
President Lee Jae Myung’s press secretary Lee Kyu-youn delivers the president’s speech during the Korean Peninsula Symposium on June 26, 2025, hosted by Yonhap News Agency. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 26 (Korea Bizwire) — Yonhap News Agency, South Korea’s key newswire, hosted a symposium Thursday, exploring policy recommendations for the new Lee Jae Myung administration amid rising global security uncertainties driven by the intensifying U.S.-China rivalry and growing protectionism.
The annual Korean Peninsula Symposium was held at Hotel Shilla in central Seoul, co-hosted by the Ministry of Unification and the Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS).
Under the theme, “New Administration’s Strategic Response to Seismic Shift in International Order During Trump’s Second Term,” this year’s event features two discussion sessions.
In a congratulatory speech, delivered by his press secretary Lee Kyu-youn, President Lee stressed the unprecedented protectionism and security uncertainties facing South Korea, pledging to “turn complex global crises into opportunities to maximize the national interest.”
The president also cited geopolitical tensions, growing rivalry over technological hegemony, fractured global supply chains and widespread protectionism,” vowing the government will “proactively respond to shifts in the global trade environment to help South Korean firms compete more effectively.”
Yonhap News Agency President and CEO Hwang Dae-il also referred to ongoing shifts in the global trade, diplomacy and security environment, pledging that his agency “will contribute to building peace on the peninsula and the unification of two Koreas.”
In separate remarks, Vice Unification Minister Kim Nam-jung said the Lee government will seek to overcome inter-Korean tensions through dialogue and pave the way for peaceful coexistence between the two Koreas.
“(The government) will work toward restoring the suspended inter-Korean communication channels and resuming humanitarian cooperation in close collaboration with the international community,” Kim noted.
Presided over by Han Suk-hee, president of the INSS, the first session will feature a roundtable discussion on the new wave of U.S. isolationism and its impact on trade, diplomacy and security. Participants will include think tank researchers and directors from the United States, Japan and South Korea.
With the theme, “Turning Challenges into Opportunities: Policy Proposals for Navigating Upheaval,” former South Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Ahn Ho-young, former Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam and former Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee will join the second session to present policy recommendations for the new Lee Jae Myung administration.
Yonhap has hosted the symposium annually with the unification ministry since 2015 to bring together experts, politicians and government officials to examine the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and explore solutions to emerging issues.
Thursday’s symposium is streamed online on YouTube in Korean and English.
(Yonhap)