Yoon Suk-yeol, the recently impeached conservative president of South Korea, took a hard-line approach to North Korea—boosting ties with the US and Japan, militarizing the border, and rejecting dialogue.
His predecessor, Moon Jae-in of the center-left Democratic Party, favored engagement through diplomacy, aid, and joint cross-border economic projects.
Lee Jae-myung, also from the Democratic Party, is the newly elected president.