual tools in order to claim its diplomatic independence in a multilateralist competitive environment. Those efforts involved a regional multilateral framework, the restoration of dialogue mechanisms, and step-by-step denuclearisation. But it also had to contend with the challenge of North Korea’s position and the inherent fragilities of the US-ROK alliance. The approach might work, but how well it will be based on the interplay between groups and the diplomatic skill of South Korea. This article will confirm the implications of realist theorizing by cases and evaluate whether the pattern of South Korea's intricate behavior amidst multi-party intervention demonstrates the extent to which the theory can explain or examine it.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Zuo Zhou
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/15
TI  - New Korean Reality: Observation and Analysis of Lee Jae-myung’s Diplomacy to Solve the North Korean Nuclear Issue
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 5th International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities and Arts (SSHA 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 740
EP  - 755
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_77
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_77
ID  - Zhou2026
ER  -