Lee, a candidate for president of South Korea, promises to restore the North Korean hotline

If elected president, South Korean presidential candidate Lee Jae-Myung has pledged to resume inter-Korean communication, with the goal of resuming the stopped hotline.

If won in the June 3 election, Lee Jae-myung, the liberal candidate for president of South Korea, has promised to reestablish contact with North Korea, including the military hotline. He made the pledge Monday, saying that under his leadership, a renewed engagement with Pyongyang will be a top priority.

Following a precipitous deterioration in inter-Korean ties, communication between the two Koreas—which was previously maintained by a number of hotlines—has been terminated since 2023.

In a Facebook post, Lee, who presently heads opinion polls, also discussed South Korea’s more general foreign policy objectives. He vowed to manage relations with Beijing more steadily and criticized the previous administration for allowing ties with China to reach their “worst state.” In addition, he promised to strengthen trilateral cooperation with the US and Japan, resolve historical and territorial conflicts with Japan on the basis of principle, and transform the US-South Korea partnership into a comprehensive strategic alliance.

Kim Moon-soo, Lee’s primary conservative opponent, had advisers who pointed out parallels between the two candidates’ foreign policy stances, especially with regard to engagement with North Korea and partnerships with the United States. Kim Moon-soo’s foreign policy adviser and former nuclear envoy Kim Gunn, meanwhile, charged Lee with changing his position to win over more moderate supporters.

Former vice unification minister Kim Hyungsuk, another adviser, contended that Lee’s plans placed an undue emphasis on cooperation with the North while failing to sufficiently confront the threat posed by its nuclear weapons program.

At a briefing on Monday, Kim Gunn told international reporters, “I believe that we will have to see if he can put them into action with regard to the pledges laid forth by Mr. Lee.”