PRES. LEE SEEKS PRAGMATIC DIPLOMACY

Welcome to Press Perspective for this Tuesday JULY FIRST here in Seoul.

I'm Min Sunhee.

Today we touch upon the Lee Jae Myung administration's approach to diplomacy amid the current climate of geopolitics.

For this I have Fabian Kretschmer with the German news agency dpa.

Fabian welcome.

I also have Professor Kim Young-jun at the Korea National Defense University.

Professor Kim it's a pleasure.

Fabian, let's start with the gist of President Lee Jae Myung's pragmatic diplomacy, and the shape that his foreign policy appears to be taking.

Professor Kim, speaking as a scholar, how feasible is a pragmatic foreign policy taking into account the current geopolitical environment? Some say it may be tough?

Professor Kim, President Lee Jae Myung did not attend the NATO summit in the Netherlands last week and instead sent his top security aide. What do you suppose led to this decision?

Meanwhile Fabian, on the sidelines of the NATO summit, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte agreed to bolster defense initiatives. Do tell us more about this agreement and its implications.

Professor Kim, staying with security. The new South Korean administration has pledged to advance "peace through dialogue" over "peace through strength" with regard to its northern neighbor . How effective may this new approach to tensions on the peninsula be?

Fabian, over in the U.S., last week, President Donald Trump reaffirmed his resolve to "solve the conflict with North Korea." Do give us the context behind these comments, and what are the prospects of such a scenario ?

Professor Kim, some say the U.S.'s recent air strikes against three Iranian nuclear sites "will leave North Korea more determined to keep its nuclear weapons". Do you share this outlook? If so, how should we seek to ease security concerns here on the peninsula?

Fabian, another concern for the international community is the military cooperation between Russia and North Korea. What's the latest on that front?

Professor Kim, back here in South Korea, President Lee's pick for Defense Minister has been receiving quite a bit of attention. What do you believe are the implications of this nomination?

All right.